KO Kickoff: Punch & Score

A scenic canyon view from the lobby with aurora skies and a floating balloon.
Fast-paced gameplay with punches, goals, and teleporting across the arena.
A campfire spot where players gather to chill before or after matches.
Victory screens in KO Kickoff make every win feel legendary.

🧠 Inspiration

KO Kickoff (Party Game) was inspired by three things we love: classic soccer mechanics, the chaotic physics of Rocket League, and the intensity of boxing.

We asked ourselves: what if players didn’t kick the ball - but punched it?
That twist led to a new kind of gameplay.

Our vision was to place players in a mysterious canyon, where one day a stadium was discovered - with no explanation for how or why it exists. People began to gather, creating their own rules and organizing matches.
Maybe one day, we’ll find out who built it.

🛠️ How We Built It

Mikolaj led world design, UX, visuals and gameplay balance. Alessio handled scripting and game systems using Horizon’s TypeScript V2 API. We focused on responsive gameplay, clean UI, a beautiful environment, and an adaptive camera for mobile.

To speed up development and iterate faster, we used AI tools like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Gemini for code and design support. For 3D assets and visuals, we used Blender and Photoshop.

🚧 Challenges

One major challenge was making the punch mechanic feel responsive and natural, especially when syncing interactions between the glove, ball, and players. We developed a system that registers punches, avoiding collision glitches.

Another difficulty was handling complex script communication - who scored, team status, goal resets - across networked clients, without sacrificing smooth performance.

Working on a mobile sports game presented a challenge in developing a camera system that was both dynamic and easy to use on mobile devices. We successfully achieved this by combining various camera tracking techniques.

🏆 Accomplishments

✅ Built our first complete world in the MHW Desktop Editor
🔁 Created reusable game systems for future projects
🎨 Proud of the consistent visual style and strong aesthetics
🎥 Developed a mobile-friendly camera system that feels smooth and intuitive
🥊 Designed addictive core mechanics that make each match feel satisfying

🚀 Next Steps

We plan to expand KO Kickoff with:

🏟️ Expanded lobby - more ways to train, play, and hang out between matches
🧢 Player customization - headgear, glove skins, and visual effects to stand out on the field
🎮 New gameplay modes - beyond teleports and the golden ball, more chaos, more strategy
🛠️ Smoother gameplay - better feel, better flow