Audio in games, is it worth it?

[Ivatrix]

To my knowledge, most people won't even hear it on their phones. Then there's the problem of how bad audio can ruin ambience, so would you think it's a total deal breaker having a game with no audio?

[Ninjadoodle]

I definitely like to put audio in my games.

 

HTML5 games can be played fullscreen on desktops as well as mobiles. If I was playing a game with no audio, I would honestly thing there is something big missing.

 

There are many great royalty free sfx and music resources, which you can get pretty cheap, so getting good quality shouldn't be an issue

 

While there are a few browser support issues (you can't really do much about these, but wait), I use Panda JS and haven't had any audio related problems. In fact, I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the audio works.

[rdnOutput]

Even if they turn it off, gamers expect audio.

 

It's a key component to immersion. So it should be equally as important as graphics and game play. It should left out unless it is an intentional part of the experience. 

 

I think good comparison case would be the Free Fall games by Disney, Frozen and Maleficent. The are essentially the same game. But they offer a different visual and aural experience. For me the theme and sounds from Frozen are easy to recall and thinking about it now makes me want to play. Maleficent on the other hand is fun but essentially forgettable. Maleficent is what I play while waiting for my turns in Frozen to reset.

 

Yet, the only differences I can discern are subtle gameplay changes and I don't care for the audio or graphics.  

 

Hopefully, my comments are helpful. 

[Interactive Scripting]

I am also unsure about audio since it often breaks and doesn't work on most mobile devices, the ones running firefox browser seem to load all the sounds correctly but then it causes performance issues, so I also removed sounds from my game as it only works properly on the desktop

[labrat.mobi]

It is good to have audio. I highly recommend it, at least basic sound effects.

I am also unsure about audio since it often breaks and doesn't work on most mobile devices, the ones running firefox browser seem to load all the sounds correctly but then it causes performance issues, so I also removed sounds from my game as it only works properly on the desktop

Look in to howler.js it works well, cross browser. I have used it in all our games.

[ptdnet]

I haven't had my iPhone sound turned on in years. But yeah, unfortunately I think you need it in the game anyway.

[Interactive Scripting]

It is good to have audio. I highly recommend it, at least basic sound effects.

Look in to howler.js it works well, cross browser. I have used it in all our games.

Ohh, this seems interesting, I will definitely test it out thanks

[Bilge Kaan]

I know the audio in html5 games are not 100% solid in all devices, yet, also make the download size bigger -especially the music files. However without audio the games feel less, IMO.

[paranini]

As the others here have said, I'd definitely add audio. Yes, bad audio can ruin the ambience, but there really is no ambience without the audio. Think about it. You need something to pull players into the game. And there's plenty of people that would happily help you out with audio and game music (that's what I do!) Mobile users can always mute the audio.