tranquility is a computer game available for Macintosh and Windows computers.

The game first appeared in 1991 as a demo included with Silicon Graphics computers. It resurfaced ten years later as a commercial game, again written by it's original author, William Romanowski.

tranquility defies genre classification -- it is an arrhythmic music game in which the player (an abstract viewpoint) floats in a sea of starlit geometric structures in order to pass through targets called spinners - it is a bit like hide-and-seek. Play is self-paced and self-directed; there are several commands to control game speed and difficulty, including an auto-pilot button.

Advancement through the game is done in groups of 7 and 21. There are 7 spinners per level, 7 levels per "rank", and 7 ranks in 21 "realms". Each rank and realm adds subtle complexity to the game play, making for a very long term experience. Getting all the way through the Tranquility levels can take upwards of 400 hours.

Some players feel that the game's design is based on transcendentalism or that it draws heavily from stock new age themes (probably because of its use of ambient music). Other players have reported a drug-like euphoria, vertigo, or disorientation during and after playing the game.

In addition to normal play modes, tranquility includes a simple level editor and a jukebox mode for enjoying the game's randomly-generated soundtrack. Fitting with tranquility's non traditional approach, the cost of the game varies from month to month, but gentle requests to the support staff often result in a free lifetime account.

External links

• tranquility
• tranquility players forum

1992 computer and video games | 2006 computer and video games | Mac OS games | Windows games | Music video games