Create music by building. That is the theme behind Isle of Tune HD by Happylander. And since music sounds best when others get to enjoy it, sharing your little musical city with other players is the true heart of this charming game. If, on the other hand, you’re shy about letting strangers in on your lawn, you can by all means retain your rights to a private performance.

Review
Isle of Tune HD is a game for the iPad that will help you discover the composer within you. By laying out roads and bridges, erecting houses and lampposts, planting trees and flowers, and then letting one or more cars out on the streets, you can drum out a rhythmic tune.

There’s a different flavor for each season. The instruments for spring, summer, fall, and winter are each tuned a little differently. If you like, you can also opt for an all-encompassing keyboard mode, which gives you access the full two-octave range of notes for each instrument. And by “instrument”, in Isle of Tune, we’re referring to every object, such as each tree, patch of flowers, house, lamppost, street sign, and bridge. Whenever a car drives past one of these, a sound will be produced. You can also control the type of sound each instrument generates. Some objects, such as the houses and lampposts, are percussion instruments, while others like the trees and flowers emit pitched notes. For each instrument, you can control the type of sound or pitch, as well as the volume and delay. Cars and roads work differently. You can manipulate a car’s speed and set a rest duration on the road.

Once you’re satisfied with your musical island, you can share it with the wider world. Everyone playing the game can vote either up or down on each other’s islands via Game Center. What’s left then is for you to watch your island rise or plummet on the leaderboards. Don’t be too sad, however, if your island fairs dismally. Just create more!

Isle of Tune HD is a different kind of game from many others. There is only one game mode—in which you’re tossed a blank board that you’ll be left to fill up—and how much fun you have depends mostly on your own creativity. I found much to enjoy about Isle of Tune, because I love music and I love to create my own pieces. Still, there’s always a little room for improvement. The graphics are nice enough and you can easily zoom in and out, but I wish I were not limited to a specific zoom-in size. An undo function is also sorely needed. It’s easy to accidentally draw in things, and while I can delete them with the eraser, I sometimes forget what I originally had. As someone who has occasionally dabbled with composing, I also found myself wishing I could control a note’s duration rather than just the delay, where “delay” in this game means playing a full note, delayed half note, or two repeated notes in a beat. Unfortunately, there’s no way to slur two adjacent notes (i.e. objects) to join them. The only way speed can be controlled is with the car, but that sets the overall tempo along a path. Other than this, I’d also love to have more sounds—the more the merrier! Regardless of all my little wishes for more, Isle of Tune HD is certainly great fun for anyone with an ear for music.

Recommendation
Isle of Tune HD is most highly recommended to music lovers. Whether you enjoy coming up with your own compositions or recreating your favorite songs, the game is well worth getting from the App Store at its current price of $2.99.

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Note: A promotional code was provided by the creator for use in this article.

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