After three months of development, I’m excited to announce that the soundStrider demo has arrived! In this demo of the elemental palette, players can explore infinite soundscapes of peaceful ambient music.

Introducing soundStrider

Close your eyes and picture a world that you can only hear. Its lush environments are filled with orchestras of analog synthesizers that evoke colorful and imaginative images. Exploration rewards you with mysteries to solve and contemplative places to revisit.

This is soundStrider—part exploration game, walking simulator, four-dimensional ambient music generator, and relaxation tool.

Read more of the soundStrider announcement on the shiftBacktick blog.

Introducing the elemental palette

With the elemental palette I aspired to generate ethereal drones similar to Eliane Radigue’s influential Trilogie de la Mort, whose discreet moments are seemingly unchanging textures eternally frozen in time, but zoomed out they demonstrate a very organic and purposeful movement.

While each type of prop here emits a constant tone, a variety of attributes such as vibrato or tremolo ebb and flow to give them character. Staying still will reveal the large timescales at which they operate, making each space they occupy an evolving and meditative experience, whereas passing through reveals the melody and harmony inherently between spaces.

Learn more about the elemental palette on the shiftBacktick blog.

How to play

soundStrider is an auditory exploration game and relaxation tool designed for playing closed-eyed. Explore and appreciate its environments at your own pace. In this demo specifically, one valid way to play is to enter Free Roam and toggle Auto Move to hear endless hours of unique ambient music.

Please visit the main page to play in a supported browser and learn more, or simply download one of the executables below. Be sure to leave your favorite bookmarks in the comments. Thanks for playing!