xyz
xyz

a real life mmorpg.

hi, my name is arya. ive always wanted to make games since i was a kid, so i decided to make a game out of new york city. sounds interesting, right? scroll down to hear my story.

A parade of hand-drawn adventurers walking through the city: a bard carrying a coffee-bean lute, a small viking hauling takeout bags, an explorer with binoculars, and a wizard reading a map.
new york ·tokyo ·paris ·seoul ·mexico city ·london ·jakarta ·berlin ·são paulo ·cairo ·melbourne ·

what happened to being whimsy and wandering?

no, seriously. when was the last time you took a walk around a neighborhood without a plan? without a list of places to check in on? without a review to read first? i feel like its been ages!!

since the internet and social media, we get spoon fed spots to go to, with detailed things on what to order and an arbitrary rating of what other people think. what happened to what you think? somewhere along the way, the number became the decision. because of fomo, now everyone just posts up at the same 6 places that focus on social media engagement.

A doodle of someone frozen mid-decision. Their thought clouds read: 4.9 means i should go right? ugh it's 5.7 on beli i should just skip it. 0 reviews? nvm i'm just gonna eat cup noodles.

this app is a game that puts you back in charge. it gives you a reason to go somewhere new, and the only thing that matters is that you actually went. hey, you might not like the place. it might have sucked so bad all you can do is laugh. but at least you went and had fun while checking it out! soo, i kept thinking:

i want people to start exploring their city again, on purpose, and fall in love with getting lost the way i have. i have to do something!

how xyz happened

A kid standing on a chair in front of a PC, arms up mid-celebration, headphones on. A handwritten note points at the screen: Black Desert Online lol.

so i took the video games i loved as a kid,

The same person crouched over a large taped-down city map covered in pins, surrounded by notebooks, tape, and a pad labelled NYC spots.

and all the cool a*s places i've found exploring nyc over the years,

A small wizard on a stool stirring a bubbling cauldron labelled Claude Fable, with shelves of potions behind.

...and put my two favorite things into one passion project. for anyone who wants to fall in love with their city again like i did.

so out came xyz!

xyz is built on that familiar feeling when you have some free time in between your daily errands, where you want to try something new, but have no idea what to do in that short amount of time.

this is where you play! xyz gives you 3 community-made quests nearby, pushing you to explore that hole-in-the-wall spot youve always walked past.

xyz learns your preferences the more you use it. like a video game npc, the quests you get will get more personalized as you level up, getting more wacky and interesting the more you play.

i know, crazy to imagine right? a game that you play irl? let's have tutorial master show you how this might look like:

nice to meet you. im tutorial master, or tm for short! click "see whats nearby" to get started!!
xyzevening

(behold, the magic xyz phone of doom and world domination! or something like that, i guess)

mmorpg
xyz is made to play like a massively multiplayer online game. quests are created by high level community members, with the goal of sharing unique places and experiences with the explorers and questers of the xyz community!
xp / leveling up
along with leaderboard points, you get experience points for completing quests. the more you play, the more you level up, and the more wacky and interesting the quests you get will be. high level players can even make their own quests for others to try in the crawl mode!
quest
xyz is built on quests. we want people to be adventurers and explore local businesses, hidden gems, and unique experiences as a way to combat the rise of corporate chains and algorithm slop that has been plaguing our cities!
check in
location data is about the only data we collect. the app sets a timer when you enter the quest circle, and will only count completion if you stay long enough. this encourages users to actually check out the spot, and not just farm points and xp.
crawl
crawl encourages users to continue exploring by chaining quests together. the more quests you complete in a crawl, the higher your points multiplier will be! higher level users also can use crawl mode to add new spots to the chain, which will be created as new quests for other users to try!
party
questing alone is kind of sad, so we made party mode to allow you to explore with friends! the end goal is for xyz to be a community-driven game where people make plans with their friends to play on off-days and explore even more off the beaten path.
leaderboard
of course we had to make a leaderboard system. top questers will be recognized and rewarded for their achievements with special items called "unusuals". unusuals are cosmetic items given to high leaderboard users every month, and are very swag i guarantee.

life is a game, and the character is you.

to reference my favorite movie of all time: "choose your future. choose life." often times we think we are too busy to explore, but in reality it just takes a lot of effort! we all have busy lives, but there is always that time slot of 2-3 hours where you can go out and explore your city. xyz just makes it easier to do that, while making it fun and rewarding at the same time.

the philosophy i have building xyz has always been to de-optimize people's lives. too often we think because we have such little free time we need to try the most trendy, instagrammable, and highly rated spots in the city, but i believe that takes away from the point of going out in the first place: to have some fun!

xyz is a game built with the maximizing fun in mind. however, i want xyz to be more than a game, but a shift in how we think. how modern apps have made us lazy to think, explore, and see things for ourselves. i want people to not just see xyz as a game, but a shift in mindset. a way to get people to go out and explore their city, and fall in love with it again. im not going to sell you the idea of xyz by saying that we have some game changing algorithm that learns user preferences, or whatever tech jargon they feed you these days. instead, i built this game with these user-focused pillars in mind:

xyz does not collect data outside of the game. xyz is a "fantasy world" detached from the real world. all your data is only stored and used in game for the questing system. even calling it that is a stretch because of how chaotic the quest recommendations get. other than location which is used to verify you actually went to the quest, we do not collect any other data. no photos, no public reviews, no ratings, no social media. maybe just your email...

xyz is built to be completely free to play. all paid features are cosmetic and do not affect the game in any way. the item shop is meant as a way to support a solo dev who is LOWKEY building and running this out of his own pocket, so every purchase is considered a much appreciated donation to xyz and the community! plus, you get rewarded with some swag to trick your avatar out!

i tried really hard to make the xyz experience non addictive at all. this is something very personal to me, with myself and so many close friends having struggled with addiction in the past. i wanted to make sure that xyz was a game that you could play for fun, but one that you could put down anytime you have had your fun and need to return to your responsibilities.

xyz is built with community in mind. below, there is a button "say hi" that will open your email client and allow you to send me a message. i want to hear from you, whether it is feedback, a question, or just to say hi. i want to make sure that all xyz users feel heard, so if you have any ideas, please reach out!

fair questions

i removed public ratings from xyz to encourage people to try new things. if you see a low rating, you would be discouraged to go when in reality, an arbitrary number wouldnt be able to measure and determine how much you would actually enjoy the place. when i started solo traveling, my mom actually gave me this advice that i wish to share through xyz: "dont knock something until youve tried it once"

xyz looks at your level, your past quest history, and the time of day to recommend quests that are nearby. the higher level and more acclimated you are to xyz, we start to recommend more wacky and interesting quests that are off the beaten path and require more exploration. the goal is to get you to explore your city and find new spots that you would have never known about otherwise!

no. the app just checks you are actually there. a photo is optional if you feel like it, and a review is optional if you want to keep a personal note of what you liked about the place. however, they do not add any points to your score. the only thing that matters is that you actually went and had fun!

every quest has a small radius circle around it. when you enter the circle, the app starts a timer. if you stay long enough, the quest is automatically marked complete and your map colors in where you went. if you leave too early, it will give you a warning that you need to stay longer. the app does not take any photos or record any audio, it just checks that you are actually there for long enough to have a good time!

you must have noticed that there are different colors on the map. each color represents a different category of quest. for example, a cafe quest will be colored in yellow, a culture quest will be colored in purple, and an outdoor quest will be colored in green. this is to help you visually see what types of quests you have completed and where they are located on the map. i got this idea from the movie "us and them", where the idea is that when you first move somewhere, the city is bland and colorless because you dont know what to do. however, the more you explore, the more colorful and special it becomes to you! this design choice is meant to capture that feeling and encourage you to explore more of your city!

yes we have party mode! you can invite up to 3 friends to join your quest and crawl. the first person to accept the quest will pick which one you all go to, and then you can all go together! everyone gets extra points for going together, and it is a great way to explore with friends and have fun! im currently exploring larger scale social concepts like guilds or clans so be on the lookout for that if you are a social butterfly!

once you have leveled up enough, yes. mid crawl, if you do not like the suggestion, swap in a spot you know. if it is good and approved by a moderation team (currently just me but hopefully a community of high level xyz explorers in the future), it will be added to the pool of quests for other players to try. this is how xyz is built to be a community-driven game, where people can share their favorite spots and experiences with others!

so, go get lost a little

we are in closed beta right now, so leave your email to apply!