Forum Discussion

interlocked's avatar
interlocked
Start Member
18 days ago

Building a VR Burr Puzzler: Interlocked

Hi everyone! For a while now I've been working on a burr-puzzle  mechanic in VR, specifically for Meta Quest. I finally have a trailer and a playable and I want to share some initial thoughts:

The game is called Interlocked: Puzzle Islands, and it's based on a Flash(!) and a mobile game mechanic I did a while back. The new game revisits this concept in VR with new visuals, a little story arc, and 30 licensed puzzles by burr puzzle designers from around the world. And I was lucky enough to ship the game to the Meta Quest Store along with the VR Games Showcase! It was awesome seeing it during the live stream. 

The main struggle at the moment is building a community around the game. I had to put future updates on hold (hand tracking, puzzles packs, etc.) until I figure this one out. I've been getting positive feedback overall, including a review from UploadVR, but it's hard to get traction in this niche for a single player game. 

I'm well aware discoverability is always a challenge, but I'd be super interested to hear how other devs manage building a community around single player Meta Quest games and learn more. What are some best practices for a Meta Quest Store game? 

Interlocked: Puzzle Islands-

https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/interlocked-puzzle-islands/7115743118544777/

Thanks!

2 Replies

  • Degly's avatar
    Degly
    Start Partner
    17 days ago

    Nice concept! I have seen lately that puzzle games can work well on Quest, but you need to manufacture visibility.

    Quick wins that usually help:

    • Short-form content (TikTok/Reels): show satisfying puzzle solves in <10s (this converts well for puzzle games)
    • Quest-native creators (5k–50k subs): send keys + “try this level” hook
    • Store page iteration: A/B your thumbnail + first 10s of trailer (this matters more than reviews)
    • Add a demo / free sample level if possible → boosts conversion a lot
    • Build a Discord early, even small, your core players = your marketers
    • Time updates with beats (new puzzle pack = new outreach wave)

    For niche single-player, growth usually comes from consistent small spikes, not one big launch.

    I think that there are many things you can learn from other developers in the puzzle category, so definitely try to take a look and even contact them!

    • interlocked's avatar
      interlocked
      Start Member
      15 days ago

      Thank you for the tips! I'm working on all fronts to make this work. I've been pleasantly surprised how open many devs were to chat. It's a small and friendly community. 

→ Find helpful resources to begin your development journey in Getting Started

→ Get the latest information about HorizonOS development in News & Announcements.

→ Access Start program mentor videos and share knowledge, tutorials, and videos in Community Resources.

→ Get support or provide help in Questions & Discussions.

→ Show off your work in What I’m Building to get feedback and find playtesters.

→ Looking for documentation?  Developer Docs

→ Looking for account support?  Support Center

→ Looking for the previous forum?  Forum Archive

→ Looking to join the Start program? Apply here.

 

Recent Discussions