For Artwork #4, I wanted to create a game that would have players experience the work of a sound engineer. Sound Effect!, as the name suggests, is about experiencing the randomness and pressure of creating sound effects on the spot. As someone who sometimes has to make sound effects on the spot, I wanted the players to feel a similar rush, but with an even shorter time limit, letting them experience the need to act fast and rely on their instincts.
For Sound Effect!, everyone brings an instrument of their choice. Each round begins with the group drawing an action prompt. The prompts can be anything from “a door creaking open” to “footsteps” or something conceptual like “a spell charging up.” Once the prompt is revealed, each player has a minute to experiment with their instruments and create a sound effect to the best of their abilities. After the minute is up, the players take turns playing their sound effects. Each performance shouldn’t last more than 10 seconds. They should be brief and convey the idea effectively. After everyone has performed, the group votes on whose sound Effect was the most realistic or convincing. However, you can not vote for yourself. The person who receives the most votes earns one point for that round. After a set number of rounds, the player with the most tally marks wins. If there’s a tie at the end, the tied players do one extra sudden-death round with a new prompt, and everyone else votes to break the tie. This game is meant to be creative. Don’t let rules and prompts limit your creativity. I have created 4 variations of the game for different player experiences. I encourage players to develop more variations of the game to play with friends, using the existing rules as a foundation.
Rules:
- Setup:
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- Each player will either choose an instrument or bring their own. The game comes with a small list of action prompts to help new players get started. You may also add your own prompts at any time. The players will decide how many rounds they want to play.
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- Start of the Round:
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- Draw one action prompt from the list and read it aloud to the group.
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- Prep Time:
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- All players will have one minute to create a sound effect on their instrument that matches the prompt.
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- Performances:
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- After the minute is up, the players will take turns playing their sound effect. Each performance shouldn’t be longer than 10 seconds. Keeping things brief for a faster pace and potentially more rounds.
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- Voting:
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- Once everyone has performed, all players will vote for the sound effect that best matches the prompt. Players cannot vote themselves.
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- Scoring:
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- The player with the most votes will receive one tally mark for that round.
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- Winning:
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- After the final round, the player with the most tally marks wins. If there is a tie, the tied players will play one extra round, and everyone else votes to break the tie.
Game Variations
Each variation uses the standard rules unless stated otherwise below.
- Team Game:
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- Tools Allowed:
- Standard instruments or any variation of a tool that your group agrees upon.
- Team Making:
- The players may decide how many groups they wish to break into; However, if the number of players exceeds 9, the minimum number of players per group must be 3.
- Prep Time Changes:
- Players are allowed 2-3 minutes per round to compose.
- Performance Changes:
- Teams must play together rather than focus on individual performance.
- Each team will be allowed up to 20 seconds.
- Players are allowed to layer, alternate, or blend sounds; however, everyone must have played at the same time at least once.
- Voting Changes:
- Each player may award a different team a point in each category
- Clarity: Was the concept clear in the team’s performance?
- Creativity: Was the performance unique and creative?
- Teamwork: Was the team coordinated?
- The team with the most points wins, and the game continues.
- Each player may award a different team a point in each category
- Tools Allowed:
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- Random Objects:
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- Tools Allowed:
- Players may not use instruments. Each player will use an everyday random object, ie, keys, cups, pencils.
- Voting Changes:
- Players will vote for the sound that is most creative and convincing rather than strictly realistic.
- Tools Allowed:
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- Instrument Swap:
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- Tools Allowed:
- Any instrument or object brought by the players.
- At the start of each round, players will place their instrument/object in the center and select a new instrument. Each player must choose one they are not confident in.
- Prep Time Changes:
- Players are allowed 2 minutes to learn their new instrument and create a sound effect for the prompt.
- Voting Changes:
- As players are new to their instruments, they will vote for the player that they deem creative and intuitive.
- Tools Allowed:
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- Scene Maker:
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- The goal of this variation is not to compete but to create a scene with all the players. A player will pick a prompt and be the first to start playing a rhythm or sound, keeping it short and replayable. The next player will join with a new sound to help add another layer to the prompt, the next will do the same, and so on until everyone has played. The goal is to create/make the scene of the chosen prompt together. There is no winner or loser; it is about creating something together.
- Rules:
- One player chooses or draws a prompt for the round.
- That player starts by playing a short, repeating rhythm or sound inspired by the prompt.
- After a few seconds, the next player will join by adding a new layer to the sound while the first player continues to play.
- Players will continue to join one at a time until every player has performed together.
- The goal is to create a scene that represents the prompt together.
Example Prompts
- Easy (Clear and Simple):
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- Walking
- Running
- Knocking
- Jumping
- Turning around
- Opening something
- Closing something
- The motion of dropping downward
- Sliding
- Shaking
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- Medium (Interpretive):
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- A person starting to fall
- Something sneaking up
- A sudden surprise
- Stumbling forward
- A slow build in tension
- Losing balance
- Heavy footsteps approaching
- Something wobbling
- A short burst of energy
- Someone waking up gradually
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- Hard (Conceptual)
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- A spark of inspiration
- A spell is charging up
- A sense of dread creeping in
- Something malfunctioning
- A chase scene beginning
- Calm turning to chaos
- Transformation
- A dramatic reveal
- A plot twist
- A powerful entrance
Iterations
For my first iteration, I only used the base version of the game. Everything was going as planned, but I noticed the original time allotted to the player to perform was too long. The 20 seconds were too much time for players to fill within the allotted time for practice. The voting system was also a bit strange, since the classmates who weren’t playing still participated. This created a few confusing situations, requiring us to rescore the results. Some of the prompts seemed a little too difficult for the game. After the first playtest, my professor and I agreed that the goal of making the game feel chaotic and random was a good one.
For the second iteration, we tried switching instruments around to add even more confusion and chaos to the game. Everyone agreed to use an unfamiliar instrument. The game turned even more chaotic, but that was the point. This version turned out to be more fun than the original. This was the inspiration for one of the variations listed above.
After both iterations, I decided to create more variations for the game. I wanted to emphasize that the original version was only the starting point for creativity. I ended up designing four variations: Team Game, Random Objects, Instrument Swap, and Scene Maker. Each one explores a different way to play the game, either by increasing chaos, encouraging people to work together, or pushing players’ creativity in a new direction. This was the point where I decided that the players should build their own variations using the core rules as a standardized base. This is an ever-growing game.
Below are videos from the playtesting!
Link to the game document: Sound Effect!