Sounds good to me.

Continuing on with our series, today’s great game must is music to my ears.  You guessed it, Great Game Tenet #7: a great health game has great sound.  This isn’t just your run-of-the-mill sound effects.  Sound includes the sfxs, music, and voices.  All are crucial.

Sounds adds credibility and tone.

The obvious purpose of sound in a game is to activate your auditory senses, not just your visual.  This further immerses the player; it sucks them in.  In my opinion, sound can make or break a health game.  We’ve already talked about how important immediate feedback can be in a health game.  But what about the other sounds like music?  One might argue that music is unnecessary, but if it is used, music can set the tone for the entire game.  Is the game meant to be light-hearted or serious?  Dramatic or just educational?  Sound can also make or break your characters.  Does your character from China sound credible or stereotypical?  Does the character’s voice allow the player to identify with him/her or does it offend the player?  One must also consider general voice over.  This can be a necessity for an audience with a low reading level such as children.  Without voice over, your health message may not get across at all.

Health games that do it well.

Escape from Diab, a PC adventure game that was created to target obesity and decrease type 2 diabetes in children, is a perfect example of a pristine game full of sound.  With a custom soundtrack and professional voice talent, this NIH-funded creation goes above and beyond in the sound category.  The medical training game Pulse!! by BreakAway Ltd and Texas A&M Corpus does an amazing job of using sound to simulate the realities of a clinical emergency after a catastrophic event, such as combat or bioterrorism.  The goal of the game is to be lifelike.  Without sound, this would be a sub-par simulation.

Recommended readings.

• What Makes a Great Health Game Great – Part 6