Distant Melody
You and Emerald were inseparable before adult life split you apart. But when her favorite Vocaloid songs – written by the music artist nostraightanswer – transport you to a mysterious realm at the edge of a black hole, you learn not all is as it seems with the friend you used to know…
The first chapter of the Distant Melody story combines unique, movement-driven rhythm mechanics and choice-based storytelling. Blast through a beautiful space-scape, collect Vocaloid song lyrics, and make decisions about your future as a young artist. Can you reconnect with your best friend, or are you destined to grow apart?
Distant Melody uses nostraightanswer’s music with permission from the artist. If you enjoy the music in the game, please visit nostraightanswer’s YouTube channel and check out "wishing well" and the rest of the amazing specters album!
Thank you for leaving comments and ratings, which help more folks discover and enjoy Distant Melody!
Characters
You, a young artist living on the West Coast. Battling imposter syndrome, you reach out to your old friend for support… and discover far more than you bargained for.
An energetic music student from Chicago and your best friend. Now that you’ve reconnected, you sense something hiding behind her sunny demeanor.
A creature from your sketchbook who comes to life in the dreamworld. Upbeat and open-hearted, he’s your best hope of unravelling the meaning in nostraightanswer’s songs.
Features
- The first chapter of the Distant Melody story
- Rhythm gameplay with a movement-driven twist
- A choice-based story about friendship, dreams, separation, and music
- Emotional Vocaloid soundtrack by nostraightanswer
- Playable in-browser or as a downloadable app on Android tablet, PC, and Mac
- Completable in one sitting
- A host of accessibility options, including:
- Autoplay and fast-forward controls for interactive dialogue sequences
- Separate volume controls for music and SFX
- Windowed and fullscreen modes
- Customizable filter to minimize distracting background elements during rhythm sequences
- Multiple rhythm visualization options to make it easier to hit the beat
- An interactive tutorial
Known Issues
If you encounter these technical issues or any others, please let us know in the comments!
- Lower-Spec Android Devices - Players using slower, less powerful Android models may experience performance issues that cause audio and visuals not to line up properly. This may make it more difficult to play the rhythm section of the game.
- Bluetooth Headphone Latency - Players using bluetooth headphones may experience a delay between visuals and audio that makes it more difficult to play the rhythm section of the game.
- Mobile Web Browsers - The browser version of the game may not function properly on web browsers on Android/iOS devices. If you have an Android device, we recommend downloading the app version below.
Download
Install instructions
Android
- Download the .apk file above, open it, and press “Install.”
- If the installation fails, it may be because of low disk space. Delete a few items and try again.
Mac
- Download the Mac file above and open it to install the game.
- If you get a "This app is from an unknown developer" message when attempting to open the game, follow the instructions at this link: https://support.apple.com/en-my/guide/mac-help/mh40616/mac
PC
- Download the PC file above and open it to install the game.
Development log
- Long-Term Security Fixes Are Live!86 days ago
- Critical Security Vulnerability Hotfixes86 days ago
- Distant Melody is Playable in-Browser!Aug 09, 2025
- Fix for Mac Version Not OpeningAug 02, 2025
- Pause Functionality Bug FixesDec 22, 2024
Comments
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Tried it out, I had a lot of fun with the demo! One thing that might be nice is the ability to replay the level from the main menu once you beat it once, but that's definitely something that could probably just wait for a larger release if this is going to be expanded out into a full fame!
I did get into the groove with the song, but I had a couple rough parts that some QoL stuff might help with:
- The bubble hitbox feels quite large and can make things tough, particularly with the spikes and navigating around the terrain when trying to avoid the fish! The fish fortunately needs to touch the character, but oftentimes my movement would cause me to barely clip a rock or spike and basically guaranteed force me back to a checkpoint. Maybe a very soft circular indicator around the mouse to show "this is where your entire bubble will end up" would help, at the very least worth consideration as an accessibility feature?
- Because of how gently the song starts I had to listen to the song for several seconds before I got the beat, and then from there had to quickly process which was the on and off beats. I think the metronome bar thing might be really helpful to show before the song starts, maybe with some "ghost" lines to give an indication before turning to real lines at the start of the song? I don't think I need it for the entire song, but giving a visual guideline before the song starts and then fading away after a few measures might help the player get into the groove right away!
I did have a lot of fun and even played through a second time to try and get all the text boxes! I think the core gameplay is very fun and I can easily imagine what future levels would look like in terms of potential hazards and challenges.
Thanks for playing, and for all the thoughtful feedback. You make good points about the hitboxes and rhythm!
Out of curiosity, did you succeed in nabbing all of the song lyrics the second time around? :D
I think I was a little short, though I don't recall by how much exactly!
Ahh, so it goes!
Played the demo. Real nice all around. One issue is that in the intro (Mac) the text in the messages is really large so lots of words are longer than one line and get cut. This also means many texts are longer than one screen and need to scroll up to see the beginning.
We're glad you enjoyed the demo!
Could you send us a screenshot of what you're seeing? Also, what MacOS version are you on and what is the aspect ratio of your monitor? These might give us a clue as to what's happening.
Thank you so much!
There's a screenshot. It's a fullscreen at the standard 1521x982 resolution on a MacBook
That's on 15.1.1 with no large font size accessibility settings
Got it, thanks! Most likely, this is the game responding in a strange way to your MacBook's resolution.
If you have another device with a different aspect ratio, you could try playing it on that device for better results. In our experience, the text tends to look good on devices with a 16:9 or 16:10 ratio, for instance.
All the Mac screen resolutions are that same aspect ratio (because Apple). After some fiddling, it snapped into a size that looks correct (with lines that fit the words) and now it defaults to it every time I run it (because Apple). If the game is so sensitive to screen ratio (only 20% of screens are 16:9), you can ask Unity to force that ratio on every screen (it letterboxes it). Thanks for responding. Good game :)
Ah, interesting. Thanks for letting us know about that, and for the kind words about our game!