EbiTapes Preview: Time to Vibe
Music is all around us. We hear it everywhere in our daily lives. When we’re driving, shopping, working out - we’ve usually got a backing track. But what if suddenly all of the music in the world was taken away? Would you notice its absence? Or would you try to make your own?
EbiTapes, from Developers Marton Kiss and Lilla Turi (also known as Goose and Geese), is a casual puzzle-adventure game where players must use their passion for music to create songs using sounds from the world around them. The ultimate goal is to save the music festival and find out who is trying to sink all of the music.
As you explore the beautifully hand drawn world of EbiTapes, which feels like it jumped right off the pages of an elementary student’s sketchbook, you’ll meet a variety of fun characters - some that love music and some that seem to really hate it. During the thirty-minute demo that I had the pleasure of playing I met so many silly and funny characters. From a group of hungry cows, the sushinator who sucks up sound with his vacuum and the main character’s grumpy boss, the game’s cast is certain to bring a smile to the player's faces. These characters bring life to the world and are responsible for giving players different quests.
When I first started out in the demo my character had to go work and then, after getting the day off, was able to explore a few different areas with the ultimate goal of grabbing a train ticket out of town. In order to progress in the game you’ll get quests from the different characters which will usually involve finding and recording sounds around the world on your recorder and putting them together to form a song. Sounds can include things like: a person's snore, a cat’s meow, bugs buzzing, and much more. Once you’ve got your sounds, you can layer them together in your recorder to create a song.
While you can create whatever your heart desires whenever you like, you will be asked for specific things from characters. For example, your sounds are categorized into certain types. You might start playing a song for a character and they’ll let you know if there’s too much “melancholy” in the song and then you’ll know which parts to replace with other sounds until you find what’s just right. Get the song to the perfect place and you’ll be vibing!
It’s a simple concept, but one that EbiTapes has put together perfectly. The game is an incredibly chill adventure. You’re not in any kind of rush, and some of the puzzles may challenge you to use your noggin but they won’t keep you stuck for long. It’s all about taking your time, finding new sounds and bringing music back to the world one song at a time. The game’s art style is so charming, all kinds of players will definitely be impressed when they jump in because even after just thirty minutes it’s clear that this one will be a triumph at full release.
Preview by Becca Smith