Topic

Songwriting

Three minutes, and no room to hide.

1: in games
7:45: average
8 min: in total
19: across the network

Songwriting across the network →

All briefs1

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7:45

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva

Sega · 2009

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva is a rhythm game where players press buttons in time with Vocaloid songs across five escalating difficulty levels. Modules — Vocaloid characters or costume variants — appear in music videos depending on song type (solo or duet), but are not controlled. Progression is strictly linear: clearing Normal unlocks Hard, and completing songs unlocks new songs. It was successful in Japan for Sega and linked to their 2010 holographic concert work. No narrative, no multiplayer, no customisation beyond module selection. It asks for timing discipline and rewards it with more timing challenges.

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10:56

Carmageddon

Stainless Games · 1997

Carmageddon is a 1997 vehicular combat game developed by Stainless Games. It subverts racing conventions by making wrong-way driving, crashing, and pedestrian killing explicit objectives. The player races a vehicle against computer-controlled competitors in city, mine and industrial areas. Time is limited but extendable by collecting bonuses, damaging opponents’ cars or running over pedestrians. A race ends when the player finishes the course, wrecks all opponent vehicles, or kills all pedestrians on the level. The game features thirty-six racetracks across eleven locations. Its fully featured physics engine — a world-first for video games — makes collisions unpredictable and tactile. Crashing feels consequential because the engine simulates damage, momentum and environmental interaction in real time. Wrong-way driving wasn’t a bug — it was the core design mandate. Pedestrian killing was added to distinguish it from Destruction Derby — and to provoke. It is worth your time if you want to experience how physics-driven chaos reshaped vehicular combat in 1997 — not as nostalgia, but as a working prototype of rule-breaking design.

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9:30

Civilization VI

Firaxis · 2016

Civilization VI is a turn-based 4X strategy game where players grow a single civilization from antiquity to the near future by exploring, expanding, exploiting, and exterminating.

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10:21

Crash Team Racing

Naughty Dog · 1999

Crash Team Racing is a precise, class-driven kart racer built around a strict, multi-stage power slide mechanic. It demands rhythmic timing, not reflexes. Its hardware constraints — split-screen performance, memory limits — are visible in its design choices, not hidden behind abstraction. It is the last Crash game Naughty Dog made, and it plays like a farewell: focused, complete, and uncompromising.

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10:21

Crypt of the NecroDancer

Brace Yourself Games · 2015

Crypt of the NecroDancer is a rhythm-gated roguelike released in April 2015 by Brace Yourself Games. All movement and attacks must occur on the musical beat. Enemies follow fixed rhythmic patterns — some on every beat, others on subdivisions. Missing the beat resets scoring and risks damage. The dungeon has four zones, each with four levels. Input supports dance pad, keyboard, or gamepad.