Inspiration
Border Security was inspired by the idea of turning a normally tense, bureaucratic border checkpoint into a chaotic VR playground. We wanted to mix the pressure of real inspections with over-the-top, cartoonish situations: smugglers hiding ridiculous contraband, strange vehicles, and a border officer who has to keep up with it all. The low-poly, colorful art direction supports this lighthearted tone while still letting players feel like they’re running a “serious” checkpoint.
What it does
LINK to pitch: link
The game puts you in charge of a VR border crossing. Cars arrive one after another and you must scan, search and judge each visitor. You’ll inspect IDs, scan vehicles, rummage through trunks and hidden stashes, then decide whether to accept, reject or arrest people. Every interaction is physical: you grab objects, toss things around, and uncover secret contraband in a “find-them-all” style hunt under strict time pressure.
How we built it
We built Border Security as a VR title focused on physics-based gameplay. Our core systems handle scanning and detection, object interactions, and time-limited inspection rounds. We designed the environment as a compact, readable checkpoint that still feels alive, with animated signage and a busy border lane. The art team used a low-poly style and bright palette to keep performance high while delivering a fun, stylized look that works great in a headset.
Challenges we ran into
Balancing chaos with clarity was one of the hardest parts. With so many interactable objects and hidden spots, it was easy to overwhelm players or make objectives unclear, so we had to iterate a lot on pacing and level layout. We also spent time tuning time limits so they create pressure without feeling unfair and balancing hand tracking with traditional controllers so both feel responsive and natural. Finally, integrating humor into a system that’s fundamentally about rules and procedures required many iterations on character behavior, visual gags and contraband ideas.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
e’re proud that we captured “border chaos” in a way that feels energetic, funny, and accessible. The checkpoint looks alive, the characters are expressive, and there is always something to poke, flip, scan, or throw around. We also like how the core loop-scan, search, decide, process-remains clear even as situations get weirder and more intense. Seeing players instantly understand the controls and start messing with everything was a big win for us.
What we learned
We learned how powerful physics-driven interaction is for immersion: when everything can be grabbed and manipulated, even simple tasks feel engaging. At the same time we discovered how hard it is to tune these interactions so they’re precise but still playful. Hand-tracking, in particular, turned out to be both technically difficult and very promising; it’s challenging to develop robustly today, but we see it as a key part of VR’s future, so we began laying the groundwork for it now.
What's next for border security
Next we want to expand replayability and depth: generate almost endless smuggler configurations, add more inspection elements and hidden vehicle compartments, and introduce new tools to scan, probe, and dismantle suspicious areas. We also plan a smoother difficulty curve so players move from simple checks to complex multi-step investigations. Over time, we’d love to push hand-tracking further and explore advanced interactions that make you truly feel like a seasoned border officer.
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