Digital Dash

Inspiration

We were inspired by classic cyberpunk narratives and the growing cultural fascination with digital identity, control, and freedom. Stories like The Matrix and TRON influenced our desire to create an immersive, high-stakes experience where players must confront the consequences of a world dominated by hidden systems and artificial realities.

What it does

Digital Dash is an immersive, narrative-driven obstacle course adventure set in a digital prison. Players must uncover the truth behind a shadowy entity known as Nozroh by finding a hidden USB drive, all while making time-sensitive decisions that influence the game’s outcome. With a retro terminal-style interface and branching story paths, the game delivers both tension and agency in equal measure.

How we built it

We developed Digital Dash using all the resources provided by Meta Horizon such as the GenAI and the Horizon Desktop Editor. We used typescript for the scripting. The branching narrative logic was implemented to reflect meaningful player choices, and we designed time-based events to escalate urgency as the "system" begins patching.

Challenges we ran into

One major challenge was balancing the simplicity of the interface with an engaging gameplay experience. Designing a choice system that felt impactful without overwhelming the player was also tricky. Additionally, crafting a compelling narrative that fits within a short hackathon timeline required tight coordination between story and gameplay design.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of creating a cohesive and immersive narrative experience. We are also very satisfied with the aesthetics of our game.

What we learned

We learned the importance of early narrative framing in immersing players, and how even a simple UI can become powerful with the right storytelling. We also gained experience in rapidly prototyping interactive narrative systems and learned to prioritize gameplay clarity.

What's next for Digital Dash

We plan to expand Digital Dash with additional story branches, deeper puzzles, and new environments that further explore the Nozroh conspiracy. Enhancing replayability and giving players more ways to interact with the digital world will be a major focus, as will expanding the lore and raising the stakes of the choices players make.

Built With

• blender
• horizonos
• photoshop
• typescript