Nope Challenge gamifies facing your fears while giving you an escape on Quest.
Created by Happy Manic, Nope Challenge is a psychological game that lets you confront over 40 common phobias, such as clowns, spiders and heights. Described as a journey of empowerment, this allows you to 'NOPE' out at any moment by placing a NOPE Button on your arm, removing you from these stressful situations and putting you into a more relaxed 'Breather Space.'
Nope Challenge features nine individual challenges with three intensity levels - Light, Moderate and Extreme. Happy Manic states its using an "advanced dynamic AI" to ensure encounters are never the same, while each choice shapes how these experiences unfold.
Our video producer Don Hopper recently spoke with Joe Halper, Founder and Creative Director of Happy Manic, to learn more. Discussing how the game's challenges and 'breather spaces' work, how VR's immersion benefits this premise, potential post-launch plans and more, here's our full GDC 2024 interview:
Nope Challenge is available today on the Meta Quest platform, while other headsets are currently under consideration.
Notice: This article was originally published on April 11, 2024. It was updated on April 25 to reflect Nope Challenge's release.
