Open Forum: Headphone Games and Albums

I like it when games give me a clear message, up front, that it’s best played with headphones. A good headphone game is just as enjoyable as a good headphone album, and really similar when it gets down to it. They invite active listening and play, they pay more attention to sensory immersion, and they often incorporate a wider range of sounds and tones.

A good headphone album is often opposed to the all-too-spotify-friendly idea of the background album. A background album might be something on at a cafe, stuff you might put on to study to, or that you listen to while organizing excel sheets. A lot of the time, videogame OSTs fit that bill perfectly. They’re not meant to draw focus, but instead to accompany some repetitive activities with small variations. Put that way, it might sound like I’m bagging on that style of music and game, but that’s what I enjoy most of the time, myself.

But sometimes, I want to really tune into something. And when I do, I want to know up front that music and sound are things that a game emphasizes. Assemble With Care is great about this, with an in-game introduction that has the player plug a headphone cord into a walkman. Text then pops up saying something to the effect of, “this is better with headphones.” As a game on Apple Arcade, I can certainly see how the developers at ustwo would think players need a notice – otherwise, they might just start swiping with the phone on mute.

A game that could use that kind of message, even though music and sound is part of its store page description, is Ethereal. Made by Nonsense Arts, it’s a game that features navigation of abstract shapes, some of which produce tones, all without any textual guidance. Its soundscape is very interactive, rich and busy, complimenting its deliberately nonrepresentational visual design. Even that visual design often feels like a reference to moving up and down a musical staff. I’d really be missing out if I played with the sound down or on mute.

Anyway, if you donated to the recent Palestine bundle on itch.io, you already have a copy. Put on your headphones and give it a spin!

**Talk Amongst Yourselves!**

• What games do you think are better with headphones?
• What’s your favorite headphone album?