Ruifan ShaoGame designer · Developer

I design space
for players to choose.

Play is how we learn, connect, and create culture. I build flexible systems that give players room to find their own way.

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Scroll to enter the work

Ideas become realwhen you can play them.

Cover artwork for 9 Lives Journey.01

9 Lives Journey

VR Game Design · Development

2023

A VR project documented through its visual development, playable demo, and Quest and Windows playtesting builds.

Cover image for the HoloMenu mixed-reality prototype.02

HoloMenu

Mixed Reality · Interaction Design · Unity

2024

A HoloLens menu prototype where users add or remove ingredients and instantly see the burger update in 3D.

Cover image for the Pulse VR music experience.03

Pulse

VR Experience Design · Music Interaction · Research

2024

A VR DJ experience that turns music, lighting, and environmental change into one responsive world.

Cover image for WispBound.04

WispBound

Co-op Game Design · Godot · Systems Design

2026

An asymmetrical co-op concept where a young girl and a light spirit reshape the world through contrasting abilities.

01 / WispBound

Two roles.
One way home.

Early WispBound concept art and character study
Early concept · Personal project · Godot

WispBound began during a co-op session and grew into a study of contrast: physical and ethereal, light and shadow, independence and trust.

01 · Distinct roles

A young girl moves through the physical world while a floating spirit manipulates light, shadow, and the environment around her.

02 · Living systems

Nature grows from valid anchor points to form temporary paths. Constraints turn a visual idea into a puzzle language.

03 · Shared power

A temporary fusion state changes movement and traversal, rewarding coordination without erasing either player’s identity.

02 / Pulse VR

Don't just hear
the beat. Enter it.

Pulse VR audiovisual environment

Pulse asks how audiovisual synchronization can turn a VR music environment into something personal, physical, and responsive.

Research
Festivals, DJ equipment, interaction media
Prototype
VR interface, scene design, audio-reactive space
Evaluation
Pre/post surveys, immersion and usability
Watch the project film
“Every note should be felt as well as heard.”
03 / HoloMenu2024

Complex choice.
Immediate clarity.

HoloMenu burger customization prototype

A visit to a self-service kiosk raised a simple question: how can extreme customization become more legible than text and numbers?

The answer is a modular 3D burger that updates instantly as people add or remove ingredients. Built with Unity, Blender, C#, and a HoloLens deployment loop.

04 / 9 Lives Journey2023

Every practice
has a first spark.

9 Lives Journey first game project scene

Ruifan’s postgraduate journey—and game-making practice—started here, inspired by a stray cat and a small moment of connection.

The project became a playable VR prototype, iterated through Quest and Windows builds and shared for playtesting.

Curiosity is
part of the work.

Prototypes, material studies, mods, and procedural experiments. A place to learn in public and follow an idea before it has a name.

About / Ruifan Shao

Playful systems.Room to discover.

My work moves across games, mixed reality, interaction design, and digital art—always asking what becomes possible when players have meaningful room to act.

Game designRapid prototypingUnity / GodotVR / MR interaction3D & visual systemsPlaytesting

Have a world worth making?

Let's refine it.