Design Statement
The theme track moves in one clear arc: a quiet opening, a swell, a small dip, a big lift that keeps growing, and then a sudden fall into silence. I wanted the player to feel that arc with their body rather than watch it, so Ember Tide has one button and no words. You are a small light in a dark sea. Holding the button lets you rise and gather the sparks around you, and as you gather them the world swells and blooms, following the same shape as the track. Its most striking moment is the abrupt silence at the end, and I made it the heart of the game. When the music stops, you don't win or lose. Everything you gathered is let go and becomes a sky of stars. The contrast I wanted to explore is holding on versus letting go. All visuals are drawn procedurally in code, and the music is synthesized live so it follows the player's progress through the same emotional curve. The whole experience lasts about seven minutes and is best played with headphones.

Game Instructions (launch steps, controls, and gameplay overview)
Browser: open the game page and press Run game (fullscreen button recommended). Windows: unzip EmberTide-win64.zip and run EmberTide.exe inside the EmberTide-win32-x64 folder. Mac: extract EmberTide-mac-x64.tar.gz and open the app (right-click > Open the first time). Controls: hold the mouse button, touch the screen, or hold any key to rise and gather light; release to sink gently. Gameplay: drift through the dark sea, gather sparks as the world grows, and stay with it until the music falls silent (about 7 minutes). Press any key on the end screen to drift again. Headphones recommended.

Gameplay walkthrough video
https://yema7582-code.github.io/koubo-ai-ok/media/EmberTide-walkthrough.mp4

Did your project use any AI tools or assets? If yes, please specify.
Yes. Code: written with the help of an AI coding assistant, then reviewed and tuned by hand. Visuals: fully procedural (drawn in code on an HTML canvas); no AI-generated images. The cover is a screenshot of the game with text added. Audio: synthesized live in the browser with WebAudio; no AI-generated audio. The theme track itself is not included.