Drag 'n' Hear: Creating, Playing, and Understanding Audio Games Online

Abstract

Since the last couple of years, we have been aiming to advance our understanding of the audio games design process. As audio games are computer games that rely on sound only, they demand or invite the players to 'build the game world in their mind'. Hence, compared to video games, missing visual information is filled in and created by mental imaginary. This makes the genre exciting and simultaneously open to both players with or without visual impairments. In terms of game design, audio games, however, bring additional challenges to the process. How does a designer sketch games that he or she cannot see? To explore such issues, we created an open-sourced online audio game editor that can function as a sketchbook for audio games. By studying how people use the editor to create audio games, we hope to better understand audio game design and foster the growth of this interesting game genre.