Game Suite
Game Suite is a Lens Studio plugin for building playable 3D games without writing code. You place terrain and objects on a grid and give objects gameplay meaning by attaching behaviors—collectible, hazard, checkpoint, jump pad, and more. Then you arrange one or more levels into a game and play it right in Lens Studio's Preview.
The current release ships the Obby game type—a 3D platformer where a Bitmoji character runs, jumps, and climbs from a start point to a finish line—with more game types on the way.
Getting Started
Add Game Suite to your project from the Asset Library:
- Open the Asset Library in Lens Studio.
- Search for Game Suite.
- Click Add to Project.
Game Suite runs as a plugin panel. To open it, go to Plugins in the top menu and select Game Suite. The panel opens your most recent game, or starts a new untitled game with one level if you don't have one yet.
The Editor Workspace
The panel has three regions:
- Navigator and Library (left)—your game, its levels, and the item library you place from.
- Viewport (center)—the interactive 3D grid where you build.
- Properties pane (right)—settings for the current level and game, and the Inspector for a selected object.
A floating action bar sits at the bottom of the viewport for switching editing modes. Collapse either side region with the chevron on its edge to give the viewport more room.
Navigator
The Navigator (top-left) manages game and level identity:
- The game title, with a dot marker when you have unsaved changes.
- Game Settings—opens game-wide settings in the Properties pane.
- The ▶ Level, ▶ Game, and Save buttons. ▶ Level plays from the level you have open; ▶ Game plays the whole game from its start; Save writes the level, the game, and the Lens Studio project to disk.
- The Levels list—every level in the game, in play order. Click a level's name to open it for editing, use the arrows to reorder, and use the gear menu to Open, Edit Settings, Rename, or Delete. + Add Level adds a level, optionally from a starter template.
Library
The Library (bottom-left) is where you pick what to place, and it stays visible while you build. Use the search box and the category and kind filters (Terrain, Items, Decorations) to narrow the grid, then click a tile to pick that item up. Some gameplay items carry a small role label such as START or GOAL.
Properties pane
The Properties pane (right) shows one of three views:
- Level (the default)—the open level's name, its settings, and its scene behaviors. It also has a collapsible Help section with the full keyboard and mouse reference.
- Game Settings—the game title, the Game Type, and game-wide settings. Open it from the Navigator's Game Settings button.
- Inspector—appears when you select a placed object and shows that object's transform, behaviors, and trigger collider. See Editing objects.
Action bar
The action bar floats at the bottom of the viewport and holds the editing modes and a hotbar:
| Mode | Key | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Select | Z | Select and transform placed objects with a gizmo. |
| Erase | X, or hold Option | Click to erase one object; drag to erase a rectangular region. |
| Pick | C, or Cmd-click | Click a placed object to pick it up so you can place more of it. |
| Hotbar 1–5 | 1 to 5 | The five items you picked up most recently. Click a slot to hold that item. |
You place items by picking one up (from the Library, the hotbar, or Pick) and clicking in the viewport—there's no separate placement mode. Press Space to toggle between placing and Select.
Terrain and Items
Game Suite has two placement layers that share the same tools but follow different rules.
- Terrain is your level's structure—floors, walls, platforms, and other structural pieces. Terrain snaps to whole grid cells, and each piece occupies its cell, so terrain can't overlap.
- Items carry everything with gameplay meaning, plus free-floating decorations. Items place at free positions (not locked to cell centers), rotate and scale freely, and never block one another—you can layer an item on top of terrain or another item.
What makes an item mean something is its list of behaviors. An item with no behaviors is a plain decoration. An item with a Collectible behavior is a coin you gather; one with a Hazard behavior sends the player back on contact. See Behaviors.
The player's spawn location is an ordinary item that carries the Start Point behavior. Place a Start Point item where you want the player to begin. Every playable level needs exactly one.
Placing and Editing
Placing objects
- Click a tile in the Library (or a hotbar slot) to pick the item up. A preview ghost follows your cursor in the viewport.
- Click to place a copy. Objects snap to the grid.
- Drag to fill a rectangular region in one stroke—handy for laying down a floor or a row of blocks.
- Press
Rto rotate the preview 90° before you place it.
Editing objects
Switch to Select (Z) and click a placed object. A gizmo appears for moving, rotating, and scaling, and the Properties pane switches to the Inspector:
- Transform—Position (grid units), Rotation (about the vertical axis), and Scale. Dragging the gizmo updates these fields live, and editing a field moves the object.
- Behaviors—the object's behaviors, each with its own settings. Add or remove them here. See Behaviors.
- Behavior Collider—the trigger volume for contact behaviors, which appears only when the object has one. See Behavior colliders.
Press R to rotate the selection 90°, Backspace or Delete to remove it, and Escape (or Done) to deselect.
Erasing objects
Switch to Erase (X), or hold Option from any mode, then click an object to remove it—or drag to erase a rectangular region. Press Escape mid-drag to cancel.
Behaviors
Behaviors turn a placed item into gameplay. You attach them per object in the Inspector: select an item, use Add Behavior to attach one, and the ✕ next to a behavior to remove it. Each behavior exposes its own settings inline.
Every item type ships with sensible default behaviors—a coin already has Collectible—and your per-object edits override those defaults for that one placed copy.
Behavior catalog
| Behavior | What it does | Key settings |
|---|---|---|
| Start Point | Marks where the player spawns. Every level needs exactly one. | None |
| Checkpoint | Sets the player's respawn point when they touch it. | Tint on activate, color |
| Finish Line | Completes the level on contact and advances to the next one. | None |
| Level Portal | Sends the player to another level on contact. | Target (next / previous / specific), message |
| Collectible | Awards points and disappears when the player touches it. | Points |
| Hazard | Sends the player back to their last respawn point on contact. | None |
| Jump Pad | Launches the player into the air on contact. | Upward and forward velocity, cooldown |
| Ladder | Carries the player upward while they're touching it. | Climb speed |
| Teleport | Moves the player to a linked teleporter that shares its channel. | Channel, cooldown |
| Move | Moves the item along a set offset, such as a moving platform. | Offset, period, loop mode |
| Spin | Rotates the item continuously. | Axis, degrees per second, pivot |
| Tint | Recolors the item. | Color |
| Hide At Runtime | Shown while editing, hidden when the game plays—useful for markers. | None |
| Static Text | Displays a fixed text label in the world. | Text, size, color |
| Popup Text | Shows a floating text message when the player comes near. | Text, size, color |
Behavior colliders
Contact behaviors (Collectible, Hazard, Finish Line, Checkpoint, Level Portal, Jump Pad, Teleport, Ladder, Popup Text) detect the player with a trigger volume that's separate from the item's solid collision shape. This lets the player pass through a coin to collect it while still standing on a platform.
When a selected item has a contact behavior, the Inspector shows a Behavior Collider section. Most items resolve a good trigger automatically, but you can choose a shape yourself:
- Auto (default)—if the item already carries a usable trigger volume, Game Suite uses it; otherwise it creates a box the size of the item's grid footprint. The right choice for almost every item.
- None—no trigger volume, so the item's contact behaviors never fire.
- AABB / Grid footprint—force a box the size of the item's grid footprint, even when the item ships its own collider. (Both options produce the same trigger box here.)
- Custom shape—define your own box, sphere, or capsule with a size and offset (for example, a large sphere to give a Popup Text a wide proximity radius).
- Mesh—use the item's own 3D mesh as the trigger shape—the tightest fit, but heavier.
Reset to default returns to the automatic choice.
Scene Behaviors
Where item behaviors attach to a single object, scene behaviors attach to a whole level or game and provide level-wide capabilities. Add them from the Scene Behaviors section of the Level Settings or Game Settings pane. Each level or game holds at most one of each.
Common scene behaviors:
- Score Controller—tracks the game's point total and shows it on screen.
- Timer—a per-level countdown that can restart the level when it runs out.
- Environment—sets the level's background color or Skybox.
- Transitions—the fade shown when moving between levels.
Each game type wires in the scene behaviors it needs automatically—Obby adds the Score Controller, Transitions, level advancement, and Audio (SFX) for you—so you usually add scene behaviors only to customize a level, such as putting a Timer on a specific level.
Game and Level Settings
Settings live in the Properties pane, split between the level you have open and the whole game.
Level Settings (the default Properties view) cover the level's name, its scene behaviors, and any level-specific options for the game type. For Obby, that includes Kill Y—the height below which a falling player respawns—and Intro Title, the card shown when the level starts (the level's name, a custom message, or nothing).
Game Settings (opened from the Navigator) cover the game Title, the Game Type, and game-wide options, plus where the game saves on disk.
Audio and haptics. Obby plays reference sound effects for jumps, collecting, hazards, and finishing, and triggers device haptics on those events automatically. Control the sound effects with the Audio (SFX) scene behavior in Game Settings—remove it to silence those cues.
Game Types
A game type is a complete ruleset—the player controller, camera, win condition, and on-screen display—that you choose once per game from the Game Type picker in Game Settings.
Obby is a 3D platformer and the game type available today. A Bitmoji character walks, jumps, and climbs from the Start Point to the Finish Line, hitting checkpoints, gathering collectibles, and riding jump pads, ladders, and moving platforms while dodging hazards along the way.
Additional game types are in development and appear in the picker as they ship.
Multi-Level Games and Transitions
A game is an ordered list of levels. The order in the Levels list is the play order: the first level is where players start, and completing the last level finishes the game.
- Reaching a Finish Line completes the current level and advances to the next one automatically.
- A Level Portal item sends the player to another level on contact—a specific level, or the next or previous one—useful for branching or shortcuts.
- The player's score carries across levels as a running total, while per-level state such as the active checkpoint and timer resets when a new level begins.
Moving between levels plays a transition: the screen fades out, the next level loads, and it fades back in, optionally showing the level's name as a title card. Game Suite plays this for you.
To build a multi-level game, add levels in the Navigator (blank or from a template), arrange them in play order, and place a Finish Line in each. Use the ▶ Level button to test the open level on its own, or ▶ Game to play through from the start.
Playing and Setup
When you press the ▶ Level or ▶ Game button in the Navigator, Game Suite builds a ready-to-run game directly in your Lens Studio scene, then hands off to the Preview panel so you can play.
Pressing either button:
- Removes any previously generated game (a scene object named
Generated_Game) so a rebuild never leaves duplicates. - Instantiates the runtime for your game type—player, camera, and game logic—under
Generated_Game, importing that runtime package into your project the first time and reusing it afterward. - Writes your current level and game data into the scene and wires it to the runtime.
- Points the Preview camera at the game.
Because this rebuilds Generated_Game cleanly every time, you can edit your level and play again as often as you like. Test in Preview, then keep iterating in the Game Suite panel.
Generated_Game is a reserved scene object that Game Suite manages. Don't put your own content under it—running the game again removes anything there.
Beyond the editor's Preview, you can test your game on a phone by pairing Lens Studio to Snapchat and sending the Lens to your device. When it's ready to share, publish it through Lens Studio's standard Lens submission flow.
Saving and Game Files
Save (Cmd+G) writes everything: the open level, the game, and the Lens Studio project. Cmd+Shift+G saves the current level as a new file.
Each game is self-contained in its own folder under Assets/Games/<name>/, with its level files inside. The folder name comes from the game title the first time you save; renaming the title later doesn't move the folder (use Rename for that).
Starter templates. When you add a level, the + Add Level menu offers starter templates for the game type. Obby ships examples such as a basic starter, moving platforms, ladders and jumps, and teleporters. Each template gives you a working level to build from.
Workflow Summary
- Add Game Suite from the Asset Library and open it from Plugins > Game Suite.
- Build your level in the viewport: place terrain for structure and items for gameplay, using the Library and the action bar.
- Place a Start Point item and a Finish Line, then add collectibles, hazards, checkpoints, and traversal items.
- Select items and attach or tune their behaviors in the Inspector.
- Adjust Level and Game Settings in the Properties pane, and add scene behaviors such as a Timer if you want them.
- Add more levels and arrange them in play order for a multi-level game.
- Save (
Cmd+G), then press ▶ Level or ▶ Game to build and play in Preview. - Iterate: edit and play again as often as you need.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Z | Select mode |
X | Erase mode |
C | Pick (eyedropper) mode |
Space | Toggle between placing and Select |
1 to 5 | Hold hotbar item 1–5 |
R | Rotate the selection or placement preview 90° |
Backspace / Delete | Delete the selected object |
Escape | Deselect, cancel an in-progress box drag, or return to Select |
Hold Option | Erase from any mode (click one object, or drag a region) |
Cmd-click | Pick the hovered item from any mode |
W A S D | Move camera forward / left / back / right |
E / Q | Move camera up / down |
| Arrow keys | Rotate the camera |
| Right-drag | Look around |
| Middle-drag | Pan the camera |
| Scroll | Zoom |
Cmd+G | Save the level, game, and project |
Cmd+Shift+G | Save the level as a new file |
I | Toggle the on-screen key-bindings overlay |