Jetpack Geography!

Jetpack!

Inspiration

Carmen Sandiego and the NYTimes word games collide at high speed with The Rocketeer.

What it does

Jetpack Geography is a way to learn geography and geo-facts with fast paced gameplay. Players are challenged to not only answer location and other trivia questions but have to do so at supersonic jet speed to beat the timer and earn the most points. High scores, fun cosmetic jetpacks and flags and a competitive crown are all up for grabs as players battle it out to earn Points and Stars to climb to the top.

How we built it

Early concept and greybox assets were built inside Meta Horizon desktop editor tools, including generative AI tools. Polished art and other assets were created in 3D modeling tools to replace rough assets and provide final visuals. Highly detailed map assets were modeled using the CIA world factbook and a lot of elbow grease to provide accurate geographical data for gameplay meshes.

Challenges we ran into

Making a raster map look good from far away and up extremely close on many devices while staying accurate and performant enough for play was a real challenge.

What we learned:

The team not only learned more about the tools in Horizon for creation and workflows, but we learned a lot about our own planet as well! Hours of play testing have taught us not only how to tune the flight mechanics of a jetpack, but where Vanuatu is (Oceania).

Accomplishments that we're proud of

It legitimately makes you good at geography. We've lost hours playing it ourselves. Its a game that everyone can play and love.

Whats Next:

More Jetpacks, More Trivia and More Players! The team wants to add in and continue to refine the educational questions in the game, and provide more fun cosmetics for players to earn. Increased player count and bot fill players to provide multiplayer pressure in the race for the crown are on the roadmap as well.