Description
Cinder 'Til Midnight is an imaginary game concept of a fairytale-inspired platform game.

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GAME STORY:

For as long as she can remember, Cinder has been bound to servitude to the witch known as "Stepmother", thanks to the cursed glass slippers affixed to Cinder's feet.

Yet hope stirs when she hears that the Nomad Prince is coming to town! He is holding a grand ball to find a soulmate to marry ... but more importantly, he is the wielder of Sunderhex, a sword famed for breaking curses. One strike to Cinder's glass slippers, and she'll be free at last!

As Cinder prepares to sneak away to the prince's ball, she is caught by Stepmother. The enraged witch turns Cinder into a mouse and traps her in an enchanted dollhouse.

Cinder must puzzle and battle her way through this frantic platformer, navigating through the tangled maze of the dollhouse. Surprises wait behind every door and down every staircase - whether it be blessings from a certain fairy godmother, whimsical wares peddled by entrepreneurial mice, or waltz lessons taught by haunted dolls (all the better to charm the prince with)!

All the while, the clock ticks ever on. If it reaches midnight before Cinder can escape from the dollhouse, she will forever lose her chance at freedom ...

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SONG DESCRIPTIONS:

1. Our Story Begins - Title theme.
The opening of a storybook ... dramatically cascading into the urgent ticking of a clock as we start our countdown to midnight.

2. Fairy Blessings - Fairy Godmother's theme (loopable); calm with a hint of mystery.
With each encounter, Cinder gains a new spell to help her overcome the dollhouse's challenges.

3. Mouse in a Doll House - Shop theme (loopable); bold and upbeat with a beat reminiscent of a ticking clock, reminding us of our time constraint.
Friendly mice sell spools of thread, needle-swords, thimble-helmets, and other whimsical wares.

4. Charming Waltz - Dancing theme; a dreamy, romantic song fitting for the ballroom floor. The title theme motif returns, but in a cheerier key.
Cinder finds herself attending a dance lesson with haunted dolls. Perhaps some smooth waltz moves will convince the Nomad Prince to aid her when the time comes.

5. Marionette Madness - Boss battle theme; the title theme motif is used again - but this time manic, theatric, and sinister, with the sound of a quick-ticking clock weaving in and out.
Ever since they disappointed Stepmother, Cinder's stepsisters have had their souls trapped in two marionettes. Their strings manipulated by the witch, they try to bar Cinder's escape with vicious attacks. Meanwhile, midnight rapidly approaches ...

6. Happy Ever Farther - Ending theme; hopeful and happy.
Back in her human form, Cinder rushes to the ball, making it just in time. The Nomad Prince breaks the glass slippers, and Cinder is no longer beholden to the witch. The prince's grandmother recognises Cinder as Wildheart, a lost daughter of the Nomads, kidnapped by Stepmother as a baby, moons ago. With her newfound freedom, Cinder decides to join the Nomads, travelling the unseen world with the family she never knew she had.

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Genre: Instrumental/Orchestral

Runtime: Total length of the soundtrack is 0:05:16.

Software used: MuseScore 4.1

Inspirations: So many! Off the top of my head, I can think of: Hades, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Studio Ghibli, Nier Automata, Undertale, Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk, Animal Crossing, Omori, classic Disney.

My Process: Aggressively humming to myself while mashing random notes into my score until the melody clicks and my ears are happy.

Theme:

How does it fit the theme?
The concept of the game and soundtrack involves a re-imagining of the Cinderella fairytale, where the protagonist must escape before midnight or else her curse will remain unbroken. The countdown to midnight surfaces in the game's music score through the sound of a clock ticking and chiming.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jrOQRLX0Vs

Soundtrack use permission

Yes (CC BY)

Any project