u/Hungry_Remove322

Since we've been featured as the free Horizon+ game for August, there have been a few questions about our studio. Who are we, why haven't we built xyz, what do we do all day, etc. I thought it would be fair to reshare our story.

And while we've taken on 2 new team members since our early days, we're still the same scrappy studio. It has been an honor to be featured on Horizon+. Get in the game, tell your friends.

With appreciation,

Black Beach Studio

I’ve been fortunate enough to learn that whenever life begins to feel small, or I don’t quite recognize myself anymore - I need to do something that scares me. Anacondas. Piranhas. Tarantulas. Bullet ants. Botflies. Poison dart frogs. Electric eels. The fish that swims up your pee stream. Who tf would want to go to the Amazon voluntarily?

(36, female - by the way)

I went alone and I was set to meet a group of strangers who would be traveling with me when I arrived. I wasn’t just challenging my fear of the environment; I was challenging my trust in people and I was scared.

This was my first trip alone internationally.
I was constantly waiting for the jungle to prove me right. To confirm every scary story I’d ever heard. But it never did. I was certain that I would feel like I had put myself in a hard situation with no support. Also not the case.

I didn’t see a single snake (biggest fear). Nothing really attacked me (minus a now dead wasp). Nothing confirmed the terrifying version of the Amazon that I'd carried with me for my entire life before this. Instead, I found one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever experienced.

I kayaked and ~swam in the river (okay, the pee fish scared me, and I only dipped - but I got in and that totally counts). I hiked through jungle trails, climbing at a 90 degree angle at some points. I met communities untouched by so much of the noise and speed that seems to consume our everyday world here in the US. And most importantly, I connected with a group of people who started as strangers and became friends. It was all very beautiful and life-changing for me.

My biggest takeaway?

Most of the things we fear exist far more vividly in our imagination than they ever do in reality. Fear has a funny way of making us search for evidence that we’re right. Be afraid and do it anyway.

Because on the other side of the things that scare us are often the experiences that change us the most. The moments that quietly remind us just how much more capable we are than we thought and that the human experience is incredible.

Anyway, that was my experience. I know sometimes it helps to hear that others are scared in order to make yourself break down your own walls.

For anyone wondering, I went with Flashpack and I can not recommend this experience enough for anyone who has shaky feet about solo travel. I didn't know a single person going with me ahead of time but I left with so many amazing new friends who now have become my future travel partners.

Happy to chat more about my experience with this and help anyone break through the barriers of doing something that scares them.

Climb inside a colossal war machine, where every switch is at your command. Iron Rebellion is a VR multiplayer sci-fi mech shooter SIM that puts you in the pilot’s seat. Customize your mech, control every system from inside the cockpit, and face other players in fast-paced, tactical PvP battles.