There is nothing I enjoy more than covering news about a game that goes the extra mile to be inclusive, and no game in recent memory has embraced inclusivity more than Harmonium, a fully interactive sign language-based musical.
At its core, Harmonium is a Netflix-backed adventure / narrative game that follows a character named Melody Macato. Melody is a 10-year-old Filipina girl who happens to be a deaf musician.
The game follows Melody as she gets ready for her debut show and her journey to create a new type of music that can be felt, seen, and, most importantly, heard by her friends.
Without ruining any more of the game’s story, Harmonium is all about music visualized. Players will explore the game through innovative gameplay mechanics and narrative puzzles built around a version of American Sign Language.
The game results from a beautiful passion project and collaboration between writers, artists, and anyone in the Deaf Community, all coming together in partnership with The Odd Gentlemen, an award-winning narrative game studio.
What sets Harmonium apart is that it uses sign language alongside other forms of nonverbal communication. Players will experience the game through mechanics that utilize body language and handshakes to describe things visually without needing to be familiar with sign language in order to play.
To ensure that Harmonium is a game that can be played and enjoyed by as many gamers as possible, it will include a visual language for music, animated subtitles for musical numbers, customizable captions/UI/controls, characters who fully communicate through ASL, a high-contrast gameplay mode, dubbed or subtitled mode, and more.
Why did Harmonium go to all the effort of creating its own version of sign language when American Sign Language already exists? Well, the answer is twofold.
For starters, it was done so that the game’s puzzles would still challenge players who were already familiar with an existing sign language and could learn something new. It was also done because American Sign Language isn’t the only sign language in existence and it also isn’t used ubiquitously.
The hope is that introducing players to Harmonium Sign Language, which will be gradually taught and introduced to the players as they explore, will help gamers open their minds to taking in language digitally rather than audibly.
Harmonium: The Musical is in development and set to be released early in 2025 via Netflix and Xbox Game Pass.