Audio in Games
When it comes to creating a game there are two main elements involved, the Visuals and the Audio. You can't really have one without the other, although some games will emphasize one more than the other such as Strategy games where sound is used more as an indicator and to inform the player of certain situations. Whereas in first person and role playing games, sound becomes a bigger factor as a lot of games try to be as immersive as possible, with ambient sounds becoming very important for the overall perception and feeling of a place. Mood Using Audio within a game is the best way to establish a mood and tone for a specific area. It affects our senses and plays with our minds, telling us whether or not we should feel safe in that location or be on our guards and fear what may be around the next corner. A good example of this is The Elder Scrolls Skyrim which does a great job of suddenly changing the mood and warning a player they may be in danger or a fight is about to begin. I've linked a video to a perfect example of this, a player is walking around the environment with some ambient peaceful music playing in background and then suddenly a bell sounds when a new location has just been discovered and then the music turns darker and faster paced as a dragon appears in front of the player. This is great sound design as it alerts the player to a danger and immerses them more into that world.
Addiction Another reason audio is important in games is for bringing a player back to that game, especially in very repetitive games. A good example being super hexagon where the whole purpose is to navigate through shapes the whole while remaining stationary. Its a very re-playable game, one which you can hop on and have a few goes and then put down whenever you feel like it and i feel like the music has big part to play in this. The further through you get the faster paced the music gets and it gives the player a real feeling of success and also encourages the player to play again and try beat their previous attempts.
Victory/Defeat You could link this into addiction because having a good victory theme song will make a player feel good about themselves and makes them want to keep on playing for that feeling of being the best. But the defeat theme is also important because it plays into our disappointment and makes us want to keep playing for that win. most First Person Shooter games do this well but a good example would be Overwatch, which has a very bright and high pitched victory theme for the winners and then if you listen to the defeat theme you can notice how it is a lot duller and lower pitched. these themes can really change a players mood and encourage them to keep playing that game for one more win or the end their losing streak.
Having good sound design in a game is integral to making a great game which will be memorable and re-playable, most peoples current favorite games and the ones from their childhood have great audio. Because having good music and sounds is what really helps to define a game.