Behind the Build | Hook 2 by Maciej Targoni
Some puzzle games win you over with big visuals. Hook 2 does it with hooks, buttons, and a few lines. Solo developer Maciej Targoni of Rainbow Train turns one tiny rule into a calm, relaxing puzzle game. Now you can play Hook 2 instantly in your browser on VIVERSE. In this Behind the Build post, Maciej shares how it works and why he makes every level by hand.
Meet the Game
Hook 2 is a minimal puzzle game about unhooking hooks. Your task is simple: remove all the hooks from the board.
Each hook has a button. Click the button and the hook pulls back. But if another hook is in the way, it won’t move. So you need to find the right order.
The buttons aren’t always right next to their hooks. They’re connected by lines, so first you follow them to find which button pulls which hook. A bit like a small maze.
In Hook 2, there’s also one more dimension. Some puzzles are in 3D, and you rotate them to see what’s blocking what.
No text, no ads, no scores, no time limits. Just pure, simple, relaxing puzzles. Hook 2 has 97% positive reviews on Steam.
To a friend I’d say: you pull hooks in the right order, and it’s more fun than it sounds 🙂
How to Play Hook 2
Hook 2 runs instantly in your browser on VIVERSE, on a phone or a computer. It’s made for landscape, so turn your phone sideways.
- Start: sign in with your VIVERSE account on the title screen. Your progress is saved to your account. Click Play to continue from your last level.
- Pull a hook: click or tap its button.
- 3D levels: drag to rotate the puzzle.
Tip for first-time players: follow the lines first. Find a hook that nothing is blocking and start there. A wrong click costs you nothing, so just try things.
Watch the Hook 2 trailer to see puzzles go from simple to tricky.
Behind the Build
To tell you about Hook 2, I need to start with the first Hook, from 2015.
At first, I made just hooks and buttons. Click a button, and the hook goes out. But pulling hooks one by one was super simple. Nothing interesting. So I added lines that connect the buttons to the hooks, and suddenly it was fun to play. You search a bit like in a maze. The game came alive when the button stopped pulling the hook directly.
I made a prototype and put it online. I didn’t think it was anything special. Then people played it and asked why there wasn’t a full version for a dollar. So I made a real game.
I used only free tools. I made the prototype in Construct and the full game in Unity. For graphics, I always used GIMP.
The hardest part was programming. I don’t have a programming background. Hook was one of my first games where I wrote all the code myself. Fun fact: I wrote it in UnityScript, Unity’s own version of JavaScript. Later, Unity dropped it, so I had to rewrite the whole game in C#. If I hadn’t, the game would have disappeared from the stores.
Then Hook 2. For years, I wanted to make it, but I had no ideas for new features. 3D was in my head, but I was afraid rotating would be annoying and mess with your head. Finally, I made a 3D prototype anyway, and it wasn’t that bad. Rotating actually adds to the searching, and Hook is really a game about searching for the solution. Hook 2 came out in 2022.
What I learned? Basically everything. Hook is where my style comes from. My games aren’t too hard, but not trivial either. They try to stay in a flow state: interesting, but relaxing.
Every level is made by hand and has its own idea. I try to make them look nice and feel good to solve. I once wrote a level generator. It made endless levels, some really hard, but the game lost all its charm.
My games also aren’t long. I want you to finish after a few hours and feel satisfied. I don’t want to milk one trick just because a mechanic worked. I show what I found in a mechanic, and you play with it. Then you finish and get on with your life, happy 🙂
Hook 2 was also my first game on VIVERSE. I made a WebGL build (a version that runs in a web browser) and added VIVERSE sign-in and cloud save. It worked without any special fixes.
What’s Next
On VIVERSE, you can also play Klocki, my puzzle game about connecting lines. Overwords:Infinity, a word puzzle game, is coming to VIVERSE next.
Right now I’m working on wormin, a new puzzle game about a snake. You can wishlist wormin on Steam.
Byline, Bio and Links
Byline: Maciej Targoni, Rainbow Train
Bio: Maciej Targoni is a game developer from Poland. He makes minimal puzzle games alone, under the name Rainbow Train: Hook, Hook 2, Klocki, PUSH, oO, No.9, Up Left Out, Overwords, NABOKI and Zerko.
Links:
- Website
- Hook 2 on VIVERSE
- VIVERSE profile
- Hook 2 on Steam (97% of 741 reviews, Oct 2026)
- Hook on Steam
- X
- TikTok
Frequently Asked Questions
Hook 2 is a minimal puzzle game by solo developer Maciej Targoni of Rainbow Train. Your goal is to clear every hook from the board by pulling them in the right order. Some puzzles are in 3D, so you rotate them to see what’s blocking what.
Yes. Hook 2 is free to play on VIVERSE, right in your browser. Sign in with your VIVERSE account, and your progress saves automatically.
Yes. Hook 2 is instant play on VIVERSE, so it runs in your browser on a phone or computer. It’s made for landscape, so turn your phone sideways.
Yes. The game has no text, no ads, no scores, and no time limits. A wrong move costs you nothing, so you can try things freely. Maciej designs his puzzles to feel interesting but relaxing.
Maciej designs his games to be finished in a few hours. Each level is made by hand around its own idea, so the game ends before the mechanic gets old.
