The fast action, neon arcade 85 Second Slam-down
A strike in game animation
A very friendly "complimentary" soda machine
Throwing balls down Auzzy Beach
Candy Cane Lane, one five magical themed lanes
One of five different elf characters with lots of funny in game banter
Jingle Strike VR Bowling hero art

Jingle Strike VR began from an unexpected place: my film-making background. I had been developing a horror project and wanted to explore bringing it into virtual reality. But I quickly realised that before I could attempt an ambitious cinematic VR project, I needed to learn how to actually build a VR game — how interactions feel, how performance works on standalone hardware, and what makes VR fun, comfortable, and instantly engaging.

So I set myself a challenge: make something smaller, joyful, and character-driven to learn the craft from the ground up. That experiment became Jingle Strike VR, a fast, funny holiday bowling game filled with mischievous elves who cheer, tease, and occasionally sabotage the player across a series of festive lanes.

The inspiration came from wanting VR to feel like theatre. In film, characters react to the scene — but in VR, they can react to you. Bringing that to life meant giving the elves personality, timing, comedic beats, and little improvised reactions based on how well (or how terribly) you bowl. Their presence makes the world feel alive, and it transforms simple bowling into something playful and surprising.

As a mostly solo developer, this project became a deep dive into the full VR pipeline. I had to take the discipline I learned in filmmaking — lighting, staging, timing, sound, and storytelling — and apply it to an interactive medium where everything must also run at a rock-solid 72–90 FPS. Over the competition period, I rebuilt major systems to meet Quest performance targets: optimized shaders, rewrote lane physics, rebuilt lighting for mobile VR, redesigned levels for clarity, and reauthored characters for lower-cost rendering. Each challenge pushed me closer to understanding what it really takes to ship a polished VR title.

One of the biggest updates has been the addition of the Neon Arcade lane, a fast-paced challenge mode with a countdown timer and bold visual style. It provides strong replayability and contrasts beautifully with the cozy Christmas environments, giving the game broader appeal beyond the holiday theme.

The project has taught me that VR rewards clarity, timing, and personality — the same fundamentals as good filmmaking. But unlike film, the player is inside the joke, inside the scene, and inside the moment you’ve created.

Looking forward, I plan to expand Jingle Strike VR with additional lanes, competitive leaderboards, new elf personalities, and optional mixed-reality modes for Quest 3. Long-term, this project is the foundation for returning to my original goal: creating narrative-driven VR experiences built from a filmmaker’s perspective.

My mission is simple: make VR experiences full of character, heart, and humour — something players remember long after they take the headset off.