Chime is a charitable music puzzle game. Tetris inspires the game and includes music by prominent musicians such as Philip Glass, Moby, Paul Hartnoll, Fred Deakin, and Markus Schulz, introduced randomly. All revenues from the game are donated to charitable organizations such as “Save the Children” and “Starlight Children’s Foundation.”
Players in the game position shape similar to Tetris blocks (but made of six squares) on a grid. The plan is to form so-called “quads.” Quadrilaterals are at least 3×3 squares. When a quad is produced, the player has limited time to expand it in all four directions by inserting other shapes next to it.
The stage also serves as a timeline. A position marker will move from left to right gradually. When the position marker approaches a shape, it makes a sound. The noises are samples from the level’s music theme, and different models are played based on the quad’s body. The further a player proceeds through a group, the more difficult it becomes, and the soundtrack becomes increasingly frantic.
When a quad can no longer be enlarged, and the position marker reaches it, it is deleted, but the grid it covers is colored. As in the arcade game Qix, a counter keeps track of the percentage of the level that is colored. To advance to the next level, the player must color at least 50% of the screen.
Each level’s grid has various sizes and distinct shapes available to the player. Like in Tetris, the player may see which form they will receive next.
The game has both free-play and time-play modes. Time play mode allows players to pick between nine, six, or three minutes. They must score as many points as possible throughout this period. Variable multipliers can be obtained, and for every 10% filled, the player earns 20 seconds of extra time. Furthermore, if a player serves the entire screen, it is flipped over, and he can attempt to score more than 100%.
High scores are instantly submitted to online leaderboards, allowing participants to compete for the top positions.
OneBigGame’s first charity game is called Chime.
The Steam version of the game includes one more extra song, Still Alive from Portal. Only in this level, when the player achieves a high enough bonus multiplier, is a “companion cube” (the player’s best buddy in Portal) awarded. Because this cube is 3×3, it instantly produces a new quad.
