Games for Music

Acapella games have to be performed without instruments, or are at their best when performed only with singing or "singing". Beware of frequent balance issues when voices and instruments are combined.

🗣

Algorithm games are "fixed" at least in sections, parts or variants. Players don't improvise but follow rules to construct the music. These games often need some musical skill.

🧮

Some games need to be played in-genre or might be adjusted to such playing. When a game is fixed within a single genre, ambient and minimalism are relatively frequent.

🌫

Modern designs use a game board to track many resources. Old-school approach was to show location and possibilities of movement for pawns, meeples etc. In music games you may often remember your position and not use game tokens.

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Games may need cards like traditional playing cards, or special rule cards, cue cards, notation cards, or inspire cards.

🃏

Pages tagged as classic are for games that were created before 2000s.

🕯

Games might be cooperative or competitive, but also have it mixed as cooptional or with teams. Games without interaction and goals will fall into cooperative category.

🥊

Composers might appear in games that use pre-existing pieces or touch on history.

🤵

🤝

👐

Dance is understood in a broad sense and may be optional.

💃

Dice might involve different types of faces and numbers of sides.

🎲

Dissecting music into dimensions (in our glossary sense) may be a useful technique both to design and win at music games.

📈

If players have to do some pen-and-paper work themselves, we'll say that they draw. This tag may include other art creation.

🎨

As for difficulty, there are tags: easy, low-mid, high-mid and hard. The classification is overall, for both musical skill needed and the complexity of rules and strategizing.

Everything is an event, but events tag applies when events are individually described.

📋

At G4M few players means up to 3 and many marks games for 10 or more players. If a game is very flexible as for the amount of players, it may be tagged with both.

Found tag is for activities that use found sound, and also those where instrument preparation is required (generally it is rarely forbidden).

🎙

Games with free-improv tag will require improvising to very broad instructions. On-off games are based on constellations and regulate only who plays and who doesn't without directing the material.

🌌

Gestures tag describes games influenced by hand movements. It might mean that a conductor will directly and purposefully shape the music or that gestures serve some other aim.

🖖

Some tasks are frequent. Players may have to interpret given content musically, others might have to listen for specific sound or guess its meaning. In some cases maybe stretch their memory to recall something later. Games with speeding-up usually test your performance ability.

❓

As for difficulty, there are tags: easy, low-mid, high-mid and hard. The classification is overall, for both musical skill needed and the complexity of rules and strategizing.

As for difficulty, there are tags: easy, low-mid, high-mid and hard. The classification is overall, for both musical skill needed and the complexity of rules and strategizing.

📻

Insert tag is for insert games.

📥

🔑

A selection of games have been tested on children ("kids" for short).

👶

👂

Music might repeat itself (in parts) when players play a loop, or ostinato.

🔃

As for difficulty, there are tags: easy, low-mid, high-mid and hard. The classification is overall, for both musical skill needed and the complexity of rules and strategizing.

At G4M few players means up to 3 and many marks games for 10 or more players. If a game is very flexible as for the amount of players, it may be tagged with both.

🤔

💠

Games may use words both as a mechanic and as a musical result, including recitation, calls, singing, etc. Some role-play or basing the game on narratives may also happen. If you want all of it, maybe improvisational theatre is a thing for you.

📖

Games with no-props tag will not need special objects. Musical instruments and sufficient space might be needed.

❎

Games with free-improv tag will require improvising to very broad instructions. On-off games are based on constellations and regulate only who plays and who doesn't without directing the material.

🌌

The general props tag is used for items other than board, cards or dice.

✅

Not having much time? Quick games to the rescue!

⚡

Random games don't let participants influence the progress of the game, although players may usually play music quite freely.

🎰

When rhythm appears in games it doesn't have to be steady throughout the whole piece.

🥁

🎭

It's rare, but a traditional score may be used in a game, so reading musical notation may be needed for some or all participants.

🎼

You don't want to explain stuff? Pick a simple activity! It's not about the difficulty.

⚪

Solo games include a one-person performance (this covers but is not restricted to games with a "single-player" mode).

1️⃣

Spatial games use the environment extensively. This may mean specific requirements, character of the experience, and musical opportunities. Players will usually move around in some way.

🚪

🛝

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

In timed games you will need a timer or use other time-tracking method.

⏱

Tonal games might or have to be played in a harmony context (mostly in Western tuning).

🪜

⌨