Factsheet
Blackbox for Vision
Winner — Apple Design Award for Spatial Computing, 2024
The only game to ever win an Apple Design Award for Vision Pro. Developing Blackbox for spatial computing meant answering a question that nearly killed the project: what is Blackbox without iOS? The answer: puzzles that feel like phenomena and an experience where curiousity is always rewarded. Players bounce, bob, sing, and move through space, connecting with the world through their device anew.
About
Stop tapping. Stop swiping. Blackbox is a collection of puzzles solved by everything except touching the screen. When Ryan McLeod handed the first prototype to friends, they refused to give his phone back. Ten years later, over 14 million players have tried it — and since launch day, there has not been a single minute on Earth where someone was not playing.
Hailed by Apple as a "breakthrough moment in gaming", 81+ challenges exploit sensors and capabilities most people never knew their phone had — proximity, barometric pressure, lunar phase, speech recognition, the accelerometer. No instructions. Discovery is the gameplay. Every new version of iOS brings new hardware and APIs, and Blackbox finds the puzzle in each one. Two Apple Design Awards (Innovation and Accessibility, 2017; Spatial Computing, 2024), and recognition from the blind and low-vision community for being one of the most thoughtfully accessible games on any platform.
Created and maintained by one developer for a decade. When a blind player asked if the game was accessible, Ryan treated it as the next puzzle to solve: how do you make a game where you don't touch the screen and you cannot see the screen? He worked with sound designer Gus Callahan to build custom sonic and haptic interfaces for every challenge. Now among a dozen other accessibiltiy features, even non-sighted players enjoy the same game via the sonic and haptic interfaces.
Key Features
- 81 challenges that use rotation, proximity, audio, brightness, lunar phases, altitude, speech recognition, and more
- Experimentation and curiousity drives gameplay
- Custom sonic and haptic interfaces for every challenge; VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, Switch Control, and more
- Live synthesizers that help players with reactive sonic interfaces
- 30+ languages, mostly translated by players who get Blackbox's semi-patronizing, semi-encouraging sarcasm
- Every growing and under active development for 10 years
- On display in every Apple Store worldwide
Ten Years of Thinking Outside the Box
2015
After a web startup fizzles, Ryan McLeod starts learning iOS by building a prototype for a game that rewards doing the opposite of what it seems to ask. When he hands it to friends, they won't give his phone back. The plan: go all in until the money runs out.
February 2016
Blackbox launches on the App Store. Apple features it immediately. Since that day, there has not been a single minute on Earth where someone was not playing.
2017
Wins an Apple Design Award for Innovation and Accessibility. Receives the AppleVis Golden Apple for Best iOS Game. A blind player's request sparks a complete accessibility overhaul — custom sonic interfaces for every challenge (designed with Gus Callahan) and custom haptic interfaces most apps still don't have.
2017–2018
Launches a game-gated merch store: play a little to unlock stickers, farther for shirts, farther still for enamel pins. All packaging contains hidden puzzles — sometimes requiring disassembly to find every part.
2020
Featured in Apple's WWDC 2020 intro video for the first time.
2021
Version 2.0: fully native iPad redesign, improved hint system, animated iMessage stickers that players can use to play pranks and send sass. 7.5M+ downloads and 79 challenges.
2021–2023
Grows to 14M+ players and 81+ challenges. Community volunteers translate the game into 29 languages, capturing its sarcastic, prodding tone in everything from Japanese to Georgian. Germany and Japan emerge as top markets. 15,000-member Discord community thrives with fan art, competitions, and friendships.
2024
Launches on Apple Vision Pro. Wins the first and only Apple Design Award ever given to a Vision Pro game. Featured by the New York Times, TechCrunch, and Apple's own developer spotlight.
2025
Apple ships Blackbox as a retail demo to every Apple Store and carrier store worldwide.
February 2026
Ten years. Still indie with even more puzzles coming.
Meanwhile, players have been...
- Solving puzzles at Everest base camp
- Getting Blackbox tattoos
- Baking Blackbox cakes (with blackberries, naturally)
- Solving the altitude challenge on a mountaintop with a cracked screen
- Hand-drawing QR codes on graph paper as fan mail
- Driving 633 miles to solve a single puzzle
- Creating mini fan versions of the game on other platforms
- Forming real friendships through a 15,000-member Discord — one of the design goals of challenges that require finding other players
Awards & Recognition
Apple Design Award
Spatial Computing
2024
Apple Design Award
Innovation & Accessibility
2017
App Store Editors' Choice
Featured by Apple
Webby Award Honoree
Puzzle & Best Visual Design
2018
AppleVis Golden Apple
Best iOS Game
2017
"Breakthrough Moment in Gaming"
Named by Apple
Press
Every solution feels like learning a new magic trick
Devilishly clever
Properly ingenious stuff, and really showcases creator Ryan McLeod's remarkable talent
Refreshing and different... unlike anything you've ever played before
I didn't even know you could play games in this way
The Citizen Kane of mobile games
Player review
It seems like a virus but it's not
Player review
Screenshots & Images
iPhone
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Key Art
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GIFs
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Logos & Brand Assets
Icons & Wordmarks
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About the Developer
Ryan McLeod
Ryan McLeod is an interaction and game designer passionate about tackling unconventional problems and exploring novel interfaces. Best known for his work on Blackbox for iOS and visionOS, Ryan has earned Apple Design Awards for creating experiences that challenge the expectations of both players and games.
Selected Talks
Let's Vision 2025 (Shanghai) · AppleVis podcast · Going Indie podcast · ATP podcast