FRUSTRAIN: TRAINMAN

A cinematic VR mystery on a surreal night train, blending immersive exploration, tactile object interactions, and dreamlike memory puzzles to uncover a long-buried truth.

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Inspiration

FRUSTRAIN began in 2018 as an indie project inspired by years of overnight train travel — the claustrophobia, strangers in close quarters, and the uneasy intimacy of long journeys. The prototype was pre-approved for the Oculus Store in 2020, and in 2021 its distinct look caught the attention of Jean-Michel Jarre, who invited the team to create the VR city for his metaverse concert OXYMORE that received huge recognition with Webby Award and over 350K visitors in VRChat.

After a pause, the project returned in 2024, winning Best Pitch – Digital Experiences at Annecy, joining the European Creators’ Lab, and presenting at NewImages XR Market. In 2025, FRUSTRAIN partnered with VIVERSE to release the first public demo, TRAINMAN with the first few scenes of the narrative experience. For this competition, we rebuilt and extended TRAINMAN for Standalone VR using Unity 6 (2024 LTS) to deliver a polished native Meta Horizon OS experience, which we plan to expand to a finished narrative story and present at the major International Film Festivals and later on release in the Meta Store.

What It Does

FRUSTRAIN is a first-person cinematic narrative adventure that reimagines how users consume story-driven content on Meta Quest. Blending surreal atmosphere, symbolic environments, and interactive storytelling, it creates an immersive entertainment experience that feels intimate, emotional, and dreamlike.

Influenced by Edith Finch and Memento, FRUSTRAIN follows the logic of a frightened person’s dream: distorted spaces, sudden transitions, and memories resurfacing out of order.

In TRAINMAN:

  • play as a conductor who has lived inside his carriage for 25 years
  • interact with over 100 tactile objects
  • explore symbolic, shifting rooms
  • uncover clues through fragmented inner monologues

- follow journal tasks to piece together the truth

How We Built It

Developed in Unity 6 (2024 LTS) with Meta XR SDK v81+, TRAINMAN takes advantage of modern Horizon OS capabilities.

Core systems include:

  • custom vertex-painted shaders (no bitmap textures)
  • optimized baked lighting, static batching, and mesh merging
  • state-driven dream-logic environment controller
  • narrative triggers and journal system
  • spatialized multilayered sound design

Significant Updates for the Competition

To qualify as an UPDATED project, we introduced several major new capabilities specifically for this competition:

  • native Quest APK build with improved performance
  • new interaction pipeline compatible with Meta XR SDK v81+
  • expanded narrative monologues and environmental triggers
  • improved object interaction system and overhauled tactile props
  • enhanced dream-logic transitions and symbolic room variations

These updates significantly improve UX, narrative clarity, and technical execution.

Future Plans & Target Launch

We are developing the full Chapter One - TRAINMAN of FRUSTRAIN for Standalone device with the aim to present it at major International Film Festivals as an XR experience and use the moment to publish the game in the Meta Store at Q3/Q4 2026. Total duration of the gameplay in Chapter "TRAINMAN" would be around 1 hour. If the launch is successful, we will keep on expanding the universe with 4 more chapters of other passengers you can find on the train.

Upcoming improvements:

  • deeper physical interaction
  • expanded adaptive soundscape
  • evolving hub spaces inside the train

TRAINMAN is just the first step in the FRUSTRAIN universe.

Tech Stack

Engine: Unity 6 (2024 LTS)
SDKs: Meta XR SDK v81+ (Horizon OS)
Platforms: Quest 2 / Quest 3 / WebXR
Inputs: Touch controllers; hand-interaction-ready layout

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