In a challenge ended yesterday, entitled "The New Sound", sister educational site
Game Career Guide asked its readers to come up with a new type of music game that might revitalize the genre -- given that it's seen its first declines in some time for 2009, and because there's so much untapped potential there.
The Results
Readers came up with a variety of great ideas, which
you can read now on GCG.com. Some of the highlights include:
Paolo Taje, Software Developer, .Rhythm.Robot.Step.Loop.
.Rhythm.Robot.Step.Loop. is a puzzle-platformer in which players must compose a brief piece of music in order to guide a robot through a series of obstacles. The result feels like a mix between Scribblenauts and the music composition portion of Mario Paint.
Leonardo Ferreira, PUC - Rio, Brazil, Beat Bots
Ferreira proposes a tower defense-styled strategy game based around the concepts of musical harmony and balance. Different types of music will grant the Beat Bots with useful characteristics, and it's up to players to create harmonious melodies to progress through each level.
Dean Ray Johnson, Song Shooter
Dean Ray Johnson outlines a shooter in which every element is based on the tempo, pitch, and amplitude of any song from a user's music library. Many of the ideas here have been attempted in other games, but few can claim such depth and attention to all aspects of music.
Honorable Mentions
"Jez," Bug Boogie
Charles Reimers, Senior Software Engineer, Bad Vibes
Mackenzie Peterson, Front Range Community College in Colorado
Vladimir Villanueva, Artist, The Dreaded Raven Song
Elendil "Shin" Canete and Michaelangelo Lee, Crescendo Flow
New Challenge
The site has also launched its
next game design challenge, the second in a series of photographic challenges based on images found on Flickr.
In this challenge, GCG asks its readers to interpret a photo entitled
A Conversation with Phillis Wheatley however they wish. Entries must be received by Wednesday, January 6, 2010 and results will be posted Tuesday, January 12, 2010. Full details on how to enter are available
at GameCareerGuide.
