Hi, Niamh here with a bonus mid-week blog post! This time, we’re looking at the development of the game’s original soundtrack.

Let’s dive right in, here’s a sneak peek!

We’re lucky enough to be collaborating with Laura Ryder – a very talented composer, songwriter, musician and sound designer! Check out her website to hear more of her work!

But before we even spoke to Laura, we had to decide on the broad details of the music direction. And we didn’t end up choosing lo-fi hip hop just because it sounds nice! (Though that sure didn’t hurt.)

Why Lo-Fi?

After doing a lot of research into different types of music and how they affect people, it turns out there’s scientific reasons why lo-fi hip hop is so popular for studying – and for these same reasons, it’s the perfect music for our game! Those mellow low-fidelity beats with their analogue “imperfections” have a variety of positive, neurophysiological effects on the brain, including:

1. Relaxation and Comfort

Listening to slow, melodic music like lo-fi  decreases your cortisol (stress) levels and blood pressure. It also encourage the slow brainwaves associated with meditation. And predictable musical patterns like those you find in lo-fi hip hop are linked to increased dopamine (a neurotransmitter linked to both pleasure and focus).

2. Focus and Concentration

The iconic loops of lo-fi music don't just improve your mood; they replace distracting external environmental noise because they're predictable at a subconscious level,. This, coupled with effects like low-pass filters, reverb or the gentle hum of vinyl, make the music more immersive and even less attention-grabbing. It creates a soothing blanket of background noise that minimizes auditory distractions.

3. Increased Cognitive Functions

Lyricless lo-fi music is the way to go when it comes to memory - a 2019 Manila University study linked listening to lo-fi music without lyrics to significant increases in free recall (memory) compared to lyrical lo-fi music or silence.

So lo-fi hip-hop sounds great, relaxes you, makes you happy, helps you focus and increases your cognitive function... after all this research, it seemed like an obvious match for our chill systemic game!

That's all for now but if you want more, check out our last post to see how our playtest went!
And stay tuned for more soon!