UP Challenge

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Inspiration

The idea came from classic parkour maps and vertical platformers that reward skill and perseverance. We wanted to create a challenge that felt both fun and rewarding, while also offering a clean, visually interesting layout in VR. The spiral format felt natural for guiding players upward in a way that’s intuitive yet challenging. Inspired by the game Only Up!

What it does

UP Challenge is a vertical parkour world built around a massive spiral tower. Players must navigate increasingly difficult jumps and obstacles as they climb upward, testing their precision, patience, and determination. Participate in the scavenger hunt, make it to the top, or just have fun jumping with friends.

How we built it

We used Horizon Worlds world-building tools to construct the spiral structure by hand, ensuring that each segment introduced a new mechanic or obstacle. Custom scripting handled player resets, checkpoints, and anti-cheat logic to prevent unintended shortcuts. We focused on keeping the experience smooth in VR while maintaining the visual clarity and pacing of the level.

Challenges we ran into

The balance between too easy and too hard. Navigating new tools and platform changes.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of how the experience feels from start to finish. The spiral design creates a natural sense of progression, and seeing players get excited or even frustrated as they climb higher has been incredibly rewarding.

What we learned

We learned a lot about level pacing and ways to encourage players to see all the world has to offer. Playtesting taught us how even small tweaks in geometry can drastically change difficulty. We also deepened our world building knowledge — especially around player progression systems.

What's next for UP Challenge

More zones, more Challenge

Built With

• horizon
• worlds