Review: Oddada is a musical playground that doesn’t require musical talent to enjoy

Today’s review is going to be short simply because Oddada, while delightful, isn’t exactly a game. There’s not a lot to really detail and deep dive into with this one. You don’t have to be musically inclined to enjoy tinkering with Oddada, but it probably will help. 

What is Oddada if not a game?

In their own words, Oddada is a music maker. I think that sums it up perfectly. There are certain elements of gamification, but it’s not a game at its core.

As someone who is not musically educated, Oddada felt like just plugging and unplugging things until something seemed semi-passable. I ended up making two tracks that I have aptly named, “Cacophony” and “Discordant”. I will not be winning any awards with these samples.

So, if I did so poorly, I must not have had a very good time, right? Wrong. I might’ve been a little stunted in knowing what I was listening to and how to accurately manipulate a field, but fumbling around and fiddling with nozzles is fun in its own way.

Oddada has an interesting presentation, visually, that keeps you engaged and helps to keep things fresh. When you start the game, you’re given a train. This little train will move from one musical landscape to the next and won’t move on until you’ve recorded sound from that area.

Areas are all unique and while you’ll see some overlap in areas if you make multiple tapes, you won’t see the same one while working on an individual piece.

I was shown various playgrounds from a spinning circle that you could put objects in to play sounds as it went around then went to a little landscape that showed a hillside meeting water that undulated and played sound based on what you put down.

In every little playset, you’re given a random cast of objects that range from tombstones to buildings to animals. These objects change the tune or instrument in your zone so that your sound can be uniquely tailored to what you like.

Once you’re happy with that sound, you can record the music and your train will move on to the next area until you have several sounds recorded.

Please flip the tape over to Side B.

With all the sounds acquired, you’ll be taken to the recording studio where you can hit play and then turn the sounds that you recorded off and on to make something entirely new out of them. In my play, there was a depiction of a sun that acted as a gong that I could tap to insert that sound in.

When you’re happy with your recording, you get to take it to get customized. Every song is recorded on a cassette tape and you get to not only name the song, but you get to customize the tape.

You can pick the colors on not just the face of the cassette, but the outer rim as well. You, also, have access to some stickers that you can pop onto it. I had a lot of fun trying to make mine look weathered and just as ominously constructed as the music I spawned.

If you want to save your music, you have access to download it to your computer to keep outside the game. When you’re happy with everything, it all goes into a cassette holder where you can keep your masterpieces.

I lovingly call mine the “trash can”. I know my weaknesses.

Upon completing a tape, you can unlock a hidden object. These objects help further customize your sound and keeps the gameplay feeling fresh. After my first cassette, I unlocked a seasonal object that changed how my music sounded depending on which season I picked. And my second cassette unlocked a metronome.

You’re not going to be having some great adventure with Oddada, but you’re still going to have fun. If you’d like to try out Oddada for yourself, you can get it on Steam for $9.99. If a musical playground isn’t your cup of tea, you can check out the review that we did on Vampire Therapist.