Sound Shapes
By Chad Sapieha,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Fun indie combines music, platforming, and creativity.
Add rating
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this game.
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Sound Shapes
Community Reviews
There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What’s It About?
SOUND SHAPES is a quirky little platformer in which levels double as evolving musical tracks. Each level, comprised of a single screen, is filled with simple two-dimensional obstacles. The player's blob character can stick to light-colored objects, but not dark-colored ones. Touching red objects and creatures will cause your blob to disappear and reset at the most recent checkpoint. Sounds play as a sweeper bar tracks across the screen, touching music making objects. These sounds create a song that grows in depth and richness as players collect coins scattered across the environment, each of which adds a new noise to the constantly changing soundscape. As players work their way through multiple musical levels grouped together as albums, they unlock elements that they can use to create their own levels via a simple editing kit. Kids can then share their musical video game creations in a safe online community.
Is It Any Good?
Where many modern platformers pride themselves on their unforgiving difficulty, Sound Shapes offers an experience focused on fun, creativity, and music. Make no mistake; some levels demand a deft hand at the controller, and it takes a while to become comfortable with the game's unusual stick-to-certain-surfaces mechanic, which can prove a little aggravating at first. However, frequent checkpoints allow players to keep progressing at a steady pace. This allows kids to fully enjoy the game's great original music, and, eventually, create their own. The level editor is wonderfully easy to understand and use, letting players create playable levels with looping tunes in just a couple of minutes, then upload them for others to try as well. And with an almost limitless number of player-created levels available to download, this $15 PlayStation Network game is well worth picking up.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the use of music in video games. What sort of music do you like? Do you enjoy playing traditional instruments, or do you prefer electronic instruments? Has this game made you more interested in creating your own music?
Families can also discuss creating digital media. Do you ever feel shy about sharing? What might make people hesitant to let other people see the things they make? How do you overcome this shyness?
Game Details
- Platforms: PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation Vita
- Subjects: Arts : music
- Skills: Tech Skills : digital creation, using and applying technology, Creativity : imagination, making new creations, producing new content, Thinking & Reasoning : deduction, strategy
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Not available online
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Release date: August 7, 2012
- Genre: Music & Dance
- Topics: Adventures , Music and Sing-Along
- ESRB rating: E for (No Descriptors)
- Last updated: August 9, 2019
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Play
Our Editors Recommend
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate