William Chyr's Avatar

William Chyr

@chyr.bsky.social

Artist and game developer. Designed Manifold Garden, Hotel Infinity, and Strata. Creative Director at Studio Chyr. Adjunct at Columbia College Chicago. https://studiochyr.com/

1,006 Followers  |  191 Following  |  86 Posts  |  Joined: 26.08.2023  |  1.7195

Latest posts by chyr.bsky.social on Bluesky

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We're launching a website.

Jank is an independent PC games website funded by readers.

jank.cool

If you like funny, thoughtful games journalism and can't stand adverts, deals posts, affiliate links, and other nonsense - Jank is for you.

27.01.2026 12:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1078    ๐Ÿ” 336    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 33    ๐Ÿ“Œ 21
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Hotel Infinity is 10% off on Meta Quest: www.meta.com/experiences/...

This is a roomscale-first experience designed entirely around physical movement.

Walk the winding halls and grand ballrooms of a mysterious hotel from your living room without the need for joystick movement or teleportation.

19.01.2026 19:34 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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A 16-year-old baby is born! Miracles do happen. After three years under the Netflix umbrella, Spry Fox is once again a fully independent studio. As a studio, weโ€™ve managed to somehow survive countless industry upheavals and release a whole lot oโ€ฆ

Something positive: Spry Fox is spinning out of Netflix. We are independent (once again!) and preparing to launch Spirit Crossing.

We wrote up a little blog post musing about this wild adventure. Worth sharing the good news.
spryfox.com/a-16-year-ol...

15.01.2026 17:34 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 617    ๐Ÿ” 124    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 34    ๐Ÿ“Œ 15
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Surprise, delight, and bewilder your fuzzy-eared friends with your OWN set of fuzzy ears. ๐Ÿบ

Are you more partial to a set of horns or feathered antennae? Good news - we've got those too! ๐Ÿฆ‹

Express yourself with a variety of mythic animal accessories in Spirit Crossing. ๐Ÿพ

โ†’ playspiritcrossing.com

18.12.2025 18:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 17    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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new game for 7DFPS
polclarissou.itch.io/vermin3000-d...

14.12.2025 17:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 71    ๐Ÿ” 16    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Thank you to @playstation.com and Meta for believing in Hotel Infinity from the very beginning.

Finally, thank you to the rest of the team who contributed their talent to bringing Hotel Infinity to life.

This nomination belongs to everyone who worked on the project!

13.01.2026 03:12 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Thanks to Producer @augustjbrown.bsky.social for moving the project forward and Operations Director Molly Feingold, who supported the team in a variety of ways

Here's an illustration of the team by @matildedraws.bsky.social from when we visited hotels in Chicago for inspiration early in development

13.01.2026 03:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Zyad Elmasri, Gemma Lippman, and Sydney Glenn all helped with QA testing to ensure a smooth experience for players.

QA testing a roomscale VR game for both #MetaQuest and #PSVR2 is not trivial. We would record sessions to see how much the cable got tangled and make necessary design adjustments.

13.01.2026 03:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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@laryssaokada.bsky.social and @ashellinthepit.bsky.social created a beautiful and eerie soundscape that makes the game so much more immersive.

13.01.2026 02:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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@jjerion.bsky.social created the narrative structure to encompass the overall experience

13.01.2026 02:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Tara Quinsac, our concept artist, helped us define the visual details of the environment and the puzzles to make the hotel feel like a real place.

13.01.2026 02:52 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The designers played a major role in pushing the limits of the tech. Oscar De Anda and @nw3d.bsky.social created environments that showcased whatโ€™s possible in VR.

Iโ€™m grateful for the design work that Sydney Glenn, @jacobmooney.bsky.social, and @goodboytan.bsky.social did on the final puzzles.

13.01.2026 02:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Shoutout to @arthurperpixel.bsky.social, our graphics programming consultant, who is responsible for the incredible seamless portals in the game.

Melody Yang also worked on blending lighting through portals, and the final result looks amazing. Image on the left shows portal light blending enabled.

13.01.2026 02:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you to the core engineering team of @buzzjive.bsky.social, @goodboytan.bsky.social, and Melody Yang. They built the technical foundation of the game and the tools that empowered our designers. Making a roomscale VR game with natural locomotion is no easy task, but the team pulled it off!

13.01.2026 02:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Promotional artwork for the VR game Hotel Infinity, featuring a logo that identifies it as a finalist for the 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. The game title, "HOTEL Infinity," is displayed in large, bold red serif font across the center. A thin white horizontal line separates the two words. The background depicts a low-angle, perspective-heavy view of a dense, stylized architectural environment. The buildings are light gray or white with many dark rectangular windows, reminiscent of a classic grand hotel's exterior. A single window at the top right is brightly lit with a warm orange glow, contrasting with the otherwise cool and dark exterior.

Promotional artwork for the VR game Hotel Infinity, featuring a logo that identifies it as a finalist for the 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. The game title, "HOTEL Infinity," is displayed in large, bold red serif font across the center. A thin white horizontal line separates the two words. The background depicts a low-angle, perspective-heavy view of a dense, stylized architectural environment. The buildings are light gray or white with many dark rectangular windows, reminiscent of a classic grand hotel's exterior. A single window at the top right is brightly lit with a warm orange glow, contrasting with the otherwise cool and dark exterior.

This image displays five nominees for the "Immersive Reality Technical Achievement" DICE Award, organized in a table with promotional artwork for each project. Below the art, it lists the game titles, developing studios, and key team members for each entry. The games are: Ghost Town, Hotel Infinity, Marvel's Deadpool VR, Star Wars: Beyond Victory - A Mixed Reality Playset, and Unloop.

This image displays five nominees for the "Immersive Reality Technical Achievement" DICE Award, organized in a table with promotional artwork for each project. Below the art, it lists the game titles, developing studios, and key team members for each entry. The games are: Ghost Town, Hotel Infinity, Marvel's Deadpool VR, Star Wars: Beyond Victory - A Mixed Reality Playset, and Unloop.

Hotel Infinity is a finalist for "Immersive Reality Technical Achievement" at the #DICEAwards from @official-aias.bsky.social!

Hotel Infinity was a team effort and wouldnโ€™t be possible without the contributions from many talented people.

Full list of nominees: www.interactive.org/awards/29th_...

13.01.2026 02:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 33    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
Save 75% on Manifold Garden on Steam Rediscover gravity and explore an Escher-esque world of impossible architecture. Witness infinity in first-person and master its rules to solve physics-defying puzzles. Cultivate a garden to open new ...

Manifold Garden is currently 75% off on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/473950/M...

12.01.2026 19:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 29    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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I hit the button โœ…๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿธ
๐ŸšจBIG HOPS is OUT NOW๐Ÿšจ
Get it on Steam | Switch | PS5 for just $17.99 with our 10% launch discount!
#indiegames #nintendoswitch #ps5

12.01.2026 17:04 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2303    ๐Ÿ” 830    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 85    ๐Ÿ“Œ 127
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BIG HOPS is OUT NOW and to celebrate: meet the Animal Adventurers Bundle. 4 amazing games about being a cute critter exploring a big world. ๐Ÿธ๐ŸŠ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ˜ป
#bighops #ashorthike #lilgatorgame #littlekittybigcity #indiegames

12.01.2026 18:04 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 164    ๐Ÿ” 52    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 9
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The Bears win!

The Bears beat the Packers in the playoffs as their storybook season continues, and Chicago is going wild.

blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/10/b...

11.01.2026 04:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 197    ๐Ÿ” 25    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 5
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IT'S CHICAGO, YEAH ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธ

The Bears erase an 18-point deficit to win their first playoff game since 2010.

11.01.2026 04:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 838    ๐Ÿ” 139    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 18    ๐Ÿ“Œ 59
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subway art test

01.12.2025 19:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 724    ๐Ÿ” 106    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 28    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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vertical slice scene from 2024

10.01.2026 01:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 430    ๐Ÿ” 58    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Wow!! Angeline Era received grand prize and design noms for the Independent Games Festival, plus a shout-out for audio ๐Ÿ†

Very honored for the recognition!! Congrats to co-dev @even-kei.bsky.social !!

How about... beginning your bumpslash journey today?? store.steampowered.com/app/2393920/...

09.01.2026 22:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 228    ๐Ÿ” 37    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 22    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

Congrats! That's huge

08.01.2026 23:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image When you beat some levels in Angeline Era, pieces will be added or subtracted to the world map. E.g. in this image, beating a level actually creates a bridge! This means that in about half the levels there's a new sense of possibility and unknown in what beating the level might take you to. It also allows players to loosely (but importantly, not accurately) anticipate what beating a level might do.

When you beat some levels in Angeline Era, pieces will be added or subtracted to the world map. E.g. in this image, beating a level actually creates a bridge! This means that in about half the levels there's a new sense of possibility and unknown in what beating the level might take you to. It also allows players to loosely (but importantly, not accurately) anticipate what beating a level might do.

Most combat focused rooms in Angeline Era feature Eye Gates (in yellow. Ignore the number above this one). Something that people usually pick up on intuitively, but rarely comment on in reviews, is that every room has a consistent and fastest way to open up the gate and proceed - certain enemies are internally marked, and if you beat enough of them, the door opens. In each room I used intuition to pick which enemies this should apply to, so as you replay levels (especially on higher difficulties) you can start to prioritize and focus on certain enemies.

Furthermore, room shape matters a lot in this game as you can attack enemies into walls for extra damage. Higher ground can be a lot safer, so your positioning matters a lot in this game, as it's crucial to minimizing how riskily you're positioned at any given time. The addition of a gun that only shoots up also allows you to take advantage of distance or keep the momentum up while closing gaps.

Most combat focused rooms in Angeline Era feature Eye Gates (in yellow. Ignore the number above this one). Something that people usually pick up on intuitively, but rarely comment on in reviews, is that every room has a consistent and fastest way to open up the gate and proceed - certain enemies are internally marked, and if you beat enough of them, the door opens. In each room I used intuition to pick which enemies this should apply to, so as you replay levels (especially on higher difficulties) you can start to prioritize and focus on certain enemies. Furthermore, room shape matters a lot in this game as you can attack enemies into walls for extra damage. Higher ground can be a lot safer, so your positioning matters a lot in this game, as it's crucial to minimizing how riskily you're positioned at any given time. The addition of a gun that only shoots up also allows you to take advantage of distance or keep the momentum up while closing gaps.

All of Angeline Era's bosses are intentionally designed to not have much overlap in their designs, since we wanted to display the full creative extent of boss design. In particular, we (usually) avoided the common boss design paradigm of being very focused on memorizing moves, instead wanting the bosses to be an extension of the normal combat: they place a lot of focus on positioning yourself safely rather than simply dodging attacks and waiting until the prescribed moment you're allowed to attack.

One rule we (95%+ of the time) tried to follow is there should never be moments in which you flat out cannot do any damage, which I think made all the bosses have a really nice sense of pacing.

Although not as novel (and mostly noticeable on high difficulties), bosses also generally have an internal 'heat' system where as time goes on and their HP goes down, attacks become more aggressive/faster, subtly aiming to encourage more aggressive play.

All of Angeline Era's bosses are intentionally designed to not have much overlap in their designs, since we wanted to display the full creative extent of boss design. In particular, we (usually) avoided the common boss design paradigm of being very focused on memorizing moves, instead wanting the bosses to be an extension of the normal combat: they place a lot of focus on positioning yourself safely rather than simply dodging attacks and waiting until the prescribed moment you're allowed to attack. One rule we (95%+ of the time) tried to follow is there should never be moments in which you flat out cannot do any damage, which I think made all the bosses have a really nice sense of pacing. Although not as novel (and mostly noticeable on high difficulties), bosses also generally have an internal 'heat' system where as time goes on and their HP goes down, attacks become more aggressive/faster, subtly aiming to encourage more aggressive play.

Yay, Angeline Era is Overwhelmingly Positive (& 88 meta!)! It'd be a great subject for a design video essay.
3 possible topics (details in alt)
1. How beating levels changes the overworld
2. Combat Room shape & the secrets of Eye Gates
3. Positioning-focused bosses
store.steampowered.com/app/2393920

08.01.2026 23:15 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 113    ๐Ÿ” 18    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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๐Ÿ’ต MONEY for GAME? In 2026??? ๐Ÿ’ต

There have been more and more successful-game-devs-turned-game-funders popping up, so here's a lil' thread of some of the more recent ones I've seen.

Hopefully this helps you get some $$$! ๐Ÿ”ฝ

08.01.2026 20:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 597    ๐Ÿ” 159    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6    ๐Ÿ“Œ 7
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We're excited to announce the nominees for the 29th Annual #DICEAwards!

64 games are nominated this year, led by
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ghost of Yลtei with 8,
Arc Raiders, Dispatch with 6,
Blue Prince with 5.

Check out our full list of nominees here: www.interactive.org/awards/29th_...

08.01.2026 19:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 51    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 25
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Hotel Infinity is a finalist for "Immersive Reality Technical Achievement" at the DICE Awards this year: www.interactive.org/awards/29th_...

08.01.2026 18:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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I've overhauled my puzzle level generation so a level is now "grown" like cell tissue in a triangle tessellation. New elements can be inserted anywhere, and the whole level deforms to make room. This makes it easier to control topology and create paths that loops around areas.
#ProcGen #GameDev

04.01.2026 16:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 531    ๐Ÿ” 85    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 18    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
PCGamer writeup on Skin Deep - Best Immersive Sim 2025

PCGamer writeup on Skin Deep - Best Immersive Sim 2025

Skin Deep year-end roundup: blendogames.com/news/post/20...

๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™

21.12.2025 19:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 163    ๐Ÿ” 29    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

@chyr is following 20 prominent accounts