Paws & Profits

Inspiration

To fuse the addictive progression of idle tycoon games with the joy of collecting and customizing virtual pets in an immersive, hands-on social VR environment.

What it does

Players build a pet shop where cute pets generate idle income. The core mechanic is a hands-on Grooming Station where players apply AI-generated costumes to their pets for powerful, temporary profit boosts.

How we built it

The world was built entirely in the Meta Horizon Worlds desktop editor. We used the in-built Generative AI to create unique 3D models for the pets and their costumes. The game's complex logic was prototyped in TypeScript for structure before being implemented using Horizon's visual script blocks for persistence and interactivity.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing the in-game economy for a rewarding progression was the primary challenge. Implementing a reliable persistent data system for all player upgrades using only visual scripts also required meticulous design.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the tactile grooming mechanic, which elevates the game beyond a simple idle clicker. Seamlessly integrating AI-generated assets into a core, rewarding gameplay loop is our biggest accomplishment.

What we learned

We mastered a rapid development pipeline by leveraging generative AI for asset creation directly within the editor. We also learned how to structure complex, stateful game logic within a purely visual scripting environment.

What's next for Paws & Profits

Our roadmap includes adding more pet types, social features like visiting friend's shops, competitive leaderboards, and a "prestige" system for long-term replayability.