Listen to this Game

There is an entire internet community, and apparently a large and rather well supported one, that exists for the purpose of creating "audio games"--that is, games played entirely based on sound, with no graphics depicting what is actually happening in the game. Many of these games are designed specifically to be played by the blind, though can all of course be played by anybody that is able to hear, visually impaired or not. One large site catering to this community, AudioGames.net, is actually run by somebody who is sighted and merely is very interested in the "genre;" many of his site's community members are blind.

An audio game is a game that consists (only) of sound. Its gamemechanics are usually based on the possibilites of sound as well. Usually (but not always) audio games have only auditive (so no visual!) output. Audio games are NOT specifically games for the blind! It is true that most audio games around at the moment are developed by and for the blind community. But we think audio games have the potentional to be a genre on its own due to the immense undiscovered possibilities of sound. We believe that audio games have the potentional to be a complete gaming genre on its own. Audiogames.net aims to promote audio games and support and inform the audio game community.

I tried out several of these audio games, and it's a fascinating experience. It's amazing how many different genres have been reconstructed to work entirely with auditory cues: space shooters, Breakout-style games, RPGs, and so on. The most impressive game I played was one called In the Pit, developed by one person for the Experimental Gameplay Project over the course of nine days. The game puts you in the role of a sewer-dwelling sightless beast, whose master tosses down defenseless humans to serve as your meals. To consume your prey, you must track them by the sounds of their breathing and, as you get closer, their heartbeat. If you move too quickly, you'll make splashing noises and your prey will be alerted to your presence. The only catch is that it, since it uses a vibrate mechanic, it requires a wired Xbox 360 controller to play. If you have one, though, it's worth trying this game out and closing your eyes. It's definitely a new experience. Since the game is the work of just one person, the production values on the audio leave a bit to be desired, but the actual design work is fantastic and the game is incredibly atmospheric. There are of course other games that use audio as a method of communicating information to the player, but an entire category of games that does this exclusively is quite interesting. Though many of these games are created for a specific purpose, traditional game designers could probably learn quite a lot, and get some interesting gameplay ideas, from checking these out. I'd love to see some of these concepts make it into more traditional games. Update: The author of In the Pit has posted a "postnatal" (ie, postmortem) on the development of the game. He speaks on the design process as well as the technical process of creating the game.