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Message in a Melody

by Tyler S. Harris

(based on 1 rating)
1 reviewIt's on 1 wishlist.

About the Story

Can the power of music save the human race?

Message in a Melody is a 150,000-word interactive science fiction novel by Tyler S. Harris in which your choices control the story. It is entirely text-based—without graphics—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. There are some opportunities to click a link and hear the song that inspires the scene. Open in a new tab to listen if you'd like.

When you and the Raqullan regime descend upon Earth, the plan is to force all humans into submission. Otherwise, exterminate. But when you learn about this curious practice they call music, you realize the humans may be worth more than just labor.

Music does not exist in Raqullan society, and your curiosity to learn more may be enough to keep the humans alive long enough to understand it. Is it an art? A tool? A weapon? You may have to come to a conclusion when the fate of the human race rests in your claws.

*Play as male or female. You do not have to choose a sexual orientation and can play as straight, gay, bi, or aromantic.
*Become a master of science, oration, weapons, or perhaps even a musical instrument.
*Build relationships in a manner similar to humans. Find a partner, a companion, or even a lover.
*Help a friend to research weapons, cure a disease, bring animals from your home planet to Earth, or become a musical prodigy.
*Be the first of your kind to perform music for a human audience.
*Gain enough power to become a member of the Raqullan High Council, or throw it all away to become a starving artist.
*Discover songs (achievements) as you play. Can you discover the entire playlist?

Will music be the bridge that crosses the divide between Raqullans and humans? Or will the troubled waters from the first contact be too much to overcome?

Ratings and Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Alien invasions and youtube music, May 31, 2025

Full Disclosure: I am a credited beta tester for this game.

Compared to Zoo-pocalypse, Message in a Melody is more like your traditional Hosted Games title, with a fairly substantial word count (150k), character creation, stats and romances. Still, the Sci-fi genre isn't exactly popular with the Hosted Games crowd, and Message in a Melody is more the 'academic' type of Sci-fi game rather than the 'adventure' type. I'm guessing this is one of the reasons it hasn't done well with that crowd. Still, if this type of sci-fi is the one for you, I do think Message in a Melody could be a pretty strong title.

First, let's talk about this game's signature feature - the ability to unlock music. Well, how this works is that at different points in the game, you can unlock songs, which are essentially links to MVs on external sites like youtube. Unfortunately, I feel that this idea was much better on paper than in the actual game. Due to issues with clicking hyperlinks in game, these links are provided as full URLs which you can copy/paste on the mobile version. Also, even if you're playing on wifi or with unlimited cellular data, moving to another website from the omnibus to hear the music just feels really clunky on mobile platforms. Even on desktop platforms, it also feels immersion breaking to jump to a youtube page just to hear the music. I appreciate the attempt at innovation, but this felt like a huge miss.

The setting and story is pretty well written, and while some writers tend to ramble, I felt that the amount of prose used here was just right. There are also optional modes for full stat transparency, which is a big plus in my book. You play as a member of a race of aliens, out to destroy the human race, until something musical just seems to change your mind. You also have the option to romance some other alien characters in the game, but none of the ROs really stood out, and this didn't feel like a big part of the game anyway.

Given the choice of genre and style, this game was never likely to be a hit with the HG crowd. The external music link system also felt a lot like an experiment which went very wrong. Still, if the more academic type of Sci-fi is your thing, there can be a lot to like here.

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