Pondering Places

Original title image for the feedback festival
The tile image for the game
The icon instructing players about interactive platforms
When first entering the player is walked through a short tutorial
I love that people are introduced to Pondering Places with a literaly BANG!
I'm proud of how the mini game plays. Could do with some design touchups though :)

Pondering Places is a cozy, social mobile world in Horizon where players fish for questions instead of fish. Using a simple casting mechanic—with a die-shaped bobber that determines your catch—you collect thoughtful prompts called "Ponders" ranging from icebreakers to deep conversations. The more time you spend near others, the more you're rewarded, encouraging real connection through proximity. Each serene space—from glowing beaches to jungle firesides—invites players to explore, collect, and share in a relaxed, heartfelt way. Whether you're digging up worms for your next cast, trading with friends, or unlocking hidden areas, Pondering Places helps players find their social voice, one question at a time.

Inspiration

We tried to imagine what a game might look like that combines fishing games like Bobber Bay Fishing, Pillow VR, and Stardew Valley with conversation games like Card against Humanity, Would you rather, and Get Closer to encourage a deeper level of social interaction. DnD and pokemon are continued sources of inspiration for expansion.

What it does

The game uses players inate desire to collect, explore, and level up to equip them with the tools and environment to build deeper social connection with other players other social games don't explore.

How we built it

We used a combination of Horizon World tools, Visual Studio Code, various AI assitance, Audacity, and Clipchamp.

Challenges we ran into

Creating an proper data system for questions, a reliable fishing mechanic which allows for multiple use cases, and UI multiplayer edge cases often cause the most challenges.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are passionate about helping players unlock deeper connection in a medium that is deceptively isolating and are immensly proud to have created something that aims to tackle this issue. Also really proud of the fishing mechanic. It's unique but also familiar and it unlocks a TON of possibilities.

What we learned

So much! How to access JSON data, custom UI interaction, multiplayer caveats, when to use network vs local events vs broadcast events, how to handle mobile interaction, object pooling, and more!

What's next for Pondering Places

I love this world because dice collisions unlock this whole world of opportunity to use for things like turn based combat or games of chance or catching world creatures. We're playing with a proximity mechanic that will boost XP when friends are close to eachother. We're also working on a UI inventory system to recall collected "Ponders" as well as expand into catching actual fish and other world creatures. We will also be testing age based filtering systems to help players find others with similar interest and limit bad actors
We will be hosting Subject Specific Worlds which have questions from trending pop culture topics like Last of Us, Sabrina Carpenter, Marvel movies, memes and more!