What would be your go-to gaming soundtrack to recommend to a non-gamer?

Videogame music has been such a huge presence in my life from such a young age that I rarely stop to consider how many people go through life without ever hearing any of it. They probably know the classics (your Tetris, Mario, etc) but forever be oblivious to the incredible scores and vocal pieces that lie in some of our favourite games.

I stumbled across this Reddit post over on r/gamemusic asking which OSTs people would use to get non-gamers hooked, and it had me thinking about times where I’ve tried to sneak in cool videogame tracks to people in my life who don’t tend to play much. My Dad’s a gamer—hell, he’s basically the reason why I’m here writing this very article—but his tastes these days tend to lie with shooters and Farming Simulator.

Whenever we end up on a car drive together I love popping on songs from games he’s never played. Vocal tracks from Persona 4 like Heartbeat, Heartbreak and Snowflakes. Or popping on the gentle rain version of Persona 5’s Beneath the Mask whenever he pops round for a coffee and a chat. I’ve even tried to sneak in some funkier beats here and there, like Kitsch from Tekken 5 or the all-out remix Landslide from Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers’ Eden raid series.

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For a total non-gamer, though? I always love using videogame music as a background piece. Something more relaxing or calming than your grand orchestral pieces—it’s usually much better for setting the tone. Unless you and your non-gamer comrade are, like, heading into battle or something.