ABOUT
The Sound Cypher started as a way to share music between the creator, [C. Murray] and his wife when they were getting to know each other. Both were die-hard music fans and would ask each other about their thoughts on their favorite musicians. They would chat for hours discussing who they loved, who they didn't and why they felt that way. “What do you know about (this song)?", "What about (that album)?"
What better way to get to know someone than to find out what music speaks to them?
They would spend hours going back and forth, sharing music and memories, and kept doing it year after year. Even after kids and life happened, their music game became a way to get to know their friends and started to grow as more people asked Mr. Murray what the rules were, and how to play it.
The Sound Cypher was born when [C. Murray] was experimenting with a way to share the game with friends who had played with them. The first versions were The original Sound Cypher set evolved into three editions through rigorous playtesting and additional editions are planned in the future.
What better way to get to know someone than to find out what music speaks to them?
They would spend hours going back and forth, sharing music and memories, and kept doing it year after year. Even after kids and life happened, their music game became a way to get to know their friends and started to grow as more people asked Mr. Murray what the rules were, and how to play it.
The Sound Cypher was born when [C. Murray] was experimenting with a way to share the game with friends who had played with them. The first versions were The original Sound Cypher set evolved into three editions through rigorous playtesting and additional editions are planned in the future.
THE BACKSTORY OF THE SOUND CYPHER
The Sound Cypher is a card game that was developed over many years as a labor of love between a couple and their friends. Who better to tell you the story of The Sound Cypher, than none other than the creator himself, [mrmurrayiv]?
"The Sound Cypher was born out of a mutual love for music between two people getting to know each other! I guess you could say that it’s a part of their love story too! In its infancy, the game started as a way to share music and was the answer to the proverbial question of, “what do you know about this (song/album)?” What better way to get to know someone than to find out what music speaks to their soul.
"When I first met Jilene (my wife), we used to sit on the foot of the bed and play music in an attempt to 1 up each other with a better song. This back and forth used to last for hours and became a regular past time, while also growing my music collection-adding a wealth of old school soul, rap, and R&B to an already extensive collection. Jilene’s favorite thing to do was play 'who sampled this' and could easily tell me the origins of a song. I nicknamed her the 'music encyclopedia.'
Eventually, life went on, we got married, moved abroad, and experienced life. However, it always came back to music. No matter where we were in the world when we needed to recenter or reconnect with ourselves and others, we played the game.
Fast forward a few years, I started thinking about a way to share this game with friends. This lead to me starting a note on my phone and anytime a music conversation would arise I’d jot down any thoughts that came to mind. These scribbles turn into a database of musical categories and topics. The first time the game was played was April 2018 when friends came to visit us in Dubai. The game went very well and from that point, it became a regular activity when we had people over. During those years we had a lot of guests visiting. The game was played frequently enough that it continued to evolve, with minor tweaks being made in the rules and gameplay, based on the feedback we received.
I still didn’t see the game as anything other than a fun something to do when guests were at the house. It was our way of connecting through music. We didn’t think of it as something to be shared outside of our circle of friends. As more people played the game, repeat players started asking how they could play at home with their friends & family. That’s when the lightbulb came on.
My initial thought was to share the spreadsheet with interested people, but that idea didn’t seem like the best way of sharing. The spreadsheet method could be tedious and meant that someone had to play host. It was no fun when you want to be in the mix too. So, instead of taking action, I tabled the conversation and thought to just keep the game as something that could only be played at our house.
The final lightbulb moment came that a card game would be the best way to make sure nobody has to play “host”. That prompted the first print of The Sound Cypher cards. The initial set of The Sound Cypher was comprised of a single set of 170 cards. Since that point, The Sound Cypher has been played with a variety of people and with that insight the game continued to evolve. Now The Sound Cypher comes in 3 different flavors/editions spanning from Open Format, a version that works with all types of music to genre-specific versions focused on R&B/Soul and Hip-Hop.
Here a visual history of the journey of the design of the cards...
"The Sound Cypher was born out of a mutual love for music between two people getting to know each other! I guess you could say that it’s a part of their love story too! In its infancy, the game started as a way to share music and was the answer to the proverbial question of, “what do you know about this (song/album)?” What better way to get to know someone than to find out what music speaks to their soul.
"When I first met Jilene (my wife), we used to sit on the foot of the bed and play music in an attempt to 1 up each other with a better song. This back and forth used to last for hours and became a regular past time, while also growing my music collection-adding a wealth of old school soul, rap, and R&B to an already extensive collection. Jilene’s favorite thing to do was play 'who sampled this' and could easily tell me the origins of a song. I nicknamed her the 'music encyclopedia.'
Eventually, life went on, we got married, moved abroad, and experienced life. However, it always came back to music. No matter where we were in the world when we needed to recenter or reconnect with ourselves and others, we played the game.
Fast forward a few years, I started thinking about a way to share this game with friends. This lead to me starting a note on my phone and anytime a music conversation would arise I’d jot down any thoughts that came to mind. These scribbles turn into a database of musical categories and topics. The first time the game was played was April 2018 when friends came to visit us in Dubai. The game went very well and from that point, it became a regular activity when we had people over. During those years we had a lot of guests visiting. The game was played frequently enough that it continued to evolve, with minor tweaks being made in the rules and gameplay, based on the feedback we received.
I still didn’t see the game as anything other than a fun something to do when guests were at the house. It was our way of connecting through music. We didn’t think of it as something to be shared outside of our circle of friends. As more people played the game, repeat players started asking how they could play at home with their friends & family. That’s when the lightbulb came on.
My initial thought was to share the spreadsheet with interested people, but that idea didn’t seem like the best way of sharing. The spreadsheet method could be tedious and meant that someone had to play host. It was no fun when you want to be in the mix too. So, instead of taking action, I tabled the conversation and thought to just keep the game as something that could only be played at our house.
The final lightbulb moment came that a card game would be the best way to make sure nobody has to play “host”. That prompted the first print of The Sound Cypher cards. The initial set of The Sound Cypher was comprised of a single set of 170 cards. Since that point, The Sound Cypher has been played with a variety of people and with that insight the game continued to evolve. Now The Sound Cypher comes in 3 different flavors/editions spanning from Open Format, a version that works with all types of music to genre-specific versions focused on R&B/Soul and Hip-Hop.
Here a visual history of the journey of the design of the cards...
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The First Card Back
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