Karaton

Date of composition: 2017 - 2018
Tracks: 5
Game platform: tablet and smartphone (Android & iOS)
Developer: Happs

Karaton is a Flemish educational video game, aimed at children with dyslexia, to make reading fun again.

The game consists of exercises, like word splicing, listening comprehension, and spelling. Players can use the rewards from these exercises to build their home on the island where everything takes place, serving as a motivator to complete as many exercises as possible. Parents, teachers or speech therapists can also use a linked platform to adjust the kinds of exercises and difficulty level for their children/students.

Karaton's use of modern technology takes away the onus of getting children to read and write, an especially difficult task for those with learning disabilities. It turns reading into an adventure, rather than doing boring homework. To support this vision, the music also had to be fun and engaging, without being too distracting or annoying after extended periods of listening. This led me to seek a happy medium between musical lines that invoked interest and a relaxing atmosphere, trying to avoid at all times to make the music too melodic or too monotone.

For the instrumentation, I mostly gravitated towards instruments that related to wood in some way (strings, marimba, percussion), since gathering wood is a recurring element in the game. A few exotic sounds, like the Ruan moon guitar, shehnai oboe, and bansuri flute add to the sense of adventure on a remote island.

Karaton and Happs have received lots of attention from the Flemish press and many positive reviews from players and guardians. Find out more on the Karaton website and the Happs main page, or get the app on the Google Play Store or the App Store.