a game for making music
Make music. Grow a legend.
The Grove turns your studio life into an adventure. Every session, bounce and release earns XP, levels up an avatar drawn entirely in code, and plants a song in your own Sacred Grove. From $10 a month with HMA Plus included, and a 3-day free trial.
In your browser, or as an app.
It’s the same Grove either way, with the same progress. Your Grove is saved to your HMA account, so you can switch between them any time.
Nothing to install. Works in Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox on a computer, tablet or phone.
Open The Grove in your browserAs an app: it opens in its own window, lives in your Dock, Start menu or home screen, and updates itself. Nothing to download, and no security warnings.
Open The Grove in Chrome, Edge or Safari and install it from the browser menu.
- Its own window
No tabs, no address bar. Just your Grove, one click from your Dock, Start menu or home screen.
- Updates itself
Every improvement arrives on its own. There is nothing to download or reinstall.
- Same Grove everywhere
Your progress is saved to your HMA account, so the app, your browser and your phone all stay in step.
Finishing is the whole game.
Most producers have a hundred loops and three finished tracks. The Grove rewards the things that actually build a musical life — showing up, finishing, and sharing — and it grows three elements together, the way the Academy teaches.
Craft
Time in the session, saves, sketches bounced, lessons taken, mixes finished. The hours that turn ideas into sound.
- Active studio minute · 1.4 XP
- Sketch bounced · 75 XP
- HMA lesson · 60 XP
Artistry
New ideas captured, intentions set, tracks carried all the way to a master. The discipline of calling it done.
- New project · 15 XP
- Finished track · 250 XP
- Mastered · 250 XP
Path
Releases, feedback given, collaborations, gigs pitched and played. Putting the music into the world.
- Release · 600 XP
- Gig played · 400 XP
- Collab session · 120 XP
The Triad. When your weakest element is at least half your strongest, the Triad lights and everything earns +15%. Daily streaks add another 5% a day, up to +50%.
Every song grows.
Your Songbook becomes a living sanctuary. Each song is planted when it begins and grows as it moves through the pipeline. Finished work grows nearest the fountain; collabs grow as twin canopies, remixes as crystal blooms, EPs as standing stones, albums as obelisks.
- SeedlingAn idea
- SproutArranging
- SaplingMix landed
- FloweringMastered
- Blossom treeReleased
A whole world, built around your music.
An avatar that grows with you
Nine kin — human, elf, wizard, gnome, fairy, dragon, toad, unicorn, alien — 46 items across seven slots, unlocked by level, by milestone, or with Sound Gems you earn at 1 per 10 XP, plus Vibes: full looks from Raver to Headliner that unlock as you level.
Eight realms
From Seed Hollow to Great Oak. Your token travels the world map as you level, and every realm has treasures waiting.
Medallions & weekly quests
14 medallions from Bronze to Platinum, and four rotating side quests each week — Foreign Tempo, Dig It Up, Pitch Yourself and more.
Lumi, your guide
A fairy who reads your whole Grove — level, elements, streak, songs, quests — and answers “what should I work on next?” with your real numbers.
Grow alongside others
Share your Grove if you like: a weekly leaderboard, a feed of members’ releases and level-ups you can resonate with, and a squad made of the artists you follow. It all lives in your Chronicle.
Giggregator, gamified
Open Academy gigs flow straight into your board. Track them through Spotted → Pitched → Booked → Played — pitching earns XP even when the answer is no.
XP that arrives while you work.
Studio Link is a small, optional helper for your Mac (or Windows, in beta) that watches Ableton Live — which project is open, active minutes, saves, tempo and key, bounces, and anything you drop in a folder called “Released”. XP lands in your Grove while you make music, no clicking required.
No helper? Log sessions, sketches, finishes and releases by hand from any device.
- Copy one line from the Field Guide into Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows).
- Studio Link installs itself and starts whenever you log in.
- In The Grove, open the DAW Link tab and press Connect. If your browser asks to let the site use other apps on this device, choose Allow.
- The orb wakes up, and XP arrives while you work.
Step-by-step help is in the Field Guide. Works best in Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
The helper never reads your audio and never sends anything online — your browser talks to it directly on your own Mac. Your Grove is backed up privately to your HMA account so it follows you across devices. Only if you choose to share your Grove do other members see your name, avatar, level, weekly XP and milestones.
Your grove is waiting.
Start with a 3-day free trial. Open it in any browser, pick your kin, and plant your first song. 1 member is already sharing their Grove.