My original 'passion' in the industry came from video games, and I have worked in the games industry for a while, but my 'passion' has since grown to encompass software in general. You may be competing with a lot of people right now and these companies are employing ridiculous interview techniques to cut the fat but perhaps ending up over doing it. I've never stopped writing code, but some of these people interviewing will take the first opportunity to switch to a non-coding role like business analyst and i think the interviewers want to ensure your interest in coding is genuine.
From companies perspective, the bar for technical interviews has become very high. The actual job may not be hard to excel at. However, when the market is flooded with candidates acing this form of interviews, companies don't have to settle for "average" folks.
Given this context, you have one thing in your favor: time. At this stage, put your time to very good use. Practice, rigorous practice, will land you a decent paying job. Experienced people, employed people, people with families are at a severe disadvantage because "Time" for preparation is a luxury they don't have (including me).
Again, I am only providing you anecdotal evidence on how to ace these interviews.
Good luck on your search, my best advice is to change where you are looking.
They'll hire someone locally who knows how to code and has a bit of experience. Companies have a handful of candidates applying to their crappy jobs in 2017. Supply >>> Demand. It reminds me 2008 minus the obvious recovery ahead.