I’ve never been a gamer; that’s likely due to the fact that despite the hand-eye coordination you’d assume a concert violinist possesses natively, if you put a button-laced controller in my hands I tend to stink up the place. Even Guitar Hero confounds me. When I read about Papa Sangre on BoingBoing this afternoon, however, I was so taken with the idea of a completely audio-driven game that I only hesitated for a moment before clicking to proceed on the purchase of this $6.99 iPhone app. (Hey, it’s “work related”.)
Though there are visual controls for walking and turning, the rest of the game is completely auditory: the setting is total darkness, and you listen for music, monsters, and to the pattern of your footfalls as you navigate through this captivating scavenger hunt all by your wits and your ears (and the omniscient, angelic voice that serves as situational tour guide). Something about conjuring your own version of the terrors that surround as you tiptoe over crunchy finger bones to collect the requisite number of notes without waking the snarling, snoring beast on guard–and all in the name of saving the soul of a beloved, no less–is satisfying to me in a way Mario Kart couldn’t touch. Plus, it turns out that I’m good at it!
Hats off to the Papa Sangre team. You can find out a great deal more about the project here, and nice brisk summary of how they designed the audio is posted here.