News

San Francisco, Calif. – Feb. 3, in the year of our Lord 2010 - OneBigGame, the non-profit publisher of videogames, rings in the new year with its music puzzle game Chime, available nowon Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.  Chime is available for a price of 400 Microsoft Points ($5 USD) on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360, and OneBigGame will donate net proceeds to charity partners Save the Children and Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children and, next to many other countries, currently very active in Haiti, helping children and families in extreme need.  Starlight Children’s Foundation provides support to children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses and injuries by providing entertainment, education and family activities. 

“OneBigGame couldn’t have wished for a better launch title than Chime,” said Martin de Ronde, director, OneBigGame. “Its production values, innovative mechanics and overall quality perfectly show what can happen if top names in the games industry are asked to create an entertainment game for charity.”

Developed by music game protégé Zoë Mode, Chime represents the first title in OneBigGame’s exciting and inspiring catalog of games.  OneBigGame has more than 15 games currently in development from various established developers and designers, to raise funds for its children’s charities. Creations from Masaya Matsuura and Charles Cecil, amongst other talented artists, will follow Zoë Mode’s charming Chime.

A creative twist on both music and block puzzle games, Chime tasks players with covering the playing field with irregular shapes, each connected to a sound effect from the background music track, to form rectangular blocks, called quads.  Chime’s innovative game mechanics enables players to create a unique remix of each song every time they play a level as the building of larger quads unlock more elements of the underlying song.  Working their way to 100 percent coverage of the grid, players will unlock the song in full. Artists Philip Glass, Moby, Markus Schulz, Paul Hartnoll of Orbital and Fred Deakin of Lemon Jelly have donated their music tracks pro bono.

“Zoë Mode specializes in developing music and social games,” said Ed Daly, General manager of Zoë Mode. “It was great to be able to join our expertise with the serious work of OneBigGame to create the fantastic soundscapes and addictive gameplay of Chime.  We believe gamers will get hooked, and in the process, will help a great cause.”

Chime is available now on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360.  For more information about Chime, please visit www.chimegame.com.