Clonk Obstacle Dash (Over 30 LEVELS)

Inspiration

Inspired by Fall Guys' easy obstacle-race gameplay and Horizon Worlds hits like Chicken Tag (known for its smooth onboarding and repeatable fun), Clonk: Obstacle Dash aims to deliver that same quick, competitive energy in a clay-themed world.

What it does

Clonk: Obstacle Dash is an action-platformer game set in a vibrant clay world where players complete obstacle courses and climb the leaderboards. The game features 20+ levels, short repeatable runs designed for quick sessions, and incremental progression through level unlocks and upgrades.

How we built it

Assets & tools: All environment models were created in Blender and exported into the engine. Some assets exported from Unreal Engine game Gen AI sfx and Gen AI Mesh & Texture Generation Github for code management
Team: Ektor Zoidis--Lead Horizon Gameplay Programmer (Glasgow Caledonian University, BsC Software Development for Games) Lewis McIntyre--Lead Horizon Level Designer (Glasgow Caledonian University, BsC Software Development for Games) Connor Shine (Creative Lead, BsC Physics University of Bristol) Sandy Fisher (Programming Support, BsC Computer Science Abertay University) Lewis Banks (3D Art, University of Middlesbrough) Brian Allen (Studio Director, BBA University of Texas at Austin, ex-Gameloft, Gamehouse)

External Team: Luci Holland, Soundtrack Composer (award winning Scottish video game music composer) https://luciholland.com/

Limitations approach: Levels were split into sublevels to allow world streaming, keeping scene complexity below world capacity. We followed inspiration from 98 levels parkour, chicken tag, and Yeet Yourself for pooling together players into a social experience while also supporting level based progression for single player sessions.

What we learned

Design: Simplicity in core loop produces immediate player engagement.
Horizon editor has very interesting features for being able to actively collaborate and play together during development.
Social elements of cooperation vs competition make for interesting gameplay dynamics when running obstacle courses with friends, sometimes it's fun to knock someone off a ledge :).
Implementation trade-offs: Visual appearance vs. complexity must be balanced per object to keep performance stable. Allowing individual player progression and incentivizing power upgrades has to be balanced with also making the multiplayer experience feel balanced and fair when sessions are combined with new players and experienced players.

Challenges faced

World capacity limitations: Constrained budgets required texture sharing and thorough mesh optimization. We found some issues that occurred sometimes with textures not loading on the streaming and going black but were able to work around these issues by keeping our daily bonus level loaded by default at first.
Managing sublevels & world streaming: Ensuring seamless transitions while avoiding spikes in entity count and memory.

Accomplishments

Delivered a cohesive, playable experience with 20+ levels while staying within the platform’s world capacity limits.
Polished short-run loop tuned for quick sessions and repeat play.
Delivered a highly polished title well within accelerator milestones and developed a clear game structure that can be expanded with further content updates or possibly remixes for allowing other level creators to build more.

What's next

Planning on adding more unique levels, obstacles and enemies.
Add more upgrades, cosmetics, and social/competitive features.
We are developing a new PVP focused world inspired by Chicken Tag's success, but incorporating our unique throwable shooting mechanics and player mobility mechanics like Triple Jump and Dash.