How Video Game Music Effects Your Gameplay

Minecraft Jukebox & Monstercat

First things first, we need a prime example of GOOD video game music. The tunes from the pop 2015 game: “Rocket League” will do well. The tunes in this particular game are so upbeat and positive that they really set the tone for the whole experience. To be honest though, most of that “music” is electronic/rock, and I completely understand that is not everyone’s cup of tea. But the point of this post is to talk about how it can affect your gameplay, so let’s talk about that.

Well, let’s create a setting. You are playing Rocket League on Nintendo Switch. Score: 2 – 5, you are losing. The game flashes the words across your screen: ONE MINUTE REMAINING! Your hands grip the Pro Controller tighter as the brain slips into a mode of panic. In this make-or-break moment, one major factor can tip the scales of the game: the music. Say you have sound off. Perhaps you perceive that it allows you to concentrate better, or maybe another reason. Whatever the case, chances are the panic mode will conquer your sense of calm and cause you to fail the winning shot. But! If you are listening to the epic soundtrack in the background, you might just find yourself not giving up hope; even when you lose, the music will speed up the process of picking up the pieces and motivate you into clicking “Play Again” and giving it another shot.

This whole process of “motivation” is simply to keep you playing the game. But for the sake of it, let’s make another example; this time with the extremely popular video game known as “Minecraft.”

After creating your very own world and kitting yourself out with iron tools, you (the player), dive deep into the depths of a cave to the point of discovering a mineshaft. And of course, where there’s a mineshaft: there’s cave spiders. Like any intelligent player, you completely forget this very important fact. 2 minutes later, while on the run from a legion of mobs, the relaxing tune known as “LivingMice” plays. As strange as it sounds, it seems to fit absolutely perfect to the situation. But here’s the catch. It’s just a tune embedded into the soundtrack. The game does not correspond the song to the event happening in the gameplay; it’s just that the music is created to be a relaxing tune that can match anything. Building, mining, running from cave spiders, PvP, basically anything from the game can match the music.

So, what’s the point? Video game music is underrated? Don’t enter a mineshaft with iron tools? Provolone is better than parmesan? I think the message is: All video game music is simply made to enhance the experience, from the sound of opening a chest in The Legend of Zelda, to Pelican Town’s happy beat in Stardew Valley.

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