Second iteration: The Blind Snake
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Most casual games nowadays are rip-offs of each others' gameplay, and only a few original game ideas pop up every now and then.
It's pretty hard to imagine a totally new game core loop and make it tick at the first attempt, so a safe bet is to look at what other games are doing right and do the same thing with a twist.
I desperately needed some new inspiration after the first iteration. Luckily the audio game genre isn't exactly new, and a handful of great games actually seem to exist.
Playing is researching!
So unfortunately most audio gaems aren't that great. But fortunately there's a ton you can learn from other peoples' mistakes and successes! To endorse one game in particular: The Audio Game Hub is a great collection of mini audio games. These games are not that polished, but they serve a great purpose on figuring out which auidble feedback techniques works and which doesn't.
I recommend to download the app and try those games out!
Listening others play is the next best thing
While looking through multiple audio game listing websites and reviwes I noticed that I keep bumping into a game called The Nightjar by Somethin' Else. This iOS game was made in 2011, and unfortunately it's not available for download anymore.
Fortunately there's a kind namesake youtuber at channel Illegally Sighted, who preserved the full gameplay of the masterpiece. Check it out here:
Nightjar gets a lot of small things right: It has super-simple controls, and only guides the player towards one target at a time. The story plays very well with the absence of visuals, and it feels natural to walk towards the next target while hearing small bits of information from the surroinding world.
The "guide" that controls the audio signals seems like a really good way to have a natural direction for the game. And the game solves the problem of "why would the next thing I need to walk towards make a noise" question very well.
The blind snake
I loved the core mechanic in The Nightjar, so I had to do a small game to test out the gameplay. Here I present to you: The Blind Snake (without a tail).
Play with headphones, move with arrow keys.