Musaic Box is a new music/puzzle/point and click game from Badim at Newgrounds. The concept is quite refreshing for music games. Essentially, you are building music square by square in a music box.
Your grandfather has left you clues all over his house that will lead you to your birthday present. He’s a great musician and it becomes your job to piece his music back together. Some is written on scraps of paper, while other parts are hidden in paintings, projections from lampshades, and in his precious instrument collection. Once you get the sheet music copied down, you have to arrange the song to fit in the music box.
The song is completed in Musaic Box.
The point and click element leaves a lot to be desired. There’s a lot of text for some objects and absolutely nothing for others. The only way to know if you’re clicking on something that can be interacted with is if text pops up or music is revealed. It’s an annoyance that detracts from the gameplay elements that make Musaic Box worth playing.
The joy of Musaic Box is the music puzzles. The songs are arranged in three to four different parts that can only fit together in one correct sequence. There are visual cues–verging on Gregorian chant notation–that can help you put the song together melodically. There’s also a simple rule that must be followed. Each column can only feature one of each musical color.
It becomes a matter of trial and error. The reddish-pink color is always the melody. When you click on the pieces, they play whatever part of the arrangement they represent. Will you try to line up the melody pieces before putting them in the box? Try different combinations of puzzle pieces based on the shape of the box? Abuse the hint system that only tells you if the pieces are in the right musical order, not whether they’re in their appropriate puzzle slot? Or some combination of the above? There is no right way to play and some puzzles can be stacked together in different ways and still be correct.
The songs are all public domain numbers, like “Aloha ‘Oe” or “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” However, the arrangements are quite clever. “Alouette” becomes a bouncy cartoon anthem filled with interesting counter point. “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” becomes a fast rock track with screeching guitars. The further you go in the game, the more elaborate and inventive the arrangements become.
You don’t need to be a trained musician to have fun with this game. It’s very user friendly and rewarding. Aside from the random nature of the point and click elements, it just makes sense. Grit your teeth and get through the exploration of the rooms to have fun building music piece by piece.
For doing something new and interesting, Musaic Box joins the ever-growing recommendation of online games called Play It.
Thoughts? Love to hear them.
