The Music in The Crossing

The Crossing, by Ferry Halim, is a game in which the player must use a sliding platform to allow the deer go from one side of the stream to the other. If you miss, the deer will then fall, and then die. Even though the actual death of the deer is not seen, it is known to be coming. This adds more emotion than just having a ball, since it is a representation of a living animal. When I missed a deer, I immediately thought of Bambi, which is known to have emotion about deer.

It is as if Pong was given a new skin and became only a one-sided game. Instead of having a ball, there are deer, and instead of having the deer be influenced in their direction by the sliding platform, the platform is just helping them move in their own predetermined direction.

The Crossing does not have a goal other than not letting the deer die and to let them cross the stream. There is no specific “ending”, other than when you get a game over. You just keep playing until you lose.

I believe that this is more of a showcase for the non-diegetic music in the game. The orchestral music is very meditating and soothing. But because of the music, the player does not feel like they necessarily have to reach a goal or complete the task – the music does not punish you for missing a deer nor does it reward you for not missing a deer.

The song for the video can be found here. The song just keeps playing over and over again. It starts once you start playing the game, and it does not stop until you exit the site or go to a different page of the site. Even when you lose, the song keeps playing, and when you play the game again, it just keeps continuing. There is also no option to turn the sound off from the site, meaning that it was intended for the player to hear the song while playing. The only way to not hear the song is to mute your computer.