How do you incorporate music with key game mechanics?

Let's say you're working on a game in which music is your main focus, you want to inspire other developers by creating a game which attracts gamers as we think of them today but also integrate musicians into the world of gaming. How would you do so?

There are plenty of games that are focused around music, Guitar Hero, Just Dance and Rock Band are only a few examples, but none of them (as far as I know) truly rely on the players' listening capability, them being able to distinguish notes from one another or being creative.

Is it possible to create an experience similar to real life where you actually need to understand the fundamentals of music but yet keeping it fun to play? Or do you essentially end up simulating the real world?

 

Sure. Make something of a puzzle game based around music, or incorporate music-based puzzles into your game. I'm pretty sure a couple of the Myst games did this to some extent.

Well that's subjective, right? Because "fun" is different for everybody. But in the most open-ended sense, yeah I think it's possible, by doing the above.

 

It is certainly possible, but you'd need to come up with some clever game mechanics that leverage musical ability while actually being fun. You'd also need to be careful not to require the skills of an actual musician in order to play the game, as hearing and understanding intonation differences is as much a learned skill as any other skill. Or you risk limiting your audience to semi-professional musician gamers.

 

Ear training games are the magic words. Soundgym has an interesting selection of 'games' for audio engineers.

 

What about action games, RPG's and so on?

I've tried to imagine some kind of third-person action game that leans on music as a mechanism for learning mechanics, enemy patterns, etc. I usually get stuck somewhere between what is essentially rhythm and imitation- which isn't very groundbreaking- and something that would be too complex for most to play enjoyably.

Here's a weird idea: The game is an RPG, and the player has an actual piano keyboard for a controller. When it's the player's turn to act in a fight, they are given 1 or 2 bars to play mostly simple chords, riffs, and so on that correspond to attacks, skills or whatever. Played well, they become more powerful, and given enough practice, more than one action can be combined by playing sequences simultaneously-- it's not hard to imagine ways to expand this idea.

I doubt it would sell much but it would be a really cool experiment. For now, I think developers interested in this sort of thing should focus on rhythm hybrid games to get the idea more attention, and maybe start to include more mechanics that focus on notes and chords, too.