Project-HARP
EECS 370 Game Design
Northwestern University

Developed by:
Matt Gilk
Derek Morris
Alex Zylman

Description:
Project HARP (HARPs Are Really Progressive) is a mobile music game. Players must produce sounds that match the background music by catching a pattern of balls with blocks. The blocks determine the frequency of their sound by the y-coordinate. The player receives a score based on how close they are to the correct pitches and then proceed to the next sound loop. If a player is especially good, they will be able to “play” through an entire song without having the loops repeat.

We intended for the users of the game to pick up some musical skills as they progress. By listening to the song, and remembering which height produced which pitch, an experienced user can beat a level without having the sound loop repeat. The game rewards players who can solve a level quickly by basically playing the song in real time as they solve each level. It punishes those who aren’t as good by making them repeat the same sound loop.

We designed the game to be challenging not only in finding the right pitch but also in placing blocks under all the falling balls. It is a fun challenge to try and catch all of the balls and as they fall in a randomly generated repeating pattern. Players must use their hand eye coordination to quickly place a block under a ball before it falls off the screen. If they do not succeed, they must remember where the ball was in order to put a block there next time. This provides interesting game play utilizing multiple skill sets.