PANORAMICAL for Mac

Interpret music with this game

Music is an abstract concept, and turning what you hear into an image gives plenty of room for interpretation. Panoramical is an indie game that visualizes music. Players can modulate colorful landscape while adding and transforming music elements of a soundtrack. You can play it however you want. You can make a fast-paced environment or a relaxing landscape. If you are looking for a more interactive music game though, Panoramical is more of a performative digital painting than a video game.

Paint the music

At a glance, Panoramical looks like a music visualizer from music players of the late 90s and early 00s, where shapes and patterns move to the beat of the audio track. However, this time, you can control both the audio and the visuals in real-time. The game has virtual or IRL dials that, when turned, create shapes, waves, and colorful tendrils, which ripple and moves to the accompanying music.

Panoramical has 15 unique worlds, each with 18 different audio-visual dimensions under your control. As mentioned, the music and the visuals move and change with every turn of the dials. The game comes with straightforward controls compatible with keyboards plus mouse, gamepad, and MIDI controllers. However,  you will need a computer with at least 1GB RAM and a gaming-capable graphics card to experience smooth gameplay.

The game world is your oyster in Panoramical. It's up to you to create a peaceful landscape with calming music and relaxing hues. You can also create a jarring thumping ground with gyrating shapes and a loud audio track. There is nothing to win here. There are no enemies to beat and no leaderboards to overcome. What you can get in the game is the satisfaction of turning the beat you hear into a visual masterpiece.

More of a music creation app

All in all, Panoramical is a fascinating app if you are into music. With it, you will have a visually pleasing platform to interpret how you see music. The mechanics and the controls are simple, and the app gives you complete creative freedom to do whatever you want. However, calling it a game seems a bit of a stretch since it lacks various gaming elements. Nevertheless, it is a fun tool for music creation.