A downloadable game for Windows

Wishlist on Steam

The year is 198X, and you're a jobbing composer. You start out with nothing but a toy keyboard shaped like a tiger, and a brand new sequence-o-matic 4-track that your uncle bought from a shady geezer in the pub.

Word quickly spreads about the new producer on the block, and soon the commissions are rolling in. Things start humble, recording tracks for weddings, workout videos and corporate presentations, but before long you're getting asked to score fantasy movies, museum openings, and all kinds of crazy stuff.

Of course, you'll have to upgrade your kit along the way. Turns out, the local second-hand magazine is a treasure trove of objects that make interesting sounds, from singing garden gnomes and shredders-that-shred-sound-as-well-as-paper, to high-end synthesisers and musical effects. By the end, you'll have figured out a sound that's all your own.


But OFFBEAT isn't just a game. All the musical instruments are fully simulated, and the music you're recording is real. The game is secretly a complete audio production tool. Every piece of music you create in the game gets exported and saved locally on your computer as a WAV file, which you use for whatever you want.

Music production can be costly and complex to get into, especially for beginners. We created OFFBEAT to lower barrier to entry and to offer a playful, low-pressure way to learn the basics of audio producion. The goal is just to be expressive and experimental, but by the end you'll have learned a little about synthesizers, sound design, composition and recording. Our hope is that when the game's finished, you'll have the confidence and expertise to carry on composing and recording music.


  • Game meets a real audio production tool.
  • Accept jobs, compose music, earn money. 
  • Browse the Riches & Rags Catalogue to buy new synthesizers, then get Electric Lacey to upgrade and mod 'em.
  • Make music in a low-pressure and beginner-friendly setting.
  • Meet a whole host of weird characters.
  • Export your tracks as a WAV files onto your computer.
  • Share your tracks with the world, or just friends – up to you
  • Play through chapters themed after different styles of electronic music.

--

Note 1: Your saved .wavs will appear here:  C:\Users\$USER\AppData\LocalLow\Whetstone Games\OFFBEAT\exported_audio

...but replace $USER with whatever your computer username is 

Note 2: Please wishlist OFFBEAT on Steam

Updated 4 days ago
StatusIn development
PlatformsWindows
Rating
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
(16 total ratings)
Authorpantaloon
GenreSimulation
Tags2D, Audio, Comedy, Funny, Indie, Management, Music, Music Production, No AI, Pixel Art
Average sessionA few seconds
LinksSteam
ContentNo generative AI was used

Download

Download
OFFBEAT Demo.zip 73 MB

Install instructions

Looking for you songs? Your saved .wavs will appear here: 

C:\Users\$USER\AppData\LocalLow\Whetstone Games\OFFBEAT\exported_audio

...but replace $USER with whatever your computer username is 

Development log

Comments

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please make avaliable for mac! im so interesed in this game

(+1)

Fun game, I liked it. But it'd be nice for the game to save the composition of the music alongside the audio. Also I noticed that the audio folder saves even incomplete songs when you click "Stop" while publishing.

(+1)

will you perhaps make it linux compatible

(+1)

I think if the game finds a good audience then Linux is on the table - but is not in immediate roadmap.

(+2)

Cool game! Would be nice to be able to use other scales (or no scales) at some point. The audio started to crackle a bit once I had most of the instruments. Everything is so stylish. I wish real world jobs were affirming my skills to this degree :D  

(+3)

Ah some good notes here - will make sure this is passed on and addressed as we push towards our early access release.

(+1)

woah I love this and I haven't even played it

(+1)

Wow. So cool! 

But I think I must play this in real life(

(+1)

This game is so cute and fun. I love the graphics and the weird instruments. The more strange instruments the better! I play a few instruments but I find making music at home a bit boring if I have no purpose. This game gives you the purpose and you lose track of time.

Logged into itch for the first time in over a year just to make this comment. I've wishlisted.

(+1)

Ah thanks for going to effort of letting us know - glad it's resonated, and keen to hear what you create in the game!

(+1)

i cannot for the life of me find the wav files, I can’t seem to do the first step in the instructions.

(+2)

So you'll find it here: 

C:\Users\$USER\AppData\LocalLow\WhetstoneGames\OFFBEAT\exported_audio

But replace $USER with whatever your computer username is

(+2)

Oh thank you, it just wasn’t given me the option to access app data without typing it in individually.

(+1)

No trouble! Keen to hear your creations!

(+1)

I feel dumb. How do I use the cassettes? I think I see some on a shelf, but clicking and dragging them to the sequencer doesn't appear to be working.

(+2)

If you mouse over big post-it note for the job, the cassette zooms up 👀

(+1)

Thanks!

(+5)

This is amazing and insanely cool and awesome and a whole lot of other things too

(+2)

printing and framing this comment to hang in the studio

(+3)

I love making bops and boops in this weird charming game. A sandbox/creative mode where I just have all the instruments from the get go could be nice >_>

(1 edit) (+3)

Im a huge fan of Pantaloon since late 2024 and have been playing lots of the weird and awesome games they hand out via newsletters, but HOLY OFFBEAT is something i didnt know i needed. Who cares about life when you can make songs with just meows???

(+1)

you are meowst kind x

(+1)

you are meowst awesome :)

(+3)

Pretty slick, was able to make some nice tunes despite being a tone-deaf dunce! 

(+3)

a FORMER tone-deaf dunce, you mean

(+2)

oh my goodness

(+2)

name of your first single?

(+2)

!!!

(+2)

!?