Lead with the Beat: Why Every Game Should Begin with a Theme Song

Before designing a game, first decide: what is its musical tempo? If possible, write a theme song. The entire design should follow the rhythm and tone of that music.
– By Richard Bai

Too often, game design starts with mechanics, visuals, or lore. But truly cohesive games—ones that feel emotionally tight and tonally consistent—often begin with something deeper: a rhythm.

Music, especially a theme song, acts as a blueprint for everything that follows. It defines:

  • Pace
  • Mood
  • Emotional baseline
  • Player expectation

If the gameplay and progression don’t feel like the music, players will experience subtle tonal dissonance.

1. Rhythm defines genre identity

Ask: Is your game’s rhythm…

  • Fast and punchy like a brawler?
  • Calm and spacious like a farming sim?
  • Tense and minimal like a survival game?

Once the core rhythm is clear, you now have a foundation for:

  • Animation timing
  • Combat pacing
  • Level flow
  • UI behavior
  • Sound FX envelope

It becomes a creative gravity well—everything must orbit the beat.

2. Case example: The Match-3 Zombie Game “Puzzles and Survival” by 37Games

This hybrid game initially had an issue:

  • The match-3 rhythm was gentle, like a gardening game—soft audio cues, smooth transitions.
  • But the game also had zombie defense elements, which demanded urgency, tension, and reaction.

The result? A genre mismatch in rhythm.

Players subconsciously felt something was off. It wasn’t about polish—it was about emotional tempo conflict.
Eventually, the team adjusted the match-3 system to feel tighter and more reactive, aligning with the zombie threat level. Only then did the game begin to feel coherent.

3. Why a theme song matters

A theme song is not just branding. It’s a compass:

  • It sets tone in 30 seconds.
  • It creates shared reference across departments (art, design, animation, audio).
  • It guides tempo in non-obvious places (e.g., how long to hold a transition screen).

Think of it like a film score: every moment is either matching, building on, or contradicting the emotional rhythm it introduced.

One-liner takeaway:
The best games don’t just play music—they are built on it.