Interview: Chime
It may be compared to Lumines, or even Tetris, but that doesn’t bother Zoë Mode, the company behind new puzzler Chime. Chime is a music-based puzzle game that requires the player to fill in a blank canvas area with differently shaped blocks. As in Lumines a wipe bar moves from left to right, detecting the blocks you have placed, as each one is passed over part of the background music is remixed. I’ve been lucky enough to play it.
It’s a game likely to sweep over XBLA and take the service by storm. The game itself is incredibly addictive, as most block based puzzlers are, but the magic of Chime emerges from how it interacts with its own soundtrack. As each level plays out, a track will play in the background, and by placing blocks you’re effectively ‘remixing’ the song.
It’s worth noting that these aren’t just any old tracks. Much of the music is created by Moby, and Paul Hartnoll of Orbital fame. Each piece suits the mechanics wonderfully, and playing 
through each level I found myself becoming more and more absorbed in the game.
Chime is a relaxing affair. There are plenty of frantic moments, but the game is taken at your own pace as you’re swept away by a truly wonderful visual and aural spectacle. Chime is more than songs and block moving; it’s about giving. OneBigGame, Chime’s non-profit publisher, is giving away a large chunk of the game’s profits. The money will be going to Children’s charities around the world, and we will be a large part of it. Knowing that we can sit back and play our way through an amazing game, while the money we spent is going to help those in need, is an amazing thing.
Chime is set for a February release date – and, of course, we’ll be bringing you a full review nearer to that time. For now, I sat down with producer Brynley Gibson to discuss Chime and what went into the creation of such a title.
Resolution Magazine: How did the idea for Chime first come about?
Brynley Gibson: Chime goes back a long way within the studio and has evolved through several pairs of hands. The game concept was first created by Ciaran Walsh, the Audio Director at Zoë. His initial design was called Cascade and the central concept is very much the same as what we have now with Chime. That concept 
was to place down shapes in a game area to solve puzzles, but the unique aspect would be that the placement of the shapes would manipulate music being played at the time. An idea that was important right from the start, and that I immediately latched onto when coming onto the project, was that the music in Chime could be very different to what had been done previously in these types of games. It could be any type of music and one of the first demo tracks we produced was a fantastic classical piece that you sadly won’t get to hear in the final release. However, when players first hear Philip Glass’ Brazil, they’ll hear the potential; it has time changes, key changes and some very interesting instruments.
RM: Chime will inevitably be compared to Lumines. How do you feel about that, and how does it feel being in competition with such a game?
BG: The two games that get cited immediately are the legendary Lumines and Tetris. To be mentioned in a positive light alongside these titles is a real honour. There are certainly similarities with Lumines. They are both block puzzle games and have a musical aspect and scrubber line that affects the game and music as it passes.
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