Cyber Tag

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  Use Fun Abilities

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  Solve Minigames!

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  Catch the Runners!

Inspiration

No one is willing to sit through a boring lecture about internet safety. However, there are millions of dollars stolen every year due to careless mistakes when handling personal data on the internet. It's a crucial skill for everyone in the modern age to know the basic skills of keeping their privacy protected. This includes things as simple as making a strong password, and ignoring suspicious emails or product listings. As developers, we saw an opportunity to use Roblox to create a gamified experience where these habits can be implicitly reinforced as players spend time on the game.

What it does

In Cyber Tag, players are teleported to a digital 3D realm that resembles a real-life representation of the internet. Inspired by Disney's Ralph Breaks the Internet, we recreated interactive buildings and structures that are modeled after popular apps on the internet. We included Bloxify as a music player with a DJ and disco dance floor in the building, a BloxMail office for mail, and more additions that players would recognize.

The game starts with multiple runners who run around the map completing tasks, simulating an everyday web surfing experience. They can travel through teleport links to get between buildings quickly, and once inside, they can interact with the terminals, allowing them to play a minigame. Each minigame reinforces an important web skill used on that website. For example, JungleBlox includes a challenge where the users sorts between legit and scam product listings based on reviews and descriptions. After each successful completion, runners can block off teleports by setting a password. Completing the mission list of challenges allows the runners to win the game.

The game would be too easy without an element of pressure, so we added a hacker, who chases around the map, following the clues and digital footprints left behind by the runners. Hackers also have access to a digital arsenal of malware gadgets to trap the runners:

Brute Force: allows hackers to exploit weak passwords and break down teleport gates faster. However, if the runner uses a strong password with multiple symbols and characters, it will be less effective

Web Crawler: tracks the runners with a purple outline, giving the hacker “wall hacks” and making the exposing the runner’s position

Virus: slows down every runner in a certain building, also blocking off teleports in and out of the building

Once a player is tagged by a hacker, they also switch to the hacker team, and the game lasts until the runners finish their tasks or time expires.

How we built it

We primarily used Roblox Studio for world building and model design. For scripting, we integrated the rojo tool and used Claude Code to speed up the development process.

Challenges we ran into

During our brainstorming process, we had trouble validating our game loop and deciding if the game was worth building out due to our time constraints. We weren’t sure if the game would feel like a glorified cyber safety quiz with extra steps. However, adding the hacker hide-and-seek concept helped us add an element of pressure and danger, making the game more fulfilling to play.

We initially had an idea to create a problem solving game where we investigated the digital footprint by matching traces of internet activity. However, the game loop wasn’t engaging enough.

Running out of API credits for the Roblox Generative tool was another challenge, so we ended up making most of the models by hand. Additionally, navigating the Roblox Studio for the first time was challenging and felt clunky at first. One of our members had never played Roblox before so learning the framework and style of Roblox games was a big first step.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Building quickly as a two person team. We were quick to recognize dead ends where it felt like we were stalling, and we quickly scrapped bad ideas rather than sinking excessive time into it. For the time given, I am proud of how detailed we were able to make our world.

We both have never used Roblox Studio before, but we were able to pick it up fairly quickly and move from concept to a working prototype. We are both looking forward to using Roblox to build out more game ideas in the future.

What we learned

It’s important to prioritize brainstorming and locking down an amazing game concept, because the programming and development can be accelerated with generative AI, but a creative and novel idea takes time to meaningfully create.

Making a game loop that is repeatable and rewarding is the most important indicator for success in a game. With the time given, it is impossible to use great world design as a crutch if the game feels soulless and boring to play through.

What's next for Cyber Tag

We hope to expand the current map to include a many more applications and websites, such as Youtube, Netflix, Ebay, Instagram, etc. Each one would feature a building where the runner could learn about how to be digitally safe while on that app or website. Additionally, we would love to be able to create more abilities for the hackers to raise awareness to the types of weapons used in the digital realm today.

Built With

• claude
• roblox