I bought a haunted mystery sort of game that has no sound track other than a gloomy violin repeating a short phrase over and over, so I turned it off. The effect without the music track is a game with no sound. The fountains don't splash, the fires don't crackle, puzzles don't make noise as you work them, doors don't creak open, axes don't chop and crowbars don't creak through the wood, blocks of stone fall silently, and if people talk to you, you only get text to read. It has been many years since I played a game like that (maybe 15-20 years?).

I don't think I would have chosen the game if I had given it more thought, although it is challenging and has interesting twists on things to be done and how. I have enjoyed the puzzles except for one that simply wouldn't function (the assembled pieces obviously needed to be rotated into place, but there was no way to rotate them, so I had to Skip that puzzle).

I'm just curious. Would you buy a game that had no sound but the music track?

Just out of curiosity, what game is it?

If the game were good enough, I think I would still be interested in playing it.

If it had a good story, I might

I prefer no voices to bad voices and I've played many games without voices or which only had voices in the introduction.

I can do without repetitive music tracks, but if a game has no background sounds either, I play some sort of music or environmental sound on a 2nd computer or DVD player.

I always turn off the music because I am usually listening to the tv at the same time. I also turn the voices on low. I just like the mechanics of a game, not really into the story line.

If the voice acting is dreadful and the music is repetitive and annoying, I'll turn it off every time. I often turn off everything when playing a shooter or an RPG and trying to get past a tricky place. I find the music and sound effects are very effective at raising my pulse and getting the adrenaline running. Sometimes without it, I can concentrate on the task at hand!

The game was Exorcist II. It is a well-designed game with a lot of creativity going for it despite being laden with all the tired tropes of the "Possessed-by-Evil" theme, so I enjoyed it and played it all the way through. Actually, some of the over-the-top text made me laugh out loud and I dearly wished I could have heard human voices spouting some of those histrionic and emotive phrases!

As with many gamers, I turn the background music way down or off whenever it is a badly done throwaway effort, repetitive to the point of madness, and adds nothing to the play. If it is a decent soundtrack, though, like the kind that enhances a good film, I leave it functioning.

As for the game's dynamic sounds, I often turn them down by half because they are too loud, but I never turn them off because they also help immerse me in the game world as a whole. Without any sound at all in this game, I never had the sense of being inside of and dealing with a real world, which ~ after all ~ is filled with meaningful sounds as you move through it ~ and people speaking to you do have voices.

To answer your question, no I don't think I'd enjoy playing a game without sound or voices. The earliest pc games I played were devoid of sound. Since I had nothing to compare them to, I enjoyed them. Couldn't go back now.

1) I never play with music, I find it distracting 2)I agree with Sparkle, I am used to playing games with voices, good or bad so the voices stay 3) Sound, well I divide that in 2: A) If the Sound is independent from the Environment sound then yes I enjoy having the sound, although I keep it very low B)If the Sound is attached to the Environment sound (some Developers are too lazy to include 2 sliders) and since I find having to constantly hearing a Dog barking or an Owl hooting regardless of where you are in a game, you can be in a Castle *Dungeon and you can still hear the Dog or Owl, Oh and I almost forgot the favorite, Howling of Wolves or Coyotes, whoopie, SO In that Case I turn off the Sound.

* I kid you not about being in a Castle Dungeon and you can Still hear the animals.. ARRGH!!!

Yes, I feel as Sparkle does. I want the characters to speak, not for me to have to read text. Talk about throwing you out of the game environment!

I had to laugh at your comment, Starcom. I have experienced the same bizarre juxtaposition of sound and locations. Once, it was the sound ocean waves whilst I was down a cave tunnel by then.

I am disappointed in a game if it does not have separate volume controls for Music and Voices, as they refer to them. Both usually are too high, so I'll turn them down about the same, but for really lame music tracks, sometimes it needs to be turned off completely before I go mad from hearing it.

If a game was a good one, having to read text (without spoken words) never threw ME out of the game environment.

But I hardly think there will be many games made that are "text only" these days

I think I've turned music down once, because it drowned out the dialogue. Don't recall what game that was though.

Oddly enough seems like a lot of darkside games have little to no audible dialogue most have sound effects though. As for the music some spend money on the music (GW1, GW2) actually higher composers and musicians, some play public domain classical.

Yes. I would guess this game is an oldie based on that and a few other things most contemporary games include that it does not. The question is, would you go back and play an old game that was text-only. From responses above, I take it that some people don't consider the music track or the voices to be deal-breakers while others wouldn't play a game without both. The old "different strokes" thing.

My answer to your question remains a definite "yes" Reenie .... if the game itself is a good one