8Puzzle Updated!

Shoot alien bunnies!
Solve the puzzles!
Shoot them in 1st person mode!
Hang with friends!
Welcome to 8 Puzzle!
8 Puzzle 2.0

Inspiration

I’ve always loved logic puzzles, and the classic 8-puzzle has a timeless appeal. I wanted to bring it into Horizon Worlds in a way that felt familiar yet exciting. The idea to add alien bunnies you can shoot came from wanting to break the monotony and add a competitive edge that would surprise players.

What it does

8Puzzle Updated! combines traditional sliding-tile puzzle solving with fast-paced bunny shooting. Players race to complete the puzzle while also earning bonus points by shooting alien bunnies that spawn around them. The game tracks both puzzle progress and bunny hits for scoring.

How we built it

The puzzle uses a custom UI grid system that tracks positions and checks for valid tile swaps.
Bunny targets are spawned by a centralized manager, which guarantees unique positions.
A shooting mechanic lets players score additional points by hitting bunnies with projectiles.
All score logic and player actions are handled with Bindings and Player Persistent Variables (PPVs).
UI elements and gameplay are synced per player for consistent multiplayer support.

Challenges we ran into

Ensuring that bunnies never overlap the same spawn location.
Making sure tile animations felt smooth and responsive.
Preventing bugs when players clicked too fast or in rapid succession.
Balancing puzzle-solving and shooting so both feel rewarding.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Creating a fully playable hybrid of puzzle and shooter mechanics.
Ensuring all bunny spawns were unique and dynamic in real-time.
Making the game competitive with scoring that rewards different types of skill.

What we learned

How to combine logic-based UI gameplay with action-based shooting in Horizon Worlds.
Techniques for dynamic object spawning and movement across multiplayer sessions.
How to build systems that scale well across multiple players with minimal lag.