Graeme Winder, Founder of MeloQuest – Interview Series

Graeme Winder is the Founder of MeloQuest, the company behind the world's first role-playing game, Keys & Kingdoms, that trains real musical skills and abilities in a whole new way. Joining the journey along the way, was the former CCO of Activision Blizzard and creator of Guitar Hero, Brian Hodous.

When did you first fall in love with gaming?  

I'll never forget the day when the original Nintendo system came out and I begged and pleaded with my mom to get it for me. Well, that next Christmas, Santa delivered!  That was the beginning of my epic journey into gaming.

You also have a deep passion for music. Could you share with us how you discovered that music would play such an important role in your life? 

I knew from a very early age that music moved me deeply.  I also knew that I was horrible at learning music through reading, and yet, I could play just about anything I heard.  This disconnect that I felt, and the challenges that would come with it, would prove to be the foundation of creating the innovation in the method that we implement today.

What are some of the current limitations with how we currently teach music?  

The biggest limitation I see in music education is that the most important piece to the learning process is being left out of the equation… this piece is the student themselves.  We all carry a tremendous amount of musical experience inside of us because we listen to or are exposed to music almost every day of our lives.  This incredible wealth of experience is almost always overlooked or left out of more traditional learning environments.  At MeloQuest, we believe it is the key to unlocking a person’s true musical power!

When did you initially come across the concept of using games to teach music?  

After my first attempt at this failed, I had to take a long look in the mirror and realize that the edtech software we had built just wasn't entertaining enough for our audience.  We knew the method was powerful, but the product execution was poor.  So after hitting the reset button, I decided to flip the product model upside down and create an amazingly fun game first—and then bake our secret sauce into it.

Could you tell us about the world's first role-playing game that trains real music skills Keys & Kingdoms. What’s the storyline in this game?  

It's really an amazing storyline that Leviathan Games developed. You start off in your own virtual room much like your room in the real world.  Suddenly, there is a rip through space and time and a portal to another fantasy world emerges.  This world is under constant threat of the ‘waste' and only those with musical powers can save them.  The overarching theme is not good vs. evil, but rather forces of creation vs. forces of destruction.  I love the philosophical message here to the players that says that things you pour your energy and effort into (like music learning) will prosper and grow. However, things you neglect and put off will eventually crumble to dust.

How does the game optimize how children learn music?  

We have built something very close to AI called the Adaptive Learning Engine.  The game constantly monitors the success/fail rates of everything the player engages with in the game and it does this independently throughout five unique verticals.  What all this means is simply the game will quickly meet you where you are at, whether a complete beginner or seasoned pro, and develop your unique abilities at your pace.

How much replay value is there in this game. How much time can children be expected to play?  

Well, just like music itself, we hope the journey never really ends. Personally, I hope children get used to logging in everyday and playing songs to chase away the waste. New content, songs and challenges are updated every few weeks. One of the sticky points in the game is that if you do not log in regularly, your island world will slowly be devoured by the waste.  Also, as we all know, repetition with songs and learning are very important in building up skills quickly and efficiently. The game uses many well-known RPG tricks to keep engaging the players over and over.

What type of games will MeloQuest be working on in the future?

As excited as we are now with Keys & Kingdoms, the future looks even more amazing!  We have plans ready to go to bring in multiplayer (imagine battling with your friends and it feels like band practice!) and other instruments outside of the keyboard. The fun in learning music will certainly never end!

Is there anything else that you want to share about  Keys & Kingdoms or Meloquest?  

I'm just so humbled and proud of the incredible team that has joined me on this amazing journey.  These are extremely talented individuals who all collectively believe in shaping a better world through the power of music. I couldn't be more blessed to do what I do everyday!

Thank you for the interview. Readers who wish to learn more about the game should visit the Keys & Kingdoms website.