Because music brings us together
Because music brings us together
Encounters is a crossroads of stories with a common bond. Loneliness, love, frustration, family ... we all go through complicated situations, sad stages and bad times ... but we believe that music can change them and rewrite a new ending ... can you help us?
Find the rhythm that paves the way for our protagonists so that the illusion they have dreamed of so much can become a reality!
Encounters has been created with great care by Raquel (idea, music, development, and design) and Pilar (stories).
Encounters is a new concept of casual music rhythm game. You must pave the way so the characters can advance and arrive to the final encounter platform.
Each character plays a part of the song. Perhaps they play different instruments, or perhaps one plays the melody and the other the accompaniment. You can train each character separately but to win a level you must coordinate both hands (or play with a friend).
For mobile or switch in touch mode, just tap on either side of screen to lower the raised blue tiles. On switch you can also swing the left or right Joy-Con downwards, or use the L or R buttons.
The path has some visual clues. The dots mark the first beat of each measure. If you keep the rhythm with your foot, the kick will coincide with those points.
And if you play in easy mode you will see in yellow the tiles that match raised on both sides, so lower the tiles of both sides at the same time!
When you learn a song you should be able to play even with your eyes closed. In fact, we recommend trust your hearing more than your sight. If you keep up the pace but fail frequently, you can adjust the synchronization.
Encounters are the stories of its characters, their illusions and their desires, the stories of those who want to meet and be happy with their loved ones. Today more than ever, meeting has become the illusion of millions of people... and we can't think of a better way than music to make those dreams come true! Do you want to know how these stories end? You will have to play and achieve the characters to meet :)
Dear Granny: I have drawn a rainbow drawing for your hospital room. I want to give you a great big hug and to making cookies and playing cards together. I love you very much and to infinity!
I gaze at you every sunset. You look at me and greet me. I gape at you with a racing heart and not knowing what to do. But today is the day. I want to talk to you, I want to meet you. I want to kiss you.
Every day is the same. The nights, endless. I am alone. I need a partner so bad. Someone who loves me. Someone who accepts me as I am.
We are so close, and at the same time so far, among people and dances. My heart beats uncontrollably with the touch of your hand. What wouldn't I give to dance with you? My fortune, my titles, and my prestige. I would give everything!
Once upon a time, in Barcelona, two unconventional girls. One composed and programmed, the other one wrote and ... more things. One wanted to make a game, the other one was game for anything. Cool! Guaranteed adventure!
Gray days at the toy store. The layers of dust on the brass skin are countless. The glory times are over. No one reads his comics anymore. No one thinks about him anymore... Nobody?
Kepler-1949 system, Third Planet. The receiver picks up a signal. Something small and almost imperceptible in the middle of the static. A weak distress call in strange code.
The fury of the Four Elements has been unleashed. I have to find her. I will slide on icy streams. I will overcome the violence of the rapids. I will navigate rivers of lava. My feet will tread the rock of the caves and the sand of the desert.
The whole world acclaims me. I am the goddess of the stage! But your furtives eyes, behind the broom, intimidate me. Your sighs deconcentrate me. I don't understand what's wrong with me. Am I perhaps in love?
Night chases, dark alleyways and museums, vaults and jewelry. I love your enigmatic smile. Your unexpected strategies drive me crazy. But the best comes later...
How could I imagine it? How could I resist? A gondola ride at sunset, the delicate sway through the decadent canals, the frenzy of carnival… and a barcarolle.
Cousin, cousin! We will also go to village at Christmas! I can't wait no more! We'll play in the snow again, we'll all sing Christmas carols together, and we will put up the tree, the decorations and the lights. And we will open the presents!
To lower the raised blue tiles on mobile or switch in touch mode, just tap on either side of screen to lower the raised blue tiles. On switch you can also swing the left or right JoyCon downwards, or use the L/R buttons.
First training
First easy mode
First encounter
First night
First encounter with 3 stars
Tiles in a row (25, 50, 100, 200, 500)
Checkpoint without failure (1, 2, 3, 4)
Total stars (10, 20, 50)
Levels mastered (1, 3, 5 levels with three stars in normal and night mode)
First custom level (coming soon)
Practice with each character separately to learn the song without wasting lives.
The song sounds slower. When you reach a yellow tile, tap with both hands at the same time!
The original game experience
To unlock this mode you must get 3 stars in normal mode and learned the song, since the path will be dark.
Encounters: Music Stories is a game that combines music and rhythm with short, sweet stories about a wide range of marginalised or underrepresented people, like those with physical disabilities, people of colour, women in tech, the elderly, and the LGBTQ+ community, and so on.
Besides the characters and the lovely level stories, uncommon on casual music games, we have not found any music or rhythm game with similar mechanics, just tapping or swinging the Joy-Con downwards but with two hands coordination. Each hand plays a different instrument, or one hand the melody and the other one the accompaniment. Is it too difficult for you? Give a Joy-Con to a friend and focus on a single character.
As the developer is also a music composer, music in the game is tailor-made, combining adaptations of public domain songs and original music.
Music / Casual
Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch
Android: February 21, 2021
iOS: September 2, 2021
Nintendo Switch: July 21, 2022
Training, Easy, Normal, and Night
English, Spanish, French, Catalan
Raquel G. Cabañas (ILOVEMEDIA),
based on Sant Cugat del Vallès
(Barcelona, Spain)
Cooking and Publishing
It may be a simple rhythm game but Encounters: Music Stories is definitely clever and challenging thanks to its unique spin on the genre.
Encounters: Music Stories es un juego simple sobre el amor y la música. Con que te guste la música cumples todos los requisitos para jugarlo, el ritmo te saldrá solo. Aunque si lo normal se te queda en poco, tienes un desafío disponible solo para valientes. No se puede pedir mucho más.
Encounters: Music Stories nos ofrece doce historias contadas a través de la música en juego de ritmo tan sencillo como adictivo. Sin duda es una muy buena idea, implementada en un juego que aparentemente es muy simple, ideal para partidas cortas, pero que una vez empecemos una, costará mucho despegarnos de nuestra Switch e irnos con la música a otra parte.
I want to see more of Encounters, make a sequel, polish up the looks, get more songs, more originals, and I’m positive this will be a classic. I like what I played a lot, but feel it’s just shy away from being what it truly can be if it had more budget. That all said, I liked Encounters and for $5, you can’t go too wrong.
The images zip contains gameplay screenshots, characters, stories, logos, and banners. The videos zip contains trailers in different languages, gameplays, and a gif.
Feel free to send an email to hello@ilovemedia.es if you need more files or information.
Thanks to all these wonderful people who have helped to make Raquel's dream come true :)
Raquel G. Cabañas
Raquel G. Cabañas
Raquel G. Cabañas
Pilar M Esteras Casanova
Cooking and Publishing
Raúl Jiménez Herrando
Aurora Arcas López
Pilar M Esteras Casanova
Rodrigo Díaz Medina
Marcos González Sancho
Cristina Casado Esteras
Diego Casado Esteras
Estíbalitz G. de Salazar Bilbao
Unity, Wwise