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The sight of music: the art behind Crypt of the NecroDancer
We tend to think of music as a purely auditory experience, but it's hard to deny the visual aspects of some of history's most iconic musicians. Michael Jackson had a white, studded glove. Gorillaz has animated personas. Daft Punk has robot helmets. KISS had makeup. What we see in our media can be just as important as what we hear, even if it's the music that gets the majority of our attention. Crypt of the NecroDancer is a game that mixes roguelike structure and design with rhythm-based controls. As heroine Cadence, players move and attack to the beat of a soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky that's so infectious and lovable even the dead can't resist its charms – skeletons, zombies, ghouls and more shuffle to its pulsing beats and wave their hands/bones/tentacles/claws in the air like they just don't care. The game has earned much attention and praise – Joystiq's own David Hinkle wrote that it "represents everything that I treasure about the indie games scene" – but Crypt of the NecroDancer is more than music and monster-bashing. It has a talented art team behind it, dedicated to giving those who play the game a world they'll want to see as much as they want to hear it.
