BrainWave

BrainWave - how long can you survive?
Choose your equipment before heading out
Upgrade between runs!
Hang out away from zombies...
Keep moving!
Don't get caught by them!

Inspiration

We wanted to capture the tension and chaos of classic zombie survival games and bring that intensity into short, replayable sessions designed for Meta Horizon Worlds. BrainWave was inspired by those “hold-the-line” moments - when you’re down to your last few bullets, the lights are flickering, and the only way out is through the horde. The goal was to make survival feel immediate, physical, and exhilarating, whether you last 30 seconds or 10 minutes.

What it does

BrainWave is a fast-paced, wave-based zombie survival shooter set in an abandoned warehouse. Players fight off escalating waves of the infected, scavenge cash from fallen enemies, and spend it between rounds on powerful upgrades to boost damage, speed, and survivability.

Each run is a mix of reflex, strategy, and panic - dash through danger, avoid the swarm, and survive as long as you can. Every run earns you rewards and bragging rights on the leaderboard.

How we built it

We built BrainWave around a wave generation system that scales enemy types, difficulty, and rewards dynamically to keep every session unpredictable. The player control system was designed for fluid, responsive movement - combining quickfire shooting with a dash mechanic that lets you escape tight situations or reposition mid-fight.

On the systems side:

Custom UI for health, cash, and wave progress ensures clarity during the chaos.

Co-op play with another player - work together to defeat the horde.

Optimized AI pathfinding lets dozens of zombies chase and surround players without performance drops.

The upgrade terminal offers permanent boosts, letting players shape their playstyle after each run.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing speed, tension, and clarity was the hardest part. Early tests showed that too many enemies felt overwhelming, while too few broke immersion. We reworked spawn pacing, AI targeting, and dash cooldowns until the flow felt both fair and frantic. We also hit performance challenges when testing large wave counts - requiring heavy optimization of object pooling, hit detection, and VFX systems.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a smooth, high-intensity survival loop that rewards both skill and smart upgrades.

Created a moody, cinematic warehouse atmosphere.

Maintained stable performance across devices, even during peak wave chaos.

Designed a clean, tactile Custom UI that feels at home on mobile and web.

What we learned

We learned how to make short, session-based gameplay feel satisfying and complete. Every run needed a beginning, middle, and end - tension, payoff, and a reason to start again. We also deepened our understanding of real-time AI optimization, user flow clarity, and how to make player feedback loops (damage, pickups, upgrades) feel instantaneous and rewarding.