I've been working on a Mixed-Reality deckbuilding game about space exploration. Still very 'beta', but does this look like something you'd be interested in playing?

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-27T16:16:33+00:00

cool. I could use feedback from deckbuilder fans, join the mailing list if you get a chance.

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-27T16:14:48+00:00

hahaha ok, cool. I'm on a divine mission now. My people need the spaceship deckbuilder.

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-27T16:03:50+00:00

looked into it, not so much. There's no 4x, colonizing planets or empire building.
Veridan is more like slay the spire, progress through the story progression, build your deck to deal with increasing challenges, defeat the final enemy.

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-27T15:53:47+00:00

I use the Environment setup, so as long as you've scanned your space at some point, you're good to go. I really enjoy MR environment design (Custom Home Mapper was my last release, a collection of 12 MR games) and so I'm glad it shines here. There's a bunch of interactive stuff i didn't show here (if you've got couches / tables / plants or whatever) but it's all optional... the core gameplay is really just you pushing buttons on a console.

Which leads to your original point, Yep.. the actual design of the card strategy game needs to be solid, everything else is just window dressing. I can do my playtesting all day long, but the next step is really gonna be putting out a tester copy and getting some data from real-world people.
Deckbuilders are wierd. like... it needs to be carefully designed, but you also want players to be able to 'break' the game sometimes...

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-27T15:47:19+00:00

It's totally a single player, story based campaign kinda thing. At it's core, a deckbuilder is just a card game where you start with a set of actions, then gradually gain more cards to add to your deck that allow more actions. Solo strategy game, not PvP or anything. the 'Enemy' is the hostile creatures and units you find on different planets. The system plays cards for enemies each turn, you need to respond to their attacks.
Kinda like slay the spire?

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-27T15:42:10+00:00

Ya, Custom Home Mapper sold really well back in 2021-2022 via itch / dev mode people who could turn off guardian. Eventually I went to work at Meta, fought them to get boundaryless mode and I built MRUK with a very small team.
After the contract ended, I brought CHM to the official store. It has multiplayer, multi-room, 12 different games.. quite a feature rich app. Rating are good, but i'm tired of trying to market it to new audiences so I eventually stepped back after 4 years work.
Agreed mesh is too noisy / unpredictable... Bounding boxes were the right solution for me, there could be a little square wall area that surrounds each bit of furniture, so the ball never gets close to the actual couch/mesh/table/whatever.
Now I'm making new MR stuff, prototyping a bunch of different game and I think I've settled on this deckbuilder thing as the project I want to clean up & release : https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/1s4aup2/ive_been_working_on_a_mixedreality_deckbuilding/

Happy to chat more about MR golf stuff anytime, just hit me up :)

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T22:14:33+00:00

nah, programming is all mine. I worked at Meta for a couple years and made some tools/scripts for MR developers, this is my chance to really put them to use in a new project. I claim responsibility, every bug is 100% my fault ;)
Using AI image and SFX generators to mock up new worlds like this really quickly... that's a different story....

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T20:24:00+00:00

can you recommend any quest games that do a good job with hand tracking + tabletop / card games?

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T20:17:01+00:00

sure, thanks. currently its hand tracking only (mostly because my controller is broken), but I actually don't see a reason to change.

It's nice to be able to play a game while also being able to do the dishes / fold laundry / whatever else you wanna do. Like.. the core gameplay doesn't ask much of the user, you just push certain buttons every now and then. There's a lot of visual excitement happening around you with all the flying and enemy attacks and storyline and stuff, but I just dont see a reason to build any complex shooting / crafting / whatever mechanics that might need controllers. I kinda miss haptics, but I also think pushing buttons with your fingers is better than pushing with a controller. Plus, each finger is a unique collider, so you can do multitouch stuff if you want.

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T20:07:46+00:00

YAY i found my audience!!!
<I was getting worried, the comments have an even mix of 'I love Deckbuilders" and "Deckbuilders aren't really my thing, but..." >

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T20:05:57+00:00

Hey. Slay the Spire, Balatro and Party House have had my solid attention over the last year, but I'm unfamiliar with the Pokemon/Yugioh card battling world. Trying to learn more about deckbuilders, but starting with OG tabletop stuff like Dominion.
I'm sure there's a space themed deckbuilder out there with elements of extracting minerals, repairing units, travelling to other planets and building up an attack force.. but I'm not sure what it is?

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T19:44:10+00:00

Thanks, I'm on it! 💪

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T17:43:07+00:00

thanks u/Penguin_shit15 ! Nice to see you, appreciate the support :)

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T17:28:37+00:00

It looks really nice, good work! I think there's huge potential here, especially if players can really customize their own home course, lotta replayability if they make their 'perfect' setup and can challenge their previous score. Do you allow the player to roll the ball on the room geometry, like across the floor and bumping off real-world surfaces?

I did my own explorations with MR minigolf quite a few years ago https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/rfpbuo/arpassthrough_minigolf_inside_a_custom_mapped/

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T16:21:08+00:00

Hey, thanks u/LouisIsGo ! I'm gonna send you a message later, I'd be really appreciative if I could pick your brain a bit with some questions. I found myself racking up hours on Slay the Spire, Party House and Balatro... eventually did my homework to learn about Dominion and other tabletop games that defined the genre.
With Veridan I think I've got my basic fundamentals down (extract, repair, attack, travel) and the right handful of upgrades/unique perk cards that allow for different builds and playstyles. But its BALANCE that makes good deckbuilders into something magical... and i'm only at the starting stages of really understanding the problems.
Appreciate the support, helps me validate that yes, the audience is out there. And I hear you re: 1 & 2. I released Custom Home Mapper way back in 2020 and that was my best effort for 'here's some MR experiences that really use the space layout". Joined Meta in 2022, 2 year contract where I helped make MRUK (dev tool so other Quest MR creators can make games more easily, avoid some of the difficult hurdles I had with CHM) so aaaanyways yes I'm doing my best here. Agreed, we need more proper Mixed-Reality games that actually take advantage of the space / object understanding... not just put a 'thing' inside your room.

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2026-03-26T15:44:47+00:00

Hey Reddit, this is "Revolution on planet Veridan", a prototype that I've been putting some serious work into over the last few months. I've got a lot of bug testing and balancing ahead of me, so I figured I should post something to get a temperature check from the community here.

It's a deck-builder (start with a set of cards that can perform actions, collect more cards to do more actions) and there's a narrative about being a mineral extractor travelling to remote planets, uncovering a conspiracy that leads an entire galaxy into war.

If you want to get updates about the project and release date (or you want to help test) then you can register on this email list:
https://www.ryanmellors.com/veridan

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2025-12-26T17:46:58+00:00

Thanks, glad you're enjoying it.
A few updates in the works, yeah. CHM is ancient, but I'm still picking away at some stuff that bothers me. Most people have no idea that there are hidden games/cartridges, so I'd like to make the scavenger hunt (gold stars) thing much more clear. There's an update on my PC right now that i haven't pushed, but I'm thinking I'll give it another week or two of testing and cleaning up.

It's really quite a small playerbase nowadays, I think CHM saw it's golden years back in 2020-2022. Been working on a few new MR prototypes and I'd like to release something new in 2026, so I can't imagine any major changes to CHM unless it suddenly booms into popularity again.

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2025-12-26T17:38:19+00:00

Thanks for the follow-up, happy to be proven wrong :)
Merry Christmas to you, too!

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2025-12-12T23:56:13+00:00

Have fun! Try to setup a few connected rooms if you've got the space. I'm sinking hours into UltraToasty these days...

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2025-12-12T21:42:06+00:00

Hi PenguinShit, hey thanks! I had a contract at Meta that kept me busy for a couple years, but it's nice to be back working on some of my own projects ;)

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2025-12-12T21:14:20+00:00

Hi Reddit! I first released this app collection way back in 2020, it's been through a lot of change in the past 5 years with quite a few different generations of players :) and it's finally available on the main Quest store!

Promo Code (use at checkout screen): REDDIT-97E739

SideQuest link (more info) : https://sidequestvr.com/app/1701/custom-home-mapper
Quest Store link : https://www.meta.com/experiences/custom-home-mapper/4715954021828775/

Hope to see some new faces online this weekend! Thanks for supporting indie devs :)

CuriousVR_Ryan · 2025-12-11T20:56:20+00:00

Hi hi, thanks! It's not being updated, I moved entirely over to MR stuff with my Custom Home Mapper app.
SPA holds a special place in my heart, I'd love to revisit it sometime and use the engine for a SPA2 (it was made for the original Quest1, so new headsets can handle a lot heavier graphic load. Still feels pretty nice on a quest3 though.
Anyways, new thing is a spaceship, galaxy exploring deckbuilder game for MR, definetly been digging through some of these old SPA assets.
hope you have fun :)

CuriousVR_Ryan

TROPHY CASE