Description
Connect dots, unlock new creatures, and become the Skybinder.
Skybinder is a minimalist creative VR puzzle. Make whales, giraffes, ducks, and more in twenty delightful yet complex puzzles.
Dive into a meditative environment designed to stimulate and soothe, with original music and handmade puzzles.
Can you master skybinding?
Short Description
Skybinder is a minimalist creative VR puzzle. Enjoy thinking spatially, playfully, and meditatively as you bind dots into shapes.
Subtitle
The Creator's Puzzle
Videos
https://youtu.be/B54Y6i_pT64
Skybinder History
Luís: In 2019 I started working on this crazy project at MIT called Qubit Arcade, developing a VR interface for quantum computing. One of my experiments was designing an interface for quantum circuits. I created a node-based system where the user connected nodes that represented quantum gates with lines in 3D space. There was something so satisfying about reaching out your hand and connecting dots in VR. Ultimately, I ended up having to change the system to a more linear one, but that feeling stayed with me.
A year later, Wyatt and I were making VR experiences together and we started to play with the idea of making a connect the dots puzzle game. I started working on extending the satisfying line drawing mechanic from Qubit Arcade into a full game. A few months later, the basic mechanics of Skybinder (then cheesily called “TryAngle”) were complete but the game still didn’t quite feel like one of our Maku XR experiences. That’s when I asked Wyatt what he thought was missing. His answer: “art, world, and heart.”
Wyatt: The first model we played with was a low-poly robot Luis had found on the internet. It was cute when finished, but it wasn't pleasing to complete. I tried to figure out why. There was some sweet spot that made the puzzles enjoyable: the number of vertices, how intuitive the vertices were to connect correctly, and something I could only describe as "sass": the model's personality and charm. I made a handful of models — an elephant, a house, a tree — and we developed a "spatial grammar" for what makes 3D connect the dots fun.
Then we got philosophical. We looked at our favorite games and realized they weren't all disembodied and abstract. Some games, like Checkers and Tetris, didn't have any metaphor, either regarding the world or the mechanics. The game elements and pieces didn’t evidently stand for anything. Other games, like Chess, had metaphorical meaning with pieces that represented characters and a world that represented a battlefield. Surprisingly, this metaphor was sometimes expressed visually, like in the case of Chess or Asteroids (the 1979 Atari game), and sometimes it was only expressed through the game’s name as a declarative metaphor, as in the case of Pong. We looked at our game and wondered, is there a metaphor that might make this more beautiful, more emotional to play? We came up with a world where the player embodies a Maker who creates and sends these beautiful shapes down to Earth. Suddenly, the puzzles had stakes and meaning.
The expression of this metaphor in the game would be subtle but it became a grounding force deciding our visual language. And it was the creative brief for our final title of the game: Skybinder. Invoking some sense of a powerful force above our realm, and binding things together to create. The metaphor also helped us shape the emotional experience of playing the game by continuously iterating and refining every sound, haptic and visual feedback so that it not only felt good but also felt like it was a part of that beautiful, charming, and spiritual world.
Luis: Up until that point, we were making Skybinder as an exercise rather than something we would actually launch as a game but when we started sharing it with our friends and family we quickly realized they were having a ton of fun making these creatures, and even better, they were experiencing Skybinder as we wanted it to feel. So we decided to polish it up to a point where it felt seamless and intuitive and launch it into the world. Kind of like Skybinder does to its own little creations.
We are still exploring what could come next to Skybinder: ideas include multiplayer, a creator mode where you can design your own puzzles or time/point-based competition. But we're very proud of our game as it currently is, we're so excited to share it with the world. And even after a long time working on it, we both still have a blast playing it.
Fact Sheet
Developers: Luís Zanforlin and Wyatt Roy
Languages: English
Studio: Maku XR
Platforms: Oculus Quest (App Lab). More coming soon.
Price: US$ 9.99
Website: www.makuxr.com/skybinder
Quest Link: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/3767076743418568
SideQuest Link: https://sidequestvrcom/app/4885/skybinder
Steam Store Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1679820/Skybinder/?beta=0
Mailing List: makuxr.com/mailinglist
Media Downloads
How to play
Skybinder's objective is to connect the dots in the only way that will fill in all the triangles and complete the puzzle, revealing the final shape.
Every dot contains a number that shows how many lines must connect to it. Every time you connect a line to a dot, the number decreases. But not all lines are correct! You cannot connect lines to dots with the number zero on them, so you may have to delete lines and keep trying.
You'll know three lines are correct when they fill in a triangle. Lines can be deleted as long as they are not a part of a filled-in triangle.
To get a hint, wait for 15 seconds without filling in any triangles and press the hint button on the settings menu.
Articles
Upload VR: Skybinder Brings More Minimalist, Meditative Puzzles To Quest
VR Scout: Find Mindfulness In This Whimsical VR Puzzle Game - VRScout
6DOF: Skybinder | App Lab Review | 6DOF Reviews
VR Focus: Preview: Skybinder – Tranquil Dotty Origami – VRFocus
Tips and tricks
Instead of trying to connect lines, or get all dots down to "zero", try to complete triangles.
If you make a triangle with three dots but it doesn't get filled in, delete at least one line and try to make a triangle using other dots.
If you make a square divided into two triangles that don't get filled in, try to delete the diagonal line and connect the other available diagonal.
You can connect multiple dots with one stroke by holding the trigger button down and dragging it through multiple dots without releasing it.
You can delete lines by clicking on them with the primary buttons.
You can delete all of the lines connected to a dot at once by clicking on the dot with the primary buttons.
Don't forget to complete the bottom of the puzzle. Sometimes it's easiest to make the shape big and go inside it.
Avoid having too many connected lines without filled-in triangles. It's best to hunt for triangles then extend lines from there.