An accessible one-button music game for children with complex needs.

Born out of Alexander’s PhD research at the Glasgow School of Art, SoundTown is a game designed for - and with - children and young people with complex physical and cognitive needs.

The initial brief for SoundTown was developed through consultations with several appropriate organisations, including schools and charities with knowledge of accessible play. Built in the Unity game engine and powered by the Wwise audio engine, SoundTown consists of six minigames that are accessed directly through the Main Menu.

Players interact with SoundTown using a maximum of two buttons or switches. One button navigates the menus, whilst the other is used to select a minigame or play. Thus, SoundTown is explicitly accessible to players only capable of interaction with a single input device such as a switch, foot pedal, or the Xbox Adaptive Controller. It was recognised at the Scottish Games Awards 2023 with a nomination in the ‘Diversity Champion’ category.

SoundTown is completely free to play and always will be. A huge thank you to:

SoundTown was created by Alexander Horowitz, with artwork by Carol Studzinski, and voiceover by Susannah Horowitz.

Main Menu - Players can access each of the six minigames from here.

Berry Forest - Players can drop berries on coloured leaves to play individual notes and long ambient pads.

Bubble Fish - Players can grow underwater bubbles to play sounds as the procedurally-generated fish swim through them.

Town Mice - Players can raise and lower the umbrellas of the city mice. When raindrops hit the open umbrellas, notes play.

Lily Pads - Players can advance the frog in a random pattern over the lily pads. Each leap triggers a new musical event.

Lullaby Sky - Players can select a star whenever the cursor sequence is over it. Selecting a star plays notes and pads.

Lake Swimmer - Players can raise the swimming height of the fish. The height corresponds to the pitch of a continuous drone – if the fish is higher, so too is the pitch. Collecting a jellyfish triggers an additional musical event.