You can’t have video games without music. Well, you can—the earliest games didn’t have music in the strictest sense, just beeps and boops. But it wasn’t long before the two became inseparably linked, and now a 150-year-old saucy Russian folk tune is known as “that song from Tetris.” Today, developers and publishers put huge amounts of time, money, and consideration into the music that foes into their games. But if you’d rather play with your own meticulously-curated local collection, there are plenty of games that are happy to let you do so.
The key is a technique called procedural generation. Developers have created systems that can analyze a music track—any music track, so long as the original file is in a DRM-free format—and have the game automatically create a level around it. The idea has been around for a while, and made its way into a variety of game types and genres. Here are the best picks for PC gamers.
Audiosurf 2 (Windows, macOS, Steam, Linux)
Audiosurf started off the procedural music genre when it debuted back in 2008, and some of the same technology powers other games. But the sequel, Audiosurf 2 ($15), includes a bigger selection of built-in tracks, a collection of player-customized song levels via the Steam Workshop, and integration with the SoundCloud online repository. The original mechanics remain intact—it’s sort of like playing Tetris on a Guitar Hero screen—along with new and varied game modes. more player ships, better graphics, and more visual effects. The modding community has embraced Audiosurf 2 with enthusiasm, meaning you’ll never run out of new game modes or levels, and each one comes with its original scripts if you’d like to try your hand at modding yourself. There’s a free demo that lets you play the Song of the Day, if $15 is too rich for your blood.
Beat Hazard (Windows, macOS, Linux, Xbox 360, PS3, Android, iOS)
Beat Hazard ($10) is a top-down, twin-stick shooter in the vein of Geometry Wars, with space levels and enemy ships generated by the algorithm of your local music. In addition to hitting that musical pleasure center of your brain while you dodge bullets and blow up ships by the dozen, the game features local multiplayer in both co-op and head-to-head modes. The faster the beat of the…
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