Coming off of the release of the successful pixel-art mining and crafting RPG Aground (2020), Fancy Fish Games began development on Aground Zero to be a 3D spinoff. It takes place during the events of the original game, although knowledge of Aground is not necessary to play. In the game, you are deep underground, and all alone with a cheery AI companion. You will have to mine and build to survive, and search for other survivors to help you and hopefully reach the surface.

Though the game is set in this semi-unknown apocalyptic sci-fi world, it sonically boldly leads listener’s with surprises at every turn. Bethea complements Aground Zero’s 3D art style with nine dynamic/adaptive tracks that masterfully extend the sound world beyond typical survival crafting game music fantasy and light electronic sounds. The soundtrack is imbued with themes reminiscent of the original Aground soundtrack but conflates nostalgic harmonic textures and rhythmic ambiguity with unexpected music form underpinning dense layers related to the game mechanics (i.e. switching items in the U.I., exploring multiple areas, combat and more.) All of the music was designed with the player in mind first. The goal was to break the monotony of game loops in survival / crafting sims by inditing seamless fusion transitions for a harmonious game-play experience.