Stave Squash 1.05

Stave Squash is the first in a series of games that uses input from a MIDI keyboard to control the game action and aims to promote the development of musical skills:
1. Identifying notes on the musical stave.
2. Identifying notes on the piano keyboard.
3. Playing correct notes quickly with confidence.

Game description
Control: The game puts you in control of a bat that moves up and down a musical stave according to the note you play on the MIDI keyboard. Players who are quicker at identifying notes on a stave and playing the correct note on the MIDI keyboard will perform better at the game. Playing the game frequently will improve these skills significantly.

Gameplay: A musical note bounces around the stave which you must hit with your bat. When the note bounces on the back wall the game displays where on the stave the bat should be moved to and displays the name of the note to play. If you hit it you score points, if you miss you have to wait for it to come back again.

The game is split into 5 rounds, each of progressive difficulty. Each round has a set time limit. To progress onto the next round you must score a certain amount of hits. If you do not the game ends.

Scoring: Players score everytime the bat hits the bouncing note. The quicker the players reaction time the higher the score gained per hit. Bonus points are awarded on the completion of each round.

Objective: The objective of the game is to score as many points as possible, complete all the rounds and beat the high score. Players who get the highest score store their initials which is stored in the game to set the bar for subsequent players.

Graphics: The graphics are purposefully simple, clear and unobtrusive to focus players on the positions on the stave and the note names.