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🎮 Turing's Frequency — A Rhythm Game Where You Decrypt the Voices of History

#gamedev #devchallenge #gamechallenge #showdev

June Solstice Game Jam Submission

🏆 This is a submission for the June Solstice Game Jam

đŸŽ¯ What I Built

Turing's Frequency is a browser-based rhythm game where you decrypt encrypted radio signals by listening to musical patterns and recreating them. Each signal carries a message from a historical figure who changed the world — voices that were silenced, ignored, or forgotten, now restored through your rhythm.

🎮 👉 PLAY THE GAME LIVE 👈

Game Title Screen

📖 The Story

The game is set in 1954, on the desk of Alan Turing at the University of Manchester. A radio crackles with fragmented transmissions — encrypted messages carrying words of Pride, resistance, and identity.

You are a student who has found Turing's last notebook, and with it, the key to decrypting these signals.

🌅 The connection to the June solstice: As you decrypt each signal, the screen literally brightens — from near-darkness to a flood of golden light. The solstice is the moment light and dark trade places, and this game makes that transition tangible.

đŸŽŦ Video Demo

👆 Watch the full gameplay loop: title → story → rhythm gameplay → decrypted messages → victory screen with solstice light effect.

🕹ī¸ How to Play

Key Action
1 2 3 4 Play notes
↑ ↓ ← → Arrow keys (alternative)
Space / Enter Advance screens
  1. 🎧 Listen to the signal pattern
  2. 🎹 Repeat the notes in order
  3. 🔓 Decrypt the message
  4. 🌅 Restore the voice

đŸ’ģ The Code

The entire game is a single HTML file (~32KB) with zero external dependencies. No frameworks, no libraries, no asset files (similar to how I built my npm package with zero dependencies) — just HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript.

GitHub logo mamoor123 / turings-frequency

Turing's Frequency - A Rhythm of Light. June Solstice Game Jam 2026 entry.

⚡ Key Technical Decisions

🔊 Web Audio API for all sound:
Every tone is synthesized in real-time using oscillators. The game uses a pentatonic scale (C4, E4, G4, C5) so every combination of notes sounds pleasant. No audio files needed.

function playTone(freq, duration = 0.3, type = 'sine', volume = 0.3) {
  const osc = audioCtx.createOscillator();
  const gain = audioCtx.createGain();
  osc.type = type;
  osc.frequency.setValueAtTime(freq, audioCtx.currentTime);
  gain.gain.setValueAtTime(volume, audioCtx.currentTime);
  gain.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, audioCtx.currentTime + duration);
  osc.connect(gain);
  gain.connect(audioCtx.destination);
  osc.start();
  osc.stop(audioCtx.currentTime + duration);
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

đŸ“ē CRT aesthetic with pure CSS:
Scanlines, flicker, and glow effects are all CSS — no canvas rendering needed.

🌅 Progressive brightness:
A radial gradient overlay transitions from 0% to 12% opacity gold as you progress through levels, creating the solstice "longest day" effect.

🤖 Auto-demo mode:
Adding ?demo to the URL triggers an automated playthrough — perfect for recording videos or showing judges the full experience.

đŸŽĩ The Five Signals

Level Historical Figure Pattern Theme Quote
1ī¸âƒŖ Alan Turing C-E-G-E-C đŸ”ĸ Mathematical precision "Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of..."
2ī¸âƒŖ Marsha P. Johnson C-G-E-C-G-C ✊ Joyful resistance "You never completely have your rights..."
3ī¸âƒŖ Bayard Rustin E-C-C-G-E-G-C đŸ¤Ģ Quiet power "We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers."
4ī¸âƒŖ Audre Lorde C-G-E-C-C-E-G-C 📝 Poetry as revolution "It is not our differences that divide us..."
5ī¸âƒŖ The Solstice C-E-G-C-C-G-E-C-E-C 🌅 All voices together "We are all infinite when we choose to be seen."

🧠 Why Rhythm?

Most June Solstice Game Jam submissions are visual — platformers, puzzles, cipher games. I wanted to make something auditory.

A rhythm game where the mechanic itself is "listening and repeating" felt like the right metaphor for amplifying voices that deserve to be heard.

💡 "The best games are the ones where the mechanic IS the message."

🏆 Prize Categories

🎖ī¸ Best Ode to Alan Turing

This game is directly inspired by Alan Turing's life and legacy:

  • 🏛ī¸ The setting: 1954, Turing's final year at Manchester
  • 🔐 The mechanic: Decrypting signals mirrors Turing's work at Bletchley Park
  • đŸŗī¸â€đŸŒˆ The metaphor: Turing was persecuted for being gay — this game restores voices of Pride
  • 1ī¸âƒŖ Level 1 is dedicated to Turing himself

🤖 Best Google AI Usage

I used Google Gemini to assist with (see my full Google I/O 2026 tools review for more AI tools):

  • 📚 Research and quote verification
  • đŸŽĩ Pentatonic scale design for pleasant sounds
  • 🐛 Debugging the auto-demo mode
  • ✍ī¸ Crafting the narrative framing

🛠ī¸ Tech Stack

Technology Usage
HTML5 Structure
CSS3 CRT effects, animations, glow
Vanilla JavaScript Game logic
Web Audio API Sound synthesis
GitHub Pages Hosting

No frameworks. No libraries. No build tools. Just web. (If you're interested in AI agents, check out my Hermes Agent vs LangGraph vs AutoGen comparison)

🔗 Links

đŸ’Ŧ What Do You Think?

I'd love to hear your feedback! (For more on AI and development, read my take on Vibe Coding is Fun Until You Hit Production)

  • đŸŽĩ Did the rhythm mechanic feel satisfying?
  • 🌅 Did you notice the brightness increasing?
  • 💡 Any ideas for new levels or historical figures?

Drop a comment below! 👇

đŸŗī¸â€đŸŒˆ Built with Web Audio API, vanilla JavaScript, and a lot of respect for the voices in this game.

Happy Pride Month. Happy Solstice. Happy Birthday, Alan. 🌅

📚 Related Resources

What did you think of this post? Let me know in the comments! 👇

📚 My Other Posts You Might Enjoy

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👆 Follow me @mamoor_ahmad for more posts on AI, game development, and web tech!

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