Video Game Tracks to Score Your Finals Week

I often imagine that music takes the shape of a liquid. It’s the little tunes that get stuck in my head most often–– the cheap, sugar-sweet tune that pours over hot summer air, proceeding the slow crawl of the ice cream truck. The soft jingle of the television as a company attempts to sell insurance, or a foot-long sub. The sudden emptiness of the room when the AC shuts off, the held note evaporating into thin air as the machine gasps for breath. 

It seeps. Every moment of our lives is scored. 

It’s in these sounds that I’m reminded most of my childhood. Last weekend, I took the liberty of digging up my old Nintendo DS in all its sparkly pink and sticker adorned glory. The little bell at the end of a heart-shaped keychain looped to the side jingled as I grabbed it, and I half-expected a window to appear before my eyes, signaling the discovery of a new item. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team was still loaded in the cartridge slot. 

What I remember most vividly about these games, beyond the beautiful graphics and otherworldly characters, is the music. Not a single inch of narrative went unexplored by kid-Emily–– I would speak to each NPC multiple times, exhausting all conversation options until I was certain I’d amassed near-encyclopedic knowledge of the in-game world. The map, too, was a treasured tool; I’d pull my avatar around the region until I knew each space like the back of my hand. And with every line of dialogue, every new city, music was there.

The towns have an undeniably ethereal, larger-than-life presence. A different track scores each area. As you, explorer, venture through each individually scored area, the transitions between tracks creates the visage of traveling across worlds. 

Real life is not so naturally romanticized. There is no such celestial track scoring periods of growth, nor epic battle music blaring as you clock in for your shift in retail. 

And yet, my memories of summer are drenched in sound. I think back to swim meets and am met with that sugar-sweet tune, the decrescendo until on your mark… *BEEP* and the immediate ffff cacophony of teammates and family cheering. I remember the songbirds outside my window as I rose for morning practice, and the rush of crisp air across my eardrums, flooding my lungs as I sprinted against the clock.

There is no battle theme scoring the entrance of the away team. No matter. You can hear the music all the same.

I’m taken back to those moments in my family’s living room, the soft carpet beneath my body, where I would let the score play unburdened from my DS as I counted the stars in the sky (lightbulbs on the ceiling, but alas). 

Close your eyes. 

Carpets can be grassy fields. Lightbulbs can be stars. The tune of the ice cream truck can signal an optional side-quest.

The world is exciting. It awaits you.

The following tracks contain some of my favorite atmospheres–– pieces from film, free skate programs, video game towns. See end for extended playlist.

Later, Gator

song + art by Louie Zong

♫

The Golden Hour

song + art by Louie Zong

♫

Azalea Town & Blackthorn City

pkmn / art by Louie Zong

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Pewter City

pkmn / art by Louie Zong

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2:00 AM

animal crossing

♫

Solaceon Town

pkmn / art by Louie Zong

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National Park

pkmn / art by Loupii

♫

Again

your lie in april

♫

YURI ON ICE

yuri! on ice / art by Louie Zong

♫

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Header art by Louie Zong.

Your Finals Week Survival Kit

We’ve made it! Not only through nine weeks of Zoom University, but through an entire year of UChicago madness. Well.. almost. Just one week of finals stands between us and a long awaited summer break.

Motivation has been incredibly low for me this quarter - I never thought I’d be missing Harper this badly. It’s hard to get the same sense of accountability studying in your room as you get around others, whether it be in study groups or simply listening to the manic typing of those in neighbouring Reg cubicles. It’s also been harder for me to justify taking study breaks when I feel like I’ve been less productive that I should have been. As the quarter has gone on, this inability to divide my time between work and leisure has gotten me feeling angsty and stressed. The unending workload here has always stressed me out, but trapped in my room I feel less able to keep it off my mind. Though carving out clearer work/life boundaries is definitely a work (ha ha) in progress for me, I would like to share what has helped me so far. Hopefully these techniques and resources will aid you with focussing during finals week, but also establish healthy habits that will be beneficial in the long run!

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Take a breather

Because your mental health is more important than your calc grade.

Walk.

I felt guilty at first taking large chunks of time away from my screen just to take a walk outside and be contemplative, but they are so worth it. A change of scenery is a great way to disconnect from your work, and means that you will likely have a fresh perspective on that paper when you get back to it. Being surrounded by nature also does wonders for creativity, which is handy not only for that aforementioned paper but also as an outlet!

Get some Headspace

Sometimes my thoughts are so jumbled I feel I just need to get out of my head. Headspace has some really good guided meditations, and even if meditation isn’t your cup of tea, Andy Puddicombe’s calming British accent will be enough to make your day better regardless. CorePower Yoga also has short guided meditations (not to mention a range of yoga classes) on their website.

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Work smarter

Finding focus when everything about life is distracting right now

Study with me

To create the sense of accountability lost by studying with or around others, I’ve started watching ‘study with me’ videos on YouTube. These usually run 1-2 hours, and I just have them on in the background. They make me feel guilty for picking up my phone/checking Facebook, since I can’t help but glancing at the video and seeing that the creator is still steadily working. An alternative to this would be Zooming a friend to study alongside - although this can quickly turn into a catch up rather than a productive study sesh.

Forest

Forest is an app or Chrome extension that rewards you for your productivity by planting trees. You set a timer on the app and for that amount of time you are not allowed to leave said app, or your virtual tree dies. Once you’ve planted enough virtual trees, you’re able to get a real tree planted; being productive and saving the planet at the same time, it’s a win-win.

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Self Control

The name really says it all - unlike Forest, this app works better on your laptop. You input the names of websites you want banned (e.g Facebook, YouTube) and once you set a timer, it literally does not allow you to visit these banned websites at all, making procrastination a lot harder. Time to start the final paper I guess!

Lo-fi beats

I have never been able to listen to music while studying - I’d always just end up listening to the lyrics and singing along instead of focussing. But recently I’ve gotten into putting a lo-fi playlist on shuffle in the background - it isn’t distracting for me since it’s purely instrumental, and gives me a reason to look forward to studying.

The bigger picture

Sometimes it simply helps to remember that your grades are really not the be all and end all of success. This has been a weird quarter for all of us, and it’s impossible to compare how we’ve done academically to our peers or even to our previous selves because of such variance in situation and circumstance. Try your best, but don’t beat yourself up if you still find it hard to focus. It’s more than justified.