Jumphobia: Homeward Bound | Game Soundtrack & Sound Design

In summer 2021, I was asked to compose the soundtrack and sound design for the latest edition of the online and console game, Jumphobia: Homeward Bound - set for release in early 2022.

In the game, players follow a delivery robot through the trials and tribulations of a dystopian future. They control “Jumpy”, an older model of delivery machine who was tossed aside when the latest update made his hardware outdated. He fights on, traversing the forests, deserts, and harsh environment created by a century of war and ecological neglect, on his venture to find his way home.

Given the robotic theme of the game, the general brief was to compose a heavily electronic soundtrack.

I leant into some of my favourite electronic producers as references - Bonobo, Jon Hopkins, George Fitzgerald - who I favour for their ability to blend organic timbres and melodic feel into digitally-driven sounds.

I composed five tracks for each 'world' in the game, which ranged from a 'city' to a 'factory'.

I was given a short brief and image for each, which provided me with verbal and verbal cues which I turned into a sonic interpretation. I made sure each track contained contextual ambience, with added sound design, and made timbre choices to suit each environment.

For example, in the 'factory', the brief spoke of 'humming electricity' - which I recreated as a swelling, buzzy bassline. The sounds I chose for the drums were 'metallic', 'rusty' and robotically rhythmic to re-enact the loud thuds of large cogs, with added foley ambience of hissing and clanking factory noises.

In the 'dead forest', I chose haunting organic sounds of marimbas, syncopated tribal beats, and far-away wind instruments drenched in reverb. Foley forest and wind sounds acted as lifts and transitions between parts, as well as contextual ambience. Polyrhythmic synths and swells catered for the 'radiation poisoning' noted in the brief and kept a common thread of a futuristic and technological feel.

I made sure to carry a strong melody throughout each track to keep the songs in 'gaming' territory, as well as retaining an ambience for each world. Given the serious and dystopian feel of the game, I made sure to keep each song high-tempo and driving, to add to the tension intended in each level.

I also wrote eight cutscene pieces, which matched a cartoon narrative running throughout the game. This included sourcing and creating sound effects, foley ambiences, and transitional music pieces.

Jumphobia: Homeward Bound is set for release in early 2022.