Harmonium: The Musical embraces the Deaf community to create something special

digitaltrends.com:

This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Netflix showed up at Summer Game Fest this year to show off games like the supernatural island life game Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit and action RPG The Dragon Prince: Xadia, but the game at its booth that stuck with me the most was an adventure game about Deaf culture called Harmonium: The Musical. First teased at The Game Awards 2023, this new game from King’s Quest developer The Odd Gentleman tells the story of a young girl named Melody from a musically-attuned family who becomes deaf at the age of 6.

From there, Melody goes on a journey to find her path as a deaf musician, which transports her to the magical, musical world of Harmonium. Creative Director Matt Korba tells Digital Trends that The Odd Gentleman wants to be an “interactive Pixar and tell stories that even Pixar’s not telling,” and it’s kicking that initiative off by collaborating with members of the Deaf community to create Harmonium: The Musical, an adventure with hues of Coco and Alice in Wonderland that seems like it will be something special.

‘A slice of life from the Deaf community’

From the moment you see Harmonium, it’s clear just how respectful the game is toward the community it is portraying. It doesn’t feel like Harmonium is talking down to its audience about its subject matter. While it isn’t afraid to highlight some of the struggles the Deaf community faces, like Melody dealing with her father’s inconsiderate mashing of piano keys interfering with her hearing aid, it’s also empowering as the game demonstrates that Melody does not have to give up her love of music because of her deafness.

The primary way The Odd Gentleman achieved this was through collaboration with deaf developers and the Deaf community at large. He specifically credits Morgan Baker, a deaf game designer who worked at The Odd Gentleman and is now game accessibility lead at EA, with helping the