Click Click Boom!

Inspiration

My inspiration for this game was games like Spin the Bottle on Horizons worlds. This type of table top elimination game/experience has proven to work very well with the player base in Horizons and is an easy way to bring people into the social setting of Horizons and get them accustomed to the gaming elements very quickly and intuitively. So when I set out to create Clock Click BOOM! I wanted to create an experience that felt familiar, but also had a different type of experience/gameplay as well. I wanted to create a table top party game that allows for a group of people to socialize, but also compete to be the “Top Dog” so to say at the expense of the other players at the table. I wanted to create a game that blended elements of luck and also strategy to be victorious in a different way than has been done in Horizon Worlds to date. And then I also wanted to create a fun time for people to hangout and have some good laughs.

What it does

The mechanics of the game are fairly simple. Essentially when the players load into the game area you have 10 seconds to pick your spot at the table. Once the round begins, a grenade is placed in front of a player with a detonator attached to it and a clicker synchronized to the detonator. The player has to click the clicker at least once when it’s their turn. They can click it more if they are willing to chance it, but one time is required to remain in the game. After they have clicked the clicker the number of times they choose to, they just have to set the clicker down to end their turn and then the grenade is passed to the next player to repeat the same process. The detonator is set to a random number of clicks each round, every round being different, so you never know which click will detonate the grenade. The goal of the game is to not have the grenade detonate while it’s sitting in front of you and try to be the last one left at the table to be awarded as the winner of the game.

How we built it

Click Click Boom was built with a combination of blender and desktop editor. And scripting was done using code blocks.

Challenges we ran into

There were a few issues that I ran into in the production of this game. When you let go of the clicker I switched the interaction to physics to allow the player to toss the clicker away and prevent them from grabbing it again after their turn was over. So when it switches to the next player and the grab function is turned back on, every now and then Horizons will have a bug where it doesn’t register it as grabbable, or the grab ability is delayed. This mostly seemed to be an issue for vr players though. On mobile it seemed to work flawlessly every time. So wasn’t sure why it was encountering bugs with vr.

And the other challenge I ran into was if a vr player was in there and their headset died and they coin out in the play area the coding doesn’t remove them like it does when a player goes AFK. And the lingering presence of their unresponsive avatar sometimes interrupted the game loop.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I think the one thing I was most proud of with this game is how enjoyable the social element of this game turned out. I published the game a couple weeks before the submission deadline to give time for troubleshooting. So having time to play with multiple groups of people thus far, I found that even though the game is still fun to play in itself, it’s kind of just a catalyst to bringing people together and creating a dynamic where friends or strangers can engage in a fun way and build connections. That was something I didn’t necessarily realize would occur when I created the game, but seeing communities built from engaging in this game is an accomplishment I’m really happy I was able to create.

What we learned

I learned a lot in this process. I learned a lot about the psychology of the players in Horizons and learned how to predict and plan for factors I wouldn’t have thought of prior. Watching people play the game and seeing the different ways they engage taught me how to refine certain aspects and elements that I didn’t initially code in to prevent bugs and unpredictable behaviors to create safeguards for the gameplay.

What's next for Click Click Boom!

Well there’s quite a bit in store for Click Click Boom! For purposes of the competition, I wanted to have the core gameplay mechanic working, with a point system established and at least one upgradable option available (which we do with the ability to purchase skips currently)

But after the competition ends and we are allowed to continue editing the game, the plans are to release a full upgrade store. Players will be able to use the points they accumulate, or purchase more points using meta credits to upgrade gameplay items. We’ll have a series of grenades they can upgrade to which will all have different animations and sound effects that will be unique to each item. Different customizable clickers that will perform different actions as well. And after feedback from players that have already played the game, they voiced that they would like upgradable chairs, and winner animations. So if they win when they get put on the winners podium, a special animation will play for them after they win.

All of these upgrades are currently being developed behind the scenes right now using a custom UI template very similar to how Spin the Bottle runs their store mechanic currently. And similar to that model, we plan to upgrade the store with different tiers and seasonal items as well over time to retain retention. The goal is to have the first phase of the store finished and ready to publish as soon as the competition ends.

Other future plans for click click boom include creating seasonal elimination scenes that players can opt in to as well. So instead of when a player gets eliminated just going back to the load area, they will be sent to a short in between elimination scene before returning to the load area. One example is like when the player gets eliminated they’ll respawn to the gates of heaven and then a loud deep voice will say “it’s not your time yet” and then the clouds below them will part and the player gets catapulted downwards, and then respawn to the load area. The goal is to have a new a different scene like this release every season to offer something new for the player to want to keep returning to the game.

And finally one of the last future plans is to run seasonal tournaments for click click boom as well. We will set up tournaments where players can compete for specific tournament based prizes that will only be awarded at each tournament.

So with all these future plans in the works the hope is to make Click Click Boom! A staple on the Horizons platform built for longevity to retain current users and also be a fun, quick, and easy way to attract new users to the Horizon Worlds platform as well!

Built With

• blender
• codeblocks
• desktop-editor