Streetlight Kids: 90s Kid Tycoon

Inspiration

Remember being 10 years old? Doing chores for allowance, saving up for that one toy, and fighting with your siblings over who has the cooler room. Streetlight Kids: 90s Kid Tycoon turns that nostalgic childhood experience into a competitive multiplayer game.

We wanted to capture that specific feeling of the 90s - the Windows 98 aesthetic, the dial-up sounds, the thrill of finally buying something you saved up for. But we also wanted real stakes - not just decoration, but competition.

How We Built It

Built entirely in Meta Horizon Worlds using TypeScript and NoesisUI (XAML) for the interface:

• 32 TypeScript scripts - chore systems, revenge mechanics, room management
• 20 NoesisUI panels - Windows 98 styled menus, shops, notifications
• 49 persistent variables - tracking money, furniture, room inventories
• AI NPCs (Mom & Dad) - voice interaction + autonomous patrol

My family was the QA team - my kids (ages 8 and 10) tested constantly. If they weren't hooked in 30 seconds, I knew something was wrong.

Challenges

• NoesisUI dynamic image binding doesn't always work - refactored to static paths
• PVARs silently reject string values - cost hours debugging
• Stripped all console.log statements for mobile performance

Small problems, but solving them is the difference between a demo and a game.

Future Plans

This is just one house. Next: The Neighborhood Update - multiple homes, street games, neighbor kids with high-risk stealing mechanics. Seasonal events and IWPs coming after we've earned player trust.

Built With

• horizon
• inventory
• noesis
• pvars
• sdk
• typescript
• xaml