Oddada - Create Your Own Soundtrack in This Unique Music Adventure Review
ODDADA is a music exploration indie game where you unlock new ways to create musical loops. A visually beautiful setting where the instruments and tools are the main focus and you are the conductor.
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ODDADA is a music exploration indie game where you unlock new ways to create musical loops. A visually beautiful setting where the instruments and tools are the main focus and you are the conductor using your creative freedom to guide the music into a fully formed song.
We Are All Musicians
Welcome to ODDADA, which is described as an explorative music game. I would take it one step further and call it a rogue-lite music maker. You drag and drop objects made available to you and interact with them in each level to create a short musical loop.
When the game begins, you are presented with the game title, ODDADA. You have to click each letter, and as you click them, the letters fall to the ground, where an instrument is waiting to start your first music-making session. This is how each level begins—an instrument waiting with extra pieces falling in front of you from somewhere off-screen.
You use each letter and place it in an instrument that plays a loop. As you begin, you are introduced to your main companion: a toy train.
Looping It Together
You have a small toy train as your recorder. When you feel like the loop you've made sounds just right, you press the red button on the front of the train, and it records the loop. Then, it’s off to the next loop of the song-making experience.
You will now see that the train has another wagon, representing the loop you previously recorded. You can press the circular button at the top of the wagon to turn the loop on or off and adjust the volume by sliding it up or down.
Each song you create consists of six different loops. Once you complete these, you are brought to a section described as a “concert.” Here, you can record a song using the loops you made, adjusting the volume levels and turning loops off and on at key moments to create a full-length song.
When the song is complete, it is pressed onto a cassette tape. You can name the song directly on the cassette and personalize the colors or images displayed on it. Then, you have the options to store it in a box for safekeeping, purge the cassette from existence, or export it as a 52-second WAV file.
These are the basics of ODDADA—a game that provides little hand-holding and encourages exploration. This approach allows you to be as creative as you like.
Musical Inventory Management
The items you unlock include additional settings for your train that adjust the pitch or delay. You can even unlock items that connect to each loop area, adding more layers to the music. So, what may have sounded one way in your first playthrough can be completely transformed with your new musical tools. This is why I describe it as a rougelite because you are getting a new experience with each song based on new items you use to upgrade. You don’t have permadeath, but you start fresh on each song or start over from the beginning.
One of the upgrades is a new area, almost like a garage, where you can start a new recording. This new area even gives you two starting positions, allowing you to randomize a loop to get a head start on your next song.
My favorite unlocked piece is a wheel you spin to release rain on the landscape loop area and the raindrops play a note as they hit the ground.
Visually Sound
ODDADA may be music-focused, but I think what makes this game special is the design. It feels like IKEA designed a music-making game set in the 1960s. The colors are bright and fun. Some of the pieces you interact with to alter the loop's sound are nicely designed—houses, boxes, gravestones, ducks, ladybugs, and more.
The design of each instrument has a childlike charm, and the attention to detail in the design makes for a visually pleasing setup. Each area’s background is a solid, bright color, which only changes to a “night-time” mode when you unlock a wagon for your train that edits the loop's sound, such as adjusting it from wet to dry or adding percussion.
This wagon not only has a night time mode, but has a sunny mode or snowy mode. If you are on a loop where it is a landscape area with a body of water, land, and a slight mountain the look will change depending on which loop sound you select.
Charm and Uniqueness
Each time you complete a new song, you are presented with a gashapon-style machine. You turn the knob, and a little package jumps into the air. You then press and hold to open it. It is visually appealing, and the sound effects provide a little hit of dopamine with each new item you discover. You can unlock new wagons for the train or new ways to manipulate the sound of a loop with each of these items
.
Sound Design
If you’ve been following the social media channels for ODDADA, you’ve probably seen behind-the-scenes insights from Mathilde. She has shared recordings of the toys used to create sounds for the toy train in the game, along with samples used throughout the game's clicks, pops, turning dials, flowing landscapes, and more.
The sound of the cassette drawer of a tape player opening, inserting the cassette, closing it, and pressing play gives this 30-ish reviewer a flashback to a simpler time. I used to record new songs off the radio station onto a cassette. Wow, times have changed! I recommend just giving them a follow on socials I will share at the end of the review. It’s a great way to engage with the team and see how they created this beautiful indie title.
The sound design follows you throughout the entire experience—picking up items, placing them, interacting with instruments, or even purging a cassette you didn’t like. The attention to detail is unmatched, and Mathilde truly makes this game shine.
Exporting Your Creations
As I mentioned, each song you record is exactly 52 seconds long. I wonder if this specific length was chosen because it’s either the ideal duration before people lose interest or the perfect length to share on social media. Either way, it’s a great foundation for what could influence a full-length song.
I say "influence a full-length song" because, although you’ve created the songs, you still need to follow the Creative Commons license. You may wonder why you can’t use this in a commercial setting, and they explain this with links you can find when you export the songs to your computer. Just to give an example let me paraphrase their FAQ.
If somebody adds a content ID to a song they made within ODDADA or uploads their song to Spotify or YouTube, the algorithm could pick it up and flag a content creator’s videos on social media because the songs would sound similar. Since the game follows a “pattern-based approach,” some songs will sound the same. Not only does this protect content creators like myself from being issued takedown notices or being demonetized, but it also gives us all, as gamers, the creative freedom to share our songs without risking a copyright strike.
I will provide the links to the ODDADA FAQ and the Creative Commons license if you want to check them out.
A New Entry Into The Best Games of 2024
ODDADA is a charming indie game whose main focus—music creation—expands more and more as you unlock new features and settings. To date, including the demo, I’ve made a total of 28 songs. I’ve exported them all and even made a playlist, which I now use to listen to while—well—writing this review you’re reading now.
My only complaint, if you can call it that, is that each piece you unlock or setting you adjust doesn’t have a name tied to it. It’s nice in a way because it doesn’t complicate things, but I’m a bit savvy in the music-making world. Settings like reverb, dry vs. wet, tempo, loss, velocity, delay, or even a metronome could be a great way to introduce those who aren’t musically inclined to what they’re manipulating. For instance, there’s one level where you adjust the attack, decay, sustain, and release. They make it really fun by adding a black ball with fading lines coming out of it to this area, and it moves according to how you adjust the sound envelopes.
As I said, it’s not much of a complaint—more of a suggestion—but I completely agree with not including these to avoid complicating things for newcomers. Just click and move things around gently, and you can create a truly beautiful composition.
The replay ability of ODDADA could be one of the best I’ve experienced in a while. There’s no pressure from timed exclusivity or grinding a battle pass—just the freedom to return to a random area, ready to make a new song in a matter of minutes or more. I once spent 40 minutes on a single song because I wanted it to be just right.
My Soundtrack
This version of the game had the option to unlock all the items in the game. Now that the review is complete and the game has been released, I’m excited to give it another playthrough to see how each unlock enhances the experience.
Is a music-making game something that interests you? Have you tried out ODDADA? Let me know in the comments!
Considering this is a music making game and you can export the songs I figured why not share some of my favorites I created! Enjoy!
Good Game Lobby - Blorp
Good Game Lobby - Bootleg
Good Game Lobby - vvvvvvv
🔗Sven Ahlgrimm | Twitter | Instagram | Itch
🔗Mathilde Hoffman | Twitter | Spotify | Instagram | Website
🔗Bastian Clausdorff | Twitter
ODDADA is now available on Steam for PC and Mac.
🔗ODDADA | Steam | Website | Tik Tok
🔗ODDADA FAQ | Website
🔗Creative Commons | Website
This review copy was provided by Future Friends Video Games on behalf of the ODDADA team.
I love music games, and this one looks interesting!
I added it to my wishlist!