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Within the tradition of experimental music composing for toy instruments has some history. John Cage championed toy piano, Christopher Hobbs employed cheap electronic keyboards. Toys neatly fill in the area between professional instruments and found sound.
When designing a game, it's always worth considering whether your prototype can be played with a kazoo, a pair of sticks, or a rubber duck. The more the merrier!
External games
There are many existing boxed games that come with a toy instrument. They may have different themes but thanks to the props, they are easier to be treated as music, intentional or not. Here are some of them:
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Beeline | Joyce Johnson Colleen McCarthy-Evans | rare | Non-musical, but with a buzzer |
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Benny Goodman Swings into a Game of Musical Information | rare | Game of musical challenges on popular songs and classical music, like guessing a song played on a xylophone | |
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Biff Baff | sold | A rhythm game where you drum on the box | |
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Chief Boom Pat-a-bang | Stefan Dorra Manfred Reindl | rare | Native American setting, a drum, and rhythm recognition |
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Cinematique | Alan Skinner Linda Skinner | sold | Comes with kazoos for film-related tune guessing |
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Ding Dong Forest | Dietlind Löbker | rare | Two toy instruments and five musical games for children to be facilitated by the adult |
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Flail and Wail | Dave Rockenbaugh | rare | A rhythm game with a CD and a transparent maraca with a dice inside |
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Host Your Own Music Night | rare | Many modes, props, and four kazoos for song recognition | |
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Igloo Pop | Heinz Meister Klaus Zoch | rare | Listening to igloo-shaped maracas |
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Kazoo That Tune | rare | Guessing songs played on kazoos | |
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Kleine Musik-Maher | Dietlind Löbker | rare | German children game with four bells |
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Maracas | Bruno Faidutti Hervé Marly | sold | A listening and guessing game with percussion but minimum musical performance |
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Noteability | rare | A guessing game with a small electronic plastic piano | |
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Pit | Edgar Cayce Harry Gavitt George S. Parker | sold | Old and non-musical but vigorous, open-outcry trading game with a bell |
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Play that Tune | rare | Song recognition with a sound-making stepping mat | |
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Shake'n Play | rare | Acoustic memory (Memo-like) game with 16 shakers of 8 distinct sounds to listen |