Generating Your First Sound Effect

Sound effects make a game feel responsive, and generating them from text is quick once you know how to describe a sound. In this guide we'll make a first sound effect.

Open the audio generator

Open the audio generator (examples are on the sound effects generator page) and make sure SFX Gen is selected (the other option, Music Gen, makes full tracks). Type the sound in Prompt and press Generate. Each sound costs 5 credits and comes back in about 10 to 15 seconds as a short MP3, sized for hits, jumps, pickups and clicks.

Describe the sound concretely

Name the action or source, the material and the feel:

• "a short metallic sword clang"
• "a soft wooden UI button click"
• "a bright coin pickup chime"
• "a retro 8-bit jump"
• "a deep explosion with a rumbling tail"

Words about energy and length ("short", "punchy", "soft", "long tail") shape a game sound as much as the source does.

The sounds most games need

• UI: click, hover, confirm, error, open and close.
• Movement: footsteps, jump, land.
• Combat: swing, hit, block, explosion.
• Feedback: pickup, coin, power-up, level-up.

Listen in context

Play the result on the page. A sound that's fine on its own can be too loud or too long in the game, so judge it against your other sounds. Not quite right? Change a word and generate again.

Shape it in the audio editor

Click Edit on a result to open the audio editor. Add effects such as Reverb, Delay, Drive, Crush, Tone and Dynamics, adjust the length and rate, and export the edited sound as a WAV. This is the quickest way to make a lighter or heavier variant of a sound you already like.

Make variants of frequent sounds

Generate two or three versions of sounds that repeat a lot, such as footsteps and hits, so the game can rotate between them. Small differences stop repetition from grating.

Free retro sounds

For classic 8-bit blips, the free Retro SFX Generator makes them in your browser at no cost.