Retro Christmas Cookout - HK Tea Cafe Chaos

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Inspiration Retro Christmas Cookout was inspired by real Hong Kong Christmas menus from the 1950s–1970s that have resurfaced as viral posts across diaspora communities. Seeing how people reminisced revealed a strong desire to reconnect with everyday memories—not just to look at them, but to feel them again. I wanted to explore how this nostalgia could become something people actively experience and participate. Retro Christmas Cookout transforms these viral memories into playable experience—players step into a 1970s tea café, cook authentic dishes, and feel the rhythm of Christmas Eve service as it was actually lived in working-class Hong Kong.

What it does Retro Christmas Cookout is a mobile-first cooking game set on Christmas Eve in a 1970s Hong Kong tea café. Players recreate vintage holiday dishes by completing recipes under time pressure, then face unpredictable shakedown moments requiring quick decisions to protect their earnings. Interactions are intentionally exaggerated and lighthearted to keep the experience playful and accessible. Earnings submit to a global leaderboard with locked scores, encouraging strategic timing and repeat visits. All interactions are optimized for single-hand portrait mode play.

How I built it Built in Meta Horizon Worlds Desktop Editor with mobile-first focus. I leveraged Focused Interaction API and Gesture Library for tap-based interactions, Camera API for mobile comfort, and Persistent Variables for the seasonal leaderboard. Historical menu references informed dish progression, while Lo Pan Lurn and gangster NPCs control pacing and create lighthearted tension.

Challenges Balancing cultural specificity with global accessibility while introducing tension without overwhelming mobile players through short, visually clear interactions.

Accomplishments Creating playable cultural memory from archival menus; building an addictive mobile loop with risk-based economy; balancing cultural specificity with accessibility; designing cozy atmosphere that supports both relaxation and strategic tension.

What's next Expanding into era-specific uniforms, daily challenges, and NPCs of grumpy and fun customers—building a living archive where players experience decades of Hong Kong working-class dining culture, one shift at a time.

World ID: 924769240713422