Auditorium is a newly developed, music-based on-line puzzle game, and the first game release of Cipher Prime. From its debut in December, it has already surpassed a million plays and has been quite popular on Digg and StumbleUpon. Still in demo form, to be released in full with community features sometime soon, it is one of the most impressive demos I have played to date.

In the wake of the success of games like Guitar Hero and RockBand, and a personal favourite of mine, Audiosurf, it is no surprise that there has been an explosion of music-themed games everywhere. The difference with Auditorium is that it sounds, looks, and feels new.

The premise of the game is to guide a continuous stream of light, “the Flow”, to Audio Containers, which cause the light particles to react in the form of sound. To manipulate the Flow, which will automatically be streaming in a specific direction, Controls provided within the stage for the player to manipulate; Directional Controls will shift the flow up, down, left, or right, while the Attract Control will gather the light particles to its center, for example. The Controls can be adjusted in size; the bigger they are, the more powerful they shift the Flow. It is up to you to figure out how to manipulate the Flow to reach all of the Audio Containers within the stage. Acts (songs) are comprised of individual stages; you will hear the song develop over the stages as light flows into the containers and you complete the puzzles, with the Auditorium increasing in difficulty in subsequent Acts.

I was hooked from the first Act, the song “Hajimemashite”, which serves as a training ground for Auditorium. Stage 1 is deceptively simple, the white light streaming down and easily dragged into the Container with a directional Control, the piano melody increasing all the while. The following stages become more dynamic, with additional instruments invoked and the placement of the Flow and Controls making the situation more complex, and in later Acts involving alternate colors and obstacles. The songs featured are beautiful instrumental compositions, and the delicate interplay of light and the challenge of completing the puzzles make Auditorium a rewarding game experience, and one that can only be improved through community-based play and an ever-increasing song/puzzle library.