Adopt a Rock!

A minimalist idle/tycoon game where you adopt and care for a pet rock! Generate "$VIBES" and upgrade your rock with accessories. Simple, satisfying, and perfect for short, frequent mobile sessions.

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About Adopt a Rock

Overview

Adopt a Rock is a minimalist idle/tycoon game that blends incremental progression with whimsical charm. Players nurture a pet rock, generating "$VIBES" (the in-game currency) by tapping. This currency is used to purchase cosmetic accessories like hats, glasses, and mustaches, which in turn boost the passive income ($VIBES/second). The core experience is designed for short, satisfying play sessions on mobile, rewarding both active tapping and idle progression.

The rock itself is an AI-powered NPC, sharing thoughts and jokes, creating a personal connection with the player. A key feature is a high-stakes rock-paper-scissors minigame where players can risk their earnings to dramatically accelerate their progress.

Core Gameplay Loop

  1. Tap: Generate $VIBES and increase your base $VIBES/second earnings rate.
  2. Shop: Purchase accessories to increase your passive $VIBES/second generation.
  3. Gamble: Play rock-paper-scissors. Winning doubles your $VIBES/second rate, but losing cuts it in half.
  4. Compete: Climb the in-room leaderboard by maximizing your $VIBES/second.
  5. Socialize: Interact with your rock, who acts as an AI-powered companion.

The Rock-Paper-Scissors Minigame

To add a layer of risk and excitement, players can play rock-paper-scissors against their rock.

  • Cost: 25% of the player's current $VIBES balance.
  • Win: The player's total $VIBES/second earnings rate is doubled.
  • Lose: The player's total $VIBES/second earnings rate is cut in half.

This high-risk, high-reward mechanic provides a strategic choice for players looking to accelerate their progression.

Target Audience

Adopt a Rock is for casual mobile gamers who enjoy:

  • Idle & Clicker Games: Fans of satisfying, exponential growth curves.
  • Short Play Sessions: Players who prefer quick, 2-5 minute check-ins.
  • Low-Maintenance Fun: Those who like virtual pet simulators but without the constant demands.
  • Lighthearted Entertainment: Anyone seeking a whimsical, stress-free experience.

How We Built It

Tech Stack:

  • Framework: Meta Horizon Worlds (TypeScript/JavaScript)
  • Architecture: Event-driven, component-based system.
  • GenAI Integration: Meta AI powers the rock's NPC dialogue. GenAI was used for textures, audio, and script generation.

Economy Design

The economy is built on an exponential progression curve with carefully balanced price scaling for accessories.

  • Price Tiers: Accessories range from 100 to 50B+ $VIBES, accommodating both new players and long-term idle players with massive offline earnings.
  • Bonus Balance: Each accessory provides a capped bonus to $VIBES/second, ensuring that every purchase feels meaningful and no single item dominates progression.
  • Readability: All large numbers use K/M/B abbreviations for clarity on mobile screens.

Technical Challenges and Solutions

Developing in Meta Horizon Worlds presented unique challenges, which we solved with the following:

  1. Persistence Timing: Player data was loading before the shop inventory was ready, causing equipped accessories to reset.

    • Solution: We implemented a deferred restoration pattern, waiting for the shop to initialize before loading player data.

  2. Networked Player Objects: Horizon Worlds' NetworkEvents cannot serialize Player objects, which blocked leaderboard updates.

    • Solution: We sent primitive player data and resolved the Player object on the client-side.

  3. Asset Management: We needed a reliable way to link accessory assets in the editor to their in-game IDs.

    • Solution: We established a strict and consistent naming convention for all accessory-related assets.

Accomplishments

  • Sliced Sprite System: An elegant solution for layering accessories on the rock without complex positioning logic.
  • AI-Powered NPC: The rock itself has a unique personality with endless thoughts and reactions.
  • Polished UI: A professional, mobile-optimized shop and leaderboard interface.
  • Stability: Robust error handling resulted in a crash-free experience.
  • Balanced Economy: A satisfying progression curve that rewards different playstyles.

What's Next

  • Short-term: Enhanced visual and audio feedback for a more polished feel.
  • Medium-term: More accessories, an achievement system, and social features like visiting friends' rocks.
  • Long-term: A deeper rock personality system, more mini-games, and community events.

Competition Alignment: We designed Adopt a Rock to excel across all judging criteria for the Meta Horizon Creator Competition. Here’s how our world meets each requirement:

Technical (20%)

Our world demonstrates a high level of technical expertise through its robust, bug-free implementation of complex systems.

  • Rich Interactivity: The core gameplay loop is supported by a reliable persistence system, a dynamic shop, and a real-time leaderboard that updates seamlessly across all players in the room.
  • Reliability: We have implemented careful error handling and state management to ensure a smooth, crash-free experience on mobile devices. The game feels solid and responsive.
  • Craftsmanship: Our event-driven architecture and sliced sprite system for accessories are examples of clean, efficient, and scalable technical design.

Visuals and Sound (20%)

The aesthetic of Adopt a Rock is cohesive, charming, and polished, creating a visually appealing experience.

  • Cohesive Design: The minimalist UI, cute rock character, and vibrant accessories create a consistent and delightful art style.
  • Attention to Detail: From the smooth UI animations to the carefully designed accessory icons, every visual element is crafted to enhance the player experience.
  • GenAI Usage: We leveraged GenAI for ambient audio to create a relaxing "rock garden" atmosphere that complements the game's whimsical nature.

Experience Design (20%)

The player experience is at the heart of our design, ensuring that the game is immediately fun and rewarding.

  • Clear Gameplay Loop: Players quickly understand the core loop: tap to earn, buy accessories to automate, and play minigames to accelerate. The fun is easy to find.
  • Mobile-First: The entire experience is designed for short, 2-5 minute play sessions, with a simple one-handed tap interface that is perfect for mobile.
  • Retention: The exponential progression curve, combined with the high-stakes rock-paper-scissors minigame, provides strong reasons for players to return.

Social (20%)

Adopt a Rock fosters a sense of community and friendly competition.

  • Shared Moments: The in-room leaderboard drives social interaction by creating a shared goal for all players. Seeing your name climb the ranks is a powerful motivator.
  • Horizon Social Features: We utilize Horizon's leaderboard system to its full potential, creating a dynamic and competitive social space.
  • Future Social Presence: We have plans to expand the social elements to include friend visits and screenshot sharing, further connecting our players.

GenAI Usage (20%)

We have integrated GenAI in a way that meaningfully enhances the core experience.

  • NPC Personality: The rock's thoughts and reactions are powered by Meta AI, giving it a unique and endlessly varied personality. This turns a simple idle game into a charming companion simulator.
  • Atmosphere: GenAI-powered ambient audio creates a relaxing and immersive environment for the player.
  • Future Integration: We plan to continue using GenAI for seasonal content, new environments, and interactive experiences, making it a core part of our development process.

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