House of Hype

The House of Hype is a massive, year-long project: a futuristic arcade playground in Riyadh developed by Hyperspace and built by DE-YAN. Across dozens of interactive touchpoints, visitors step into games, environments, and fashion-forward digital experiences that merge pop culture with cutting-edge technology.

I worked on the project for nearly a year, contributing to ideation, game design, and development across multiple zones. My primary role was lead Unreal Engine development, building a suite of core arcade titles, plus systems integration and dev support across the broader ecosystem.

MetaServices (Lead Development)

A collection of five original arcade games distributed across the park. I was the primary developer for all:

• Hyper Monster Moon Tennis – A tennis-racket-wielding astronaut faces off against a giant head on the moon.
• Operation Pegasus – Mythical horses race to earn their wings and fly farther than ever before.
• Kernel Panic – Kernie, the last popcorn in the bag, dodges grasping hands in a frantic survival run.
• Space Parasites – An omnipotent space cat enlists your help in counting and destroying alien parasites.
• Sneaker Stacker – Stack sneakers through time and space as they evolve into new forms.

Body Games (Dev Support)

Powered by NVIDIA Maxine for body tracking, I provided development support on three motion-driven games:

• No Running in the Hallways – Strike poses to escape detention, culminating in a pose-off boss fight.
• Synth Cycle – Lean left and right to survive a neon motorcycle gauntlet.
• Beat Bash – A rhythm game where players match directional notes with hand movements.

Avatar Labs (Dev Support)

Guests answer strange personality questions to generate an AI-driven avatar archetype from hundreds of thousands of possible outputs, usable throughout the park and app.

Echo Park (Dev Support)

Guests dance in a virtual production setup, watching their avatars mirror their moves inside stylized environments.

Drip Fits (Core Contribution)

A futuristic fashion photo booth. I developed the system for unwrapping any face onto a 3D mesh in TouchDesigner, then integrated it into Unreal Engine to output high-resolution editorial-style portraits.

Feelz (Material Dev Support)

A room-scale, three-wall projection game using nDisplay. With a custom wand, guests chase animated dots across the environment.

Floor is Lava (Game Design / UX)

Using LiDAR and projection mapping, I designed a system that projected obstacles onto the floor. Guests had to dodge hazards, losing lives with each misstep.

Other Experiences

• UDesign – Voice-driven custom sneaker design (no direct involvement).
• StarMakers – Multiple TouchDesigner photo booths with AI/sticker-based outputs (no direct involvement).

My Role

Across House of Hype, I was responsible for:

• Primary Unreal Engine development (MetaServices, Drip Fits, integration across the park).
• Game design and UX (Floor is Lava, Court Cutter-style mechanics, etc.).
• Custom circuits and interactive systems (magnetic triggers, face-mesh unwrapping).
• Cross-team support on nearly every major experience.

This project represented a year of work, blending art, technology, and culture into one of the most ambitious interactive entertainment destinations in the world.