TL;DR
"Bipolar Conundrum" is a Mixed Reality game where the player assists an anthropomorphized electric charge in navigating through a series of charged points. Players use their hands and body movements to create connections between oppositely charged points, maintaining the energy flow along a specified path. The game encompasses elements of choreography, encouraging players to engage in deliberate movements reminiscent of disciplines like Yoga, Karate or Tai Chi. Optional syncing of gameplay to music introduces rhythm component and enhances immersion, with potential for multiplayer co-op where players collaborate to solve puzzles and complete levels. Overall, "Bipolar Conundrum" offers a unique blend of puzzle-solving, physical coordination, and rhythmic gameplay in a Mixed Reality environment.
Idea Overview
Here's a more neatly formatted overview with images: https://marekstoj.notion.site/Bipolar-Conundrum-afa01a00e5784b9b9dacbf2cea5745fd
And a Story Book: https://marekstoj.notion.site/The-Story-Book-Bipolar-Conundrum-d15974fc391e4204977fc022c5291684
There is an anthropomorphized electric charge that needs our help! It wants to get from point A to point B within the 3D space. But it needs to follow a specific path of other points (+ / -) along the way. The player uses their hands and body to connect those dots and pass the electric charge between them until it gets to the destination point.
The points on the path might be presented to the player one after another, once the previous connection is made, or all the points can be shown from the get-go (level design).
In order to maintain the energy flow, the player needs to keep grabbing the previous connection point. This would force them to do slow, thoughtful movements. The levels could be designed in such a way that the player would actually perform a specific choreography, or pattern of movements. Think Yoga, Tai Chi, Karate Kata, etc.
Another way to think about it is that the player acts as an Inverse Kinematics solver 😉
Instead of using the body, the player could have (elastic) wires of a specific length they need to hold in two hands and use for making connections. Haptics could be used to provide feedback to the player depending on how much tension the wire has and warn them before it snaps. The game could even instruct the player that they can use a piece of rope, a wire or a string of a specific length and hold it while playing. Now that’s called Mixed Reality 😉
There could be a rhythm component. The points would pulsate to the beat and switch their sign (+ / -). The player can make the connection only with a correct sign (opposite to the last one). This could make them move their hands/body to the beat. During play, the energy (the charge) keeps flowing, ie. going back and forth between two hands. With controllers this could be emphasized with Haptics. The best song for this would be Thunderstruck by AC/DC 🤘
There is potential for multiplayer co-op here, where, for example, two players are needed to make the necessary connections.
Utilized Meta SDKs
- Passthrough - for the player’s comfort and better body awareness
- Scene, Mesh - for procedural generation of levels that makes sure the waypoints are not outside the room or inside the furniture
- Movement - for bigger challenge where the player needs to avoid touching the already made connections with their body
- Depth - for an interesting gameplay where waypoints can be hidden behind the furniture
- Spatial Audio - for audio cues where to find the next waypoint
- Haptics - for immersion and grab proximity feedback
- Interaction - for the User Interface
Download
- App Lab: https://www.meta.com/experiences/7402229306479943/
- itch.io: https://marek-stoj.itch.io/bipolar-conundrum
What's next for Bipolar Conundrum
- Party mode - enable scenarios for players taking turns as well as for co-located multiplayer
- More mechanics - moving waypoints, timed waypoints, etc.
- Improve the algorithm for generating random levels
- Feet - even if just for guidance
- Backstory within the game - assets, narration, etc.
- Better haptics for even greater immersion
- Ability to create, edit and share levels in-game
- Oh, almost forgot. Build a team and get funding 😉
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