4 Tips to Improve In-Game Menus

When designing game menus, we’re faced with a decision: should we make music as unobtrusive as possible in order to not distract from the player’s decision making process, or should you choose something more lively and engaging for players? How can you make sure that your menu music doesn’t distract players from what’s most important? Read on for some helpful tips!

1. Less is More

The first question to ask is whether the music should be in the background or foreground. When players are selecting menu items, it’s best for them to focus on their current task and let themselves get distracted by your music.

Say what you will about Mass Effect: Andromeda’s QA upon release — one thing’s for certain, though: it had a killer soundtrack. Take a listen to John Paesano’s menu theme.

It’s epic, but it’s also not distracting. Sifting through menu items, checking inventory, and crafting all require the player’s full attention, so menu music shouldn’t distract from what’s most important.

2. Add a Low-Pass Filter

A low-pass filter can be a great option for menus if you want to reduce the break of immersion or you’d like to repurpose an existing track. Throwing on a low-pass filter removes some or all of the high frequencies while letting the low-rumbles pass through. The end result sounds a bit like Neo dodging bullets in the matrix.

For the smoothest transition, consider using the built-in low-pass filter in Unity, Unreal, and XCode. This will let you dynamically apply the filter on-demand.

3. Consider Instrumentation

If you’re able to commission some original music for the in-game menus, consider lowering intensity by reducing the number of instruments in the track.

4. Add a Hint of Mind Control

Did you know menu music could make you more money? I sure didn’t. Well, until I noticed Valorant’s neat way of using music to their monetary advantage. Take a listen to the music in the video below (particularly, what happens when the player moves away from the COLLECTION to the STORE page at 1:27).

Notice anything? Valorant’s menu music is also quite minimalist — taking a back seat from the action — but what I find most interesting is the transition between the main menu, and the in-game store. Valorant’s developers created a second version of the theme that sends the message, “I’m a bad #%$ !!” but then they take it all away when you leave the store without a purchase. The real trick here is how Riot Games synced both tracks together with middleware so that the crossfade between the two happens seamlessly.