9 Lives

9 Lives

Inspiration

Our inspiration for 9 Lives stemmed from the desire to create an interactive AR experience that combines critical thinking and spatial awareness with a fun, immersive storyline. By leveraging Snap Inc.’s Spectacles and AR capabilities, we built a game that encourages problem-solving and creativity as players guide a cat across a series of dangerous obstacles. With each life, players must adapt and strategize to keep their feline friend safe, providing an engaging and educational experience.

What it does

The player navigates their cat avatar through a series of blockages by building a safe path using a multitude of different blocks. The weightless nature of the blocks allow the player to develop different solutions to save the avatar from its fiery fate. Players face increasing challenges at each level, requiring quick thinking and strategic planning as they construct structures to ensure the cat’s survival. With only nine lives to complete the journey, every decision counts!

How we built it

We built 9 Lives using Snap Inc.’s Lens Studio, utilizing intuitive hand interactions to let players pick up and place objects, creating a seamless and engaging user experience. TypeScript was used to program the core game mechanics, including logic for lives management, so the cat loses a life each time it fails to cross the lava safely. By combining these interactive elements with the immersive AR environment, we created a dynamic gameplay experience that integrates physical and digital interactions.

Challenges we ran into

The greatest challenge was learning an entirely new platform, Lens Studio. None of our team members had prior experience with it, so the learning curve was steep. Initially, we envisioned a cooperative game, but adapting our vision within the hackathon’s time constraints required us to shift focus. We leveraged the resources available to us, including support from Snap’s mentors, to overcome these barriers and bring 9 Lives to life.

Accomplishments we’re proud of

We’re proud of creating a fully functional AR game within a short timeframe and on a new platform. Despite the challenges, our team managed to build engaging levels, incorporate real-world interactions, and develop a visually appealing and interactive experience. Successfully adapting to Lens Studio’s tools and constraints, while maintaining our core concept, was a major accomplishment.

What we learned

We gained valuable experience in AR game development, specifically with Lens Studio. Working on 9 Lives taught us how to optimize our creative vision within technical constraints and leverage real-time feedback. The collaborative experience taught us the importance of adaptability, teamwork, and resourcefulness, especially when working with unfamiliar tools and tight deadlines.

What’s next for 9 Lives

Next, we plan to enhance 9 Lives by adding new levels, unique obstacles, and more customization options for players. We also want to introduce a post-level analysis feature, similar to a chess blunder report, where players receive feedback on their performance and suggestions for improving their strategies. This feature will provide insights on block placement, timing, and structure stability to help players refine their approach for greater success in future levels. Additionally, we aim to explore multiplayer features, allowing friends to cooperate in creating safe paths for the cat, bringing our initial vision of a cooperative game even closer to life. With player feedback, we will continue iterating and optimizing 9 Lives for an even more immersive and educational AR experience.

Asset Credits https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/pendulum-blade-8d65e08374054bc2b427432fd30a2a53 https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/spike-trap-hide-animation-6c9d025f89cd4f80a215d49adc73c5c3 https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/lava-texture-by-andrea-0de8670d7f9548beac8f7263753fd74a https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/martian-rock-material-01-7de04a3d3479451b882abdd2e8b41497 SNAP Asset Library