Club Gumball

Club Gumball is a VRChat puzzle game that takes the player on a psychedelic journey through the cosmos. You are a "Traveler" who finds yourself on the surface of a strange ultra-colorful planet in front of a massive gumball machine, with nothing but a note saying, "The ship will take you the rest of the way, but first you must activate all three towers." You unlock the towers by descending underground into massive caves with a variety of surreal and vibrant environments, and by solving a series of puzzles that require the precise and timed maneuvering of objects through 3D virtual-space obstacles and mazes.
Upon activation of the 3rd tower, an animation of epic proportions transforms the giant gumball machine into a spaceship. You enter it and leave behind what turns out to be the moon, and pass the earth and the sun on your way to Saturn, which has been foreshadowed all along. It is here that time and space begin to disintegrate, as you are suddenly immersed into The Journey, learning things about yourself by asking questions with no words that have no answer.
On the other side, you find yourself on ancient technological relics where you solve a final series of puzzles, more cerebral than the ones back on the moon, and upon proving your worthiness, are rewarded with the final ascension to the temple where you meet The Source, an interdimensional deity beyond definition. You accept the invitation to join "Club Gumball," the mysterious organization you have been following all along, and you go.......somewhere.
This game reminds us that a journey's significance is often not in the answers found, but in the inexplainable mysteries that call us forward to places we might not otherwise have explored, and expand us beyond that which we have been before

  • Eli Goodale aka Snugdad
    Coding
  • Christopher Lane Davis aka Screaming Color
    Concept, Design, Animation, Music, Everything Else
  • Project Type:
    Virtual Reality, Game
  • Minimum Runtime:
    30 minutes
  • Maximum Runtime:
    2 hours
  • Average Runtime:
    1 hour
  • Variable Runtime Details:
    There are puzzles in the game, so runtime is affected by how long each player takes to solve them. However, note that most puzzles may be bypassed, which significantly reduces the playtime.
  • Completion Date:
    December 21, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    100 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography

Towards the beginning of quarantine, I went on a complete 3 month BINGE of video games, especially "walking simulators." I have always loved video games, but during this time, my love for them really began to settle deep into my heart on a whole new level. I became once more amazed at the emotional stories that can be told, and the importance of those stories, and sometimes without even a single physical character. So I decided...you know what? I'm going to make a video game!
I had never used Unity before, but I had a few years of Blender experience. It was also this same month that I was inspired to purchase VR. I immediately fell in love with the world of VRChat, and decided it was the perfect platform to make my first game. My original intent was to create a world as a way to showcase my music, and my plan was to make a quick, simple world that would just take me a couple weeks....but my inner creator had other plans. Blessed with unemployment, I had the luxury of devoting almost all my time and energy into it, and I'm not exaggerating when I say I worked on Club Gumball quite literally 10-16 hours a day almost EVERY day for 7.5 months. Right about the same time I began, I met Eli, aka SnugDad, who became my good friend and the programmer of Club Gumball. 90% of all the coding was done by him, as he was already rather experienced, though I did learn a little along the way.
Club Gumball has been the most thrilling project I've ever done, and I've decided beyond any shadow of a doubt that VR game/experience design is where I want to focus my career forward.

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Director Statement

Club Gumball was originally intended to be a showcase of my music, and despite all the surprising ways it continued to evolve, at it's heart it remains that. And while most the in-game music is my instrumental work, the theme of all my music is 1) loving yourself will change your life and 2) you have the power to create your world. So for me, the whole situation is meta, because I've now quite literally done that: created a world.
It is my hope that by making people feel small, I can make them feel powerful. When I'm in the majestic mountains of Colorado and look into space, I realize just how infinitesimally small I am. However, the paradox is that this realization FILLS me with the unspeakable splendor of just how grand and powerful this universe is, and that I'm PART OF THAT. Everything in Club Gumball is massive. The gumball machine, the pyramid, the towers, the robots, the planets, the caves, The Source. These environments were left behind by beings so great and powerful we cannot comprehend them. However, these beings are calling US. And for a being so divine to be focused upon us? Well...we must be an important part of this universe then.
Three symbols are repeatedly seen throughout the ancient architecture of the game: peace, love, and brotherhood. Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what heights of technology a civilization might achieve, if we lose sight of those three attributes...we've missed the point entirely.
I love creating the joy in people that accompanies the surprise of learning the world is even cooler than they thought it was, both in and out of the game. I want people to feel awe. Because awe is fun, and that's what games are all about.