MR and VR games offer unique, immersive experiences for players when compared to other kinds of gaming experiences. Our research has found that there are some common MR and VR game design pitfalls that can hinder the gaming experience. This guide outlines seven design decisions, identified by our researchers in games played on Meta Quest devices, that can enhance user satisfaction.

Consider that while the average gaming session on PC lasts over an hour, in VR it’s typically shorter. It’s vital to ensure players quickly grasp what your game is about, and that the gameplay aligns with expectations set by the store, art, or promotional materials. Avoid lengthy non-interactive cinematics that don’t advance the story or tutorials that don’t enrich the game context. Equally important, provide players with a sense of progression or achievement early in the game. Ideally, this should occur within the first 30 minutes, considering VR players might end sessions sooner than PC players.

Both new and experienced players might forget the location of the A/B and X/Y buttons on their controller. With a headset on, they can’t glance down at their controllers. Instead of making them remove their headset or strain to peek underneath, assist players in locating the button. You can use a virtual controller, a diagram showing the entire controller (not just the button), or enable passthrough.

Common methods to pick up objects in MR and VR are:

Ensure players have ample opportunities to practice object interaction in a relaxed, untimed environment. If your game uses the trigger to grip objects and players are expected to hold something (like a weapon) for a long period, consider a toggle to grip option to alleviate hand fatigue.

Accidental item drops will happen frequently. Avoid forcing players to bend down to pick up items. Implement a suction or summon effect to retrieve dropped objects and ensure players can easily spot the dropped object on a cluttered floor. Be careful; physics might cause objects to roll far from where they were dropped.

A Meta survey found that 40% of MR and VR players don’t recognize the term vignette. Additionally, more than a quarter of these players were unaware that vignettes aim to reduce Visually Induced Motion Sickness (VIMS). Group comfort options together in the settings menu, like smooth/snap turn, teleport, and vignette. Also, explain their purpose.

Better yet, allow players to choose between Comfort vs Immersive settings, rather than adjusting individual settings.

Text on the edge of players’ field of view can be difficult to read with peripheral vision. Avoid locking the text in a player’s periphery, which can prevent players from centering the text by moving their head. In addition to reading, consider multimodal cues like voiceovers (with subtitles) or visual diagrams placed in the world.

Players may struggle to understand a gesture through text or audio description alone. Provide an animation, video, or mirror to assist visual learning. This is applicable to hand gestures as well as full motion gestures like leaning or putting hands together. For hand gestures, ensure you use the correct wording to describe the gesture; selecting something with hands is typically a pinch, not a tap.

Expect that approximately half of players will play sitting down, while the other half will prefer standing. Players may also alternate between the two as they tire or become more engaged with the gameplay. Unless the game strictly requires one mode, ensure players can enjoy the game in both sitting and standing positions. If players decide to change positions, the game should provide a quick way to recalibrate the player’s height in the virtual world.