Additional credit:

Glaucon Zero (@dm_glaucon on Instagram): props, key art, icon art, creative consultant

Frutiger PM (@frutigerpm on Instagram): music, provided from the album 'aqua'

The concept of hand-based underwater movement always seemed very intuitive, and has been something I wanted to try building ever since the first release of Quest hand tracking. Swimming underwater is an environment that is slower, less gravity-bound, and heavily relies on arm and hand pose, so it's a great scenario for a game that relies solely on hand-tracking.

This short game casts you as a child who experiences the depths of an indoor pool for the first time. As they become aware of their limits, they start to fixate on pushing past those limits and having the freedom to explore deeper sections of the pool. The game utilizes a handful of low-cost shaders and a highly focused art direction to create a beautiful, dynamic underwater environment within a strict performance budget.