2026-07-29

How to invent a game through soundtrack alone

//spectrum.’s author approach: level sound first — then an imaginary cartridge.

Usual path: game first, then OST. //spectrum. flips the order. Music arrives first, already “knowing” the genre of a nonexistent game — platformer, arcade, cyberpunk shooter.

Soundtrack as scenario

The listener builds the screen: boss, corridor, night chase. The author does not need to ship a ROM. Enough that the track holds the level’s rules.

That separates the project from a plain chiptune collection: each release is a hypothetical game, not an abstract “retro track.”

If you hear a level — the game has already started.