Inspiration

I made a unique horror game where everything is made of cubes. No zombies, no vampires, no creepy dolls. Just cubes. Players enjoyed the idea and the campaign levels have been well received. The only issue was that once you finished the levels there was not much else to do. I wanted a replayable mode that could also be fun with friends.

Many players kept referencing the Cube movie series. I had never seen it, but since I was building a world made of cubes, I decided to watch them. The movies follow a group of people trapped inside a giant shifting cube full of deadly rooms and puzzles. That idea inspired me to create a mode where players must escape a moving grid filled with traps and challenges.

What It Does

This mode takes place inside a grid of 25 rooms. Each room has four doors and each door leads to another room. Your goal is simple. Find the corrupted rooms, cleanse them by placing the stabilizer device in the center, and then locate the elevator to escape before the timer runs out.

Each room contains something different. Mazes, puzzles, traps, moving cubes, and hazards that slow you down or block your path. Every run feels different and every doorway is a risk.

How We Built It

The mode is built using streamed levels. Only the room you are currently in is loaded, which helps performance on the Quest. This lets me create more detailed rooms while keeping the game running smoothly.

Challenges We Ran Into

The first idea was to move the streamed levels around to create random layouts. This caused major lighting problems and quickly showed it would not work. The solution was to connect rooms with teleporters instead. By randomizing where each teleporter sends you, the grid layout changes every run without ever moving a level. This worked perfectly.

Accomplishments We Are Proud Of

Building 25 unique rooms was a big challenge. I had no way of knowing if the mode would be fun until the entire system was finished. I am glad I took the risk because even in this early version the mode is already a blast to play. Early feedback has been very positive.

What We Learned

I learned that trying something new is always worth it. Even ideas that feel strange or small at first can connect with players in a big way. Experimenting, gathering feedback, and taking risks are important parts of creating something fun.

What Is Next for Scared by Squares

This new mode has a lot of room to grow. I plan to add multiplayer, anomalies to collect, a scoring system, more rooms, and many new ideas based on community feedback. This is only the beginning.