The introduction of a game mechanic is an aspect of a game that - when done right - goes almost unnoticed by the player. When it is done incorrectly however, it can become a large point of frustration in the player. The goal of this study is to discover how to introduce a game mechanic that guides the player through the game's musical score. The research question asked was: "Based on player experiences, how should a non-diegetic musical guidance mechanic be introduced in a video game?" This study uses design science as a foundation and uses a survey to gain a broad overview of the general preferences given by participants. Two versions of a prototype were developed which was played by 11 participants who were then asked about their experience. In both versions, the player was tasked with finding the magic flutes scattered across a city by listening to the music. The flute was stereo panned to the left or right speaker, corresponding the direction of the flute in the game world. The versions contained two different methods of introduction and the participant was asked in a semi-structured interview afterwards whether they enjoyed the method they received. One version contained a detailed introduction that described how the guidance mechanic worked, the other version did not. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis to extract common themes in the answers given. The results were varied, but the majority said that they preferred to learn by themselves, without a detail introduction. This method let the player think for themselves and led to a greater sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when figuring out what to do. For a game such as this where the objective is to somehow find something, they believed that it is better to not give the answer away too freely. Not many ethical concerns where found for this study, though the one that was found is important to acknowledge. Players with aural impairments cannot play this game the way it is intended, by listening to the musical score, since they have difficulties with sound. This is a flaw that should be studied and solved or mitigated in future studies.

Ever since the introduction of sound in film, sound effects have played a big part in the experience of the film audience. Acousmatic sound effects are diegetic sounds that lack a visual source on screen, and they are frequently used in horror films. This research explores the relationship between familiarity with sound effects and the emotional response in the audience. An experiment was conducted where two test groups watched an excerpt from a horror film where acousmatic sounds were a big part of the soundtrack. One of the test groups watched a version where there were reoccurring familiar acousmatic sounds, and the other group watched a version with random un-familiar acousmatic sounds. Data was collected through self-report and physiological measurements. The results suggest that there is a dissonance between the conscious and unconscious emotional experience of suspense and fear. The physiological measurements indicate a higher emotional arousal in the group that watched the unfamiliar version of the stimuli, while the self-report propose a stronger conscious build-up of suspense leading to a stronger experience of fear in the group watching the familiar version. Further research directions based on the result of this research are presented.