Inspiration
We have partnered with Floppy Club to reimaging their 2D flat screen puzzle Game Rytmos as a Mixed Reality spatial music puzzle game . As XR Devs, we saw an opportunity to free Rytmos from its flat 2D screen and bring the game’s meditative, music-generative puzzles into physical space through Mixed Reality. Our vision was to reimagine Rytmos so that players could walk around its cubic worlds, solve puzzles with their hands, and build layered soundscapes in real-time — all from their living rooms. The result is Rytmos MR: a spatial, hand-tracked, and immersive celebration of global music.
What it does
Rytmos MR investigates the concept of reimagining a flat-screen game and bringing it into a mixed reality space: Players solve mazes on rotating cube-planets using hand gestures. Each completed path unlocks audio loops, building up evolving musical compositions. When a planet is completed, it unlocks a playable instrument in your room. Includes themed planets inspired by real-world music (e.g. Germany, Japan, and a new Australian planet celebrating the Fairlight CMI).
The prototype includes a one complete musical planet, and a second "bonus" Australian-themed planet.
How we built it
Unity 2022 LTS using Meta XR SDK, Interaction SDK, and hand tracking. Puzzle logic adapted from Rytmos’ original mechanics to a fully spatial interface. Audio powered by FMOD and Unity Audio Mixer. Hand-tracked gesture system built with interaction affordances (grabbing, dragging). Environment-aware layout using passthrough MR to ground puzzles in physical space. Level design and spatial audio authored with input from Floppy Club (original creators). Asset optimisation for Quest 2/3/3s performance including LODs, batching, and baked lighting.
Challenges we ran into
Project challenges included:
- Translating flat screen touch-based controls into intuitive 3D hand-tracked actions.
- Ensuring spatial puzzles didn’t overwhelm users in passthrough MR.
- Balancing musical feedback so loops evolve without becoming repetitive.
- Repurposing game assets and mechanics originally designed for a flat-screen game
- Implementing hand tracking and actions
- Adding passthrough video effects
- Keeping frame rates smooth across Quest 2 and Quest 3 hardware while using layered audio and spatial graphics.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Taking the core gameplay and concept and re imagining it into mixed reality.
What we learned
Translating a successful 2D puzzle game into Mixed Reality isn’t a straight port — it requires rethinking interaction, spatial design, and pacing. Hand tracking offers an intuitive and magical way to interact, but demands precision in UX and robust fallback behaviours for different player setups. Sound-based feedback is critical — spatial audio helps reinforce progress and immersion, especially when traditional UI is minimised. Prototyping culturally themed planets, like our new Australian Planet, taught us to approach representation with care, respect, and creativity — leading to the celebration of the Fairlight CMI instead of overused instruments. Playtesting early — even in rough builds — gave valuable insights into player comfort, tutorial needs, and musical satisfaction. MR players crave meditative, tactile experiences that blend puzzle-solving with creativity — and Rytmos MR delivers a unique balance of both.
What's next for Rytmos MR
More Musical Planets: Continue adding/reinterpreting the 25 puzzle planets to MR Expanded Tutorial & Onboarding: voice-guided tutorial system to help first-time MR users ease into spatial gameplay and hand-tracked interactions — crucial for onboarding broader audiences. Accessibility & Comfort: We’ll be implementing options to adapt gameplay for seated players, visually impaired users, and various play space sizes. Community Testing & Feedback: Our early prototype will be shared in limited testing rounds to gather feedback from both casual players and educational/music tech experts.
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