Accordion Hero

Inspired by a media hoax imagining what other instruments might tap into the successful niche of Guitar Hero, some web developers decided to take the whimsical idea of applying the rockin' formula to the ethnic and unhip accordion and run with it.

The in-game story has it that Santa Claus had to bail on a hard-rockin' concert he was scheduled to headline the night of December 24th, just because he got tied up delivering toys. But the crowd at the sold-out arena venue was looking unruly, and other holiday icons (as in, associated with other holidays: Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter and Thanksgiving) decided to strap on squeezeboxes and give the audience a performance to remember, because the show must go on!

Gameplay follows a familiar formula: as Christmas accordion music plays in the background, gift-wrapped boxes descend along four columns toward a score zone near the bottom of the screen. As the present drops into the zone (roughly synchronized to rhythms in the music), the player must press the number of the column the present is in and then hit the space bar. Successful pressings keep the audience entertained and occasionally result in holiday-appropriate special effects outbursts, while missing the beat yields a diminished volume level.