Board games · Soundtracks

Soundtracks timed to the game

Music paced for our usual finish times, with extra waves for the games that run long.

Most game-night music is an album on shuffle, so the loudest track lands during setup and the credits theme plays while someone is still counting points. I wanted the opposite: music that starts on the first move, stays out of the way while people are still asking rules questions, and hits its peak when the game usually does. And because my groups run long, it keeps going after that in waves of tension and renewed pressure, without ever playing a victory cue while the game might still be on.

Each playlist is sequenced from the actual recordings, second by second, so the timings below are real. Press play on the first move, after setup and teaching. Play in order with shuffle, repeat, autoplay and crossfade off, and keep it low enough to talk over. Times are music time; pauses and ads push them back. The peaks follow my groups' usual finish times. Extra music covers the unusually long games.

I chose from soundtracks I know and from track descriptions. I did not sit through every hour of every recording before saving it, so if a track breaks the mood, tell me and I'll swap it.

Root

Open the playlist on YouTube Music

104 tracks · 5:00:40 · Root, Tooth and Tail, Armello, Chicken Run

Built for a two-and-a-half to three-hour game, with coverage to five hours. Main climax 2:12:40 to 3:03:12.

  • 0:00:00Opening fanfare, first move
  • 0:05:19Woodland maneuvering
  • 0:31:55Schemes and preparation
  • 0:38:11Borders meet
  • 0:47:17Skirmishes
  • 1:13:06Open hostilities
  • 1:37:17Escalation
  • 2:12:40First climax
  • 3:03:12Wave 1
  • 3:44:08Wave 2
  • 4:24:10Wave 3

Brass: Birmingham

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144 tracks · 7:04:13 · Victoria 3, Anno 1800, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (instrumental)

Built for a game of about four and a half hours. Some go six; the music covers seven. Precise, busy chamber music follows canal commerce into rail competition. Main climax 3:44:17 to 4:29:38.

  • 0:00:00First move, early canal
  • 0:25:06Canal commerce
  • 1:03:34Commercial rivalry
  • 1:40:46Canal close, rail transition
  • 2:00:42Rail foundations
  • 2:36:34Rail expansion
  • 3:18:22Endgame approach
  • 3:44:17Main climax
  • 4:29:38Wave 1
  • 5:13:30Wave 2
  • 5:43:43Wave 3
  • 6:33:56Wave 4, final rivalry

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

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101 tracks · 12:03:58 · Graham Plowman: Postcards from the Abyss, The Haunting, The Dunwich Horror, The Great Old Ones, Tales from the Necronomicon, The Horror of H.P. Lovecraft, The House on Sentinel Hill

Our scenarios average six hours and can reach twelve. This builds toward a six-hour first crisis, then keeps the dread coming in six renewed waves through the twelfth hour. Main climax 5:34:09 to 6:24:56.

  • 0:00:00First move, streets of Arkham
  • 0:06:10Investigation
  • 1:13:20Hidden histories
  • 1:45:03Forbidden knowledge
  • 2:11:15The cult takes shape
  • 3:32:12Mounting dread
  • 4:02:29The mythos breaks through
  • 5:00:04Approaching crisis
  • 5:34:09Main crisis
  • 6:24:56Wave 1
  • 7:25:11Wave 2
  • 8:14:31Wave 3
  • 8:59:09Wave 4, beyond Arkham
  • 9:59:57Wave 5, renewed pursuit
  • 11:03:38Wave 6, cosmic pressure

Dune: Imperium

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59 tracks · 5:02:20 · Hans Zimmer: Dune, Dune Part Two, The Dune Sketchbook

Built for a three-hour game, with coverage to five. Strong percussion and wordless vocals; this one is not shy. Main climax 2:29:29 to 3:07:41.

  • 0:00:00First move, court politics
  • 0:24:54Factions and the sietch
  • 0:39:33Spice and uncertainty
  • 0:58:54Political pressure
  • 1:26:35Conflict escalates
  • 1:44:31Desert power
  • 2:08:14Endgame approach
  • 2:29:29Main climax
  • 3:07:41Wave 1
  • 3:50:24Wave 2
  • 4:27:25Wave 3, desert power

Power Grid

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87 tracks · 5:49:36 · SimCity 4, Offworld Trading Company, Opus Magnum

Built for a three to three-and-a-half hour game: markets, auctions, margins. Main climax 2:43:45 to 3:35:04.

  • 0:00:00First move, first plants
  • 0:37:54Resource markets
  • 0:58:43Engine development
  • 1:38:06Auction pressure
  • 2:02:25Tightening margins
  • 2:16:13Final network race
  • 2:43:45Main climax
  • 3:35:04Wave 1
  • 4:21:22Wave 2
  • 4:50:57Wave 3, final auctions

Terraforming Mars

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98 tracks · 7:02:18 · Surviving Mars, Stellaris, Offworld Trading Company

Built for a game of about four and a half hours. Some go six; the music covers seven. Spacious electronic scores get denser as the planet warms. A second peak at 4:21:47 to 4:35:42 covers the usual finish. Main climax 3:18:03 to 4:03:53.

  • 0:00:00First move, Surviving Mars main theme
  • 0:02:43First colonies
  • 0:43:55Survey and expansion
  • 1:18:49Production engines
  • 2:02:57Terraforming accelerates
  • 3:18:03Main climax
  • 4:03:53Wave 1
  • 4:21:47Second peak
  • 4:35:42Wave 2
  • 5:34:38Wave 3
  • 6:23:05Wave 4

How they are built

Pick a small palette of scores that match what the game actually feels like, not what its box art suggests. Read every track's length, lay them out in order against the phases of a real game at my table, and place the first big peak inside the window where games plausibly end. After that, alternate breathing room and renewed pressure so a long game never flattens out. Then save the list and read it back against the plan, because a "saved" toast proves nothing about order. If you want one for a game I haven't done, ask.