diff --git a/basis/ui/gadgets/worlds/worlds.factor b/basis/ui/gadgets/worlds/worlds.factor
index 1809c13dd8..7e54b823e8 100644
--- a/basis/ui/gadgets/worlds/worlds.factor
+++ b/basis/ui/gadgets/worlds/worlds.factor
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ M: world request-focus-on ( child gadget -- )
     [ T{ rgba f 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 } ] if ;
 
 GENERIC# apply-world-attributes 1 ( world attributes -- world )
-M: world apply-world-attributes ( world attributes -- world )
+M: world apply-world-attributes
     {
         [ title>> >>title ]
         [ status>> >>status ]
diff --git a/extra/game/worlds/worlds-docs.factor b/extra/game/worlds/worlds-docs.factor
index faa21a18dc..51eb721369 100644
--- a/extra/game/worlds/worlds-docs.factor
+++ b/extra/game/worlds/worlds-docs.factor
@@ -1,21 +1,28 @@
 ! (c)2009 Joe Groff bsd license
-USING: game.loop help.markup help.syntax kernel math method-chains
+USING: audio.engine game.loop help.markup help.syntax kernel math method-chains
 ui ui.gadgets.worlds words ;
 IN: game.worlds
 
-HELP: GAME:
-{ $syntax """GAME: word { attributes }
-    attribute-code ;""" }
-{ $description "Similar to " { $link POSTPONE: MAIN-WINDOW: } ", defines a main entry point " { $snippet "word" } " for the current vocabulary that opens a UI window with the provided " { $snippet "attributes" } ". In addition to the standard " { $link world-attributes } ", additional " { $link game-attributes } " can be specified to specify game-specific attributes. Unlike " { $link POSTPONE: MAIN-WINDOW: } ", the " { $snippet "attributes" } " for " { $snippet "GAME:" } " must provide values for the " { $snippet "world-class" } " and " { $snippet "tick-interval-micros" } " slots." } ;
-
 HELP: game-attributes
 { $class-description "Extends the " { $link world-attributes } " tuple class with extra attributes for " { $link game-world } "s:" }
 { $list
-{ { $snippet "tick-interval-micros" } " specifies the number of microseconds between consecutive calls to the world's " { $link tick* } " method by the game loop." }
+{ { $snippet "tick-interval-micros" } " specifies the number of microseconds between consecutive calls to the world's " { $link tick-game-world } " method by the game loop. An integer greater than zero must be provided." }
+{ { $snippet "use-game-input?" } " specifies whether the game world should initialize the " { $vocab-link "game.input" } " library for use by the game. False by default." }
+{ { $snippet "use-audio-engine?" } " specifies whether the game world should manage an " { $link audio-engine } " instance. False by default." }
+{ { $snippet "audio-engine-device" } " specifies the string name of the OpenAL device the audio engine, if any, should try to open. The default value of " { $link POSTPONE: f } " attempts to open the default OpenAL device." }
+{ { $snippet "audio-engine-voice-count" } " determines the number of independent voices the audio engine will make available. This determines how many individual audio clips can play simultaneously. This cannot exceed the OpenAL implementation's limit on supported voices." }
+{ { $snippet "audio-engine-buffer-size" } " determines the size in bytes of the audio buffers the audio engine will stream to the sound card." }
+{ { $snippet "audio-engine-buffer-count" } " determines the number of buffers the audio engine will allocate per audio clip played." }
 } ;
 
 HELP: game-world
-{ $class-description "A subclass of " { $link world } " that automatically sets up and manages connections to the " { $vocab-link "game.loop" } " and " { $vocab-link "game.input" } " libraries. It does this by providing methods on " { $link begin-world } ", " { $link end-world } ", and " { $link draw* } ". Subclasses can provide their own world setup and teardown code by adding methods to the " { $link begin-game-world } " and " { $link end-game-world } " generic words." } ;
+{ $class-description "A subclass of " { $link world } " that automatically sets up and manages connections to the " { $vocab-link "game.loop" } ", " { $vocab-link "game.input" } ", and " { $vocab-link "audio.engine" } " libraries. It does this by providing methods on " { $link begin-world } ", " { $link end-world } ", and " { $link draw* } ". Subclasses can provide their own world setup and teardown code by adding methods to the " { $link begin-game-world } " and " { $link end-game-world } " generic words."
+$nl
+"The game-world tuple has the following publicly accessible slots:"
+{ $list
+{ { $snippet "game-loop" } " contains the " { $link game-loop } " instance managed by the game world. If the world is inactive, this slot will contain " { $link POSTPONE: f } "." }
+{ { $snippet "audio-engine" } " contains the " { $link audio-engine } " instance managed by the game world. If the world is inactive, or the " { $snippet "use-audio-engine?" } " slot of the " { $link game-attributes } " object used to initialize the world was false, this slot will contain " { $link POSTPONE: f } "." }
+} } ;
 
 HELP: begin-game-world
 { $values { "world" game-world } }
@@ -25,26 +32,23 @@ HELP: end-game-world
 { $values { "world" game-world } }
 { $description "This generic word is called by the " { $link end-world } " method for " { $link game-world } " subclasses immediately after the game world stops the game loop." } ;
 
-{ game-world begin-game-world end-game-world } related-words
+HELP: tick-game-world
+{ $values { "world" game-world } }
+{ $description "This generic word is called by the " { $link tick* } " method for " { $link game-world } " subclasses every time the game loop's tick interval occurs." } ;
 
-HELP: tick-interval-micros
-{ $values
-    { "world" game-world }
-    { "micros" integer }
-}
-{ $description "Subclasses of " { $link game-world } " can override this class to specify the number of microseconds between consecutive calls to the game world's " { $link tick* } " method by the game loop. Using the " { $link POSTPONE: GAME: } " syntax will define this method for you." } ;
+{ game-world begin-game-world end-game-world tick-game-world } related-words
 
 ARTICLE: "game.worlds" "Game worlds"
-"The " { $vocab-link "game.worlds" } " vocabulary provides a " { $link world } " subclass that integrates with " { $vocab-link "game.loop" } " and " { $vocab-link "game.input" } " to quickly provide game infrastructure." 
+"The " { $vocab-link "game.worlds" } " vocabulary provides a " { $link world } " subclass that integrates with " { $vocab-link "game.loop" } " and optionally " { $vocab-link "game.input" } " and " { $vocab-link "audio.engine" } " to quickly provide game infrastructure." 
 { $subsections
     game-world
     game-attributes
-    POSTPONE: GAME:
 }
-"Subclasses of " { $link game-world } " can provide their own setup and teardown code by providing methods for these generic words:"
+"Subclasses of " { $link game-world } " can provide their own setup, teardown, and update code by providing methods for these generic words:"
 { $subsections
     begin-game-world
     end-game-world
+    tick-game-world
 } ;
 
 ABOUT: "game.worlds"
diff --git a/extra/game/worlds/worlds.factor b/extra/game/worlds/worlds.factor
index d624a1b41e..cf75d37b39 100644
--- a/extra/game/worlds/worlds.factor
+++ b/extra/game/worlds/worlds.factor
@@ -1,71 +1,86 @@
 ! (c)2009 Joe Groff bsd license
 USING: accessors combinators fry game.input game.loop generic kernel math
 parser sequences ui ui.gadgets ui.gadgets.worlds ui.gestures threads
-words ;
+words audio.engine destructors ;
 IN: game.worlds
 
 TUPLE: game-world < world
     game-loop
+    audio-engine
+    { tick-interval-micros fixnum }
+    { use-game-input? boolean }
+    { use-audio-engine? boolean }
+    { audio-engine-device initial: f }
+    { audio-engine-voice-count initial: 16 }
+    { audio-engine-buffer-size initial: 8192 }
+    { audio-engine-buffer-count initial: 2 }
     { tick-slice float initial: 0.0 } ;
 
-GENERIC: tick-interval-micros ( world -- micros )
-
 GENERIC: begin-game-world ( world -- )
 M: object begin-game-world drop ;
 
 GENERIC: end-game-world ( world -- )
 M: object end-game-world drop ;
 
+GENERIC: tick-game-world ( world -- )
+M: object tick-game-world drop ;
+
+M: game-world tick*
+    [ tick-game-world ]
+    [ audio-engine>> [ update-audio ] when* ] bi ;
+
 M: game-world draw*
     swap >>tick-slice relayout-1 yield ;
 
+<PRIVATE
+
+: open-game-audio-engine ( game-world -- audio-engine )
+    {
+        [ audio-engine-device>> ]
+        [ audio-engine-voice-count>> ]
+        [ audio-engine-buffer-size>> ]
+        [ audio-engine-buffer-count>> ]
+    } cleave <audio-engine>
+    [ start-audio* ] keep ; inline
+
+PRIVATE>
+
 M: game-world begin-world
-    open-game-input 
+    dup use-game-input?>> [ open-game-input ] when
+    dup use-audio-engine?>> [ dup open-game-audio-engine >>audio-engine ] when
     dup begin-game-world
-    dup [ tick-interval-micros ] [ ] bi <game-loop> [ >>game-loop ] keep start-loop
+    dup [ tick-interval-micros>> ] [ ] bi <game-loop> [ >>game-loop ] keep start-loop
     drop ;
 
 M: game-world end-world
     [ [ stop-loop ] when* f ] change-game-loop
-    end-game-world
-    close-game-input ;
+    [ end-game-world ]
+    [ audio-engine>> [ dispose ] when* ]
+    [ use-game-input?>> [ close-game-input ] when ] tri ;
 
 TUPLE: game-attributes < world-attributes
-    { tick-interval-micros fixnum read-only } ;
+    { tick-interval-micros fixnum }
+    { use-game-input? boolean initial: f }
+    { use-audio-engine? boolean initial: f }
+    { audio-engine-device initial: f }
+    { audio-engine-voice-count initial: 16 }
+    { audio-engine-buffer-size initial: 8192 }
+    { audio-engine-buffer-count initial: 2 } ;
 
-<PRIVATE
-
-: verify-game-attributes ( attributes -- )
+M: game-world apply-world-attributes
     {
-        [
-            world-class>> { f world } member?
-            [ "GAME: must be given a custom world-class" throw ] when
-        ]
-        [
-            tick-interval-micros>> 0 <=
-            [ "GAME: must be given a nonzero tick-interval-micros" throw ] when
-        ]
+        [ tick-interval-micros>> >>tick-interval-micros ]
+        [ use-game-input?>> >>use-game-input? ]
+        [ use-audio-engine?>> >>use-audio-engine? ]
+        [ audio-engine-device>> >>audio-engine-device ]
+        [ audio-engine-voice-count>> >>audio-engine-voice-count ]
+        [ audio-engine-buffer-size>> >>audio-engine-buffer-size ]
+        [ audio-engine-buffer-count>> >>audio-engine-buffer-count ]
+        [ call-next-method ]
     } cleave ;
 
-: define-game-tick-interval-micros ( attributes -- )
-    [ world-class>> \ tick-interval-micros create-method ]
-    [ tick-interval-micros>> '[ drop _ ] ] bi
-    define ;
-
-: define-game-methods ( attributes -- )
-    {
-        [ verify-game-attributes ]
-        [ define-game-tick-interval-micros ]
-    } cleave ;
-
-: define-game ( word attributes quot -- )
-    [ define-main-window ]
-    [ drop nip define-game-methods ] 3bi ;
-
-PRIVATE>
-
 SYNTAX: GAME:
     CREATE
     game-attributes parse-main-window-attributes
     parse-definition
-    define-game ;
+    define-main-window ;
diff --git a/extra/gpu/demos/bunny/bunny.factor b/extra/gpu/demos/bunny/bunny.factor
index f56be88c78..b2f619c3d1 100644
--- a/extra/gpu/demos/bunny/bunny.factor
+++ b/extra/gpu/demos/bunny/bunny.factor
@@ -306,6 +306,7 @@ GAME: bunny-game {
             T{ depth-bits { value 24 } }
         } }
         { grab-input? t }
+        { use-game-input? t }
         { pref-dim { 1024 768 } }
         { tick-interval-micros $[ 60 fps ] }
     } ;
diff --git a/extra/gpu/demos/raytrace/raytrace.factor b/extra/gpu/demos/raytrace/raytrace.factor
index 0b44ac2e23..fd8ae6b157 100644
--- a/extra/gpu/demos/raytrace/raytrace.factor
+++ b/extra/gpu/demos/raytrace/raytrace.factor
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ CONSTANT: fov 0.7
 AFTER: raytrace-world resize-world
     dup dim>> dup first2 min >float v/n fov v*n >>fov drop ;
 
-AFTER: raytrace-world tick*
+AFTER: raytrace-world tick-game-world
     spheres>> [ tick-sphere ] each ;
 
 M: raytrace-world draw-world*
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ GAME: raytrace-game {
             double-buffered
         } }
         { grab-input? t }
+        { use-game-input? t }
         { pref-dim { 1024 768 } }
         { tick-interval-micros $[ 60 fps ] }
     } ;
diff --git a/extra/gpu/util/wasd/wasd.factor b/extra/gpu/util/wasd/wasd.factor
index b5ed28cc3d..7935ffce6d 100644
--- a/extra/gpu/util/wasd/wasd.factor
+++ b/extra/gpu/util/wasd/wasd.factor
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ CONSTANT: fov 0.7
 : wasd-mouse-input ( world -- )
     read-mouse rotate-with-mouse ;
 
-M: wasd-world tick*
+M: wasd-world tick-game-world
     dup focused?>> [
         [ wasd-keyboard-input ] [ wasd-mouse-input ] bi
         reset-mouse
diff --git a/extra/terrain/terrain.factor b/extra/terrain/terrain.factor
index f28e685c66..27bd7df403 100644
--- a/extra/terrain/terrain.factor
+++ b/extra/terrain/terrain.factor
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ terrain-world H{
     [ tick-player-reverse ]
     [ tick-player-forward ] if ;
 
-M: terrain-world tick*
+M: terrain-world tick-game-world
     [ dup focused?>> [ handle-input ] [ drop ] if ]
     [ dup player>> tick-player ] bi ;
 
@@ -295,6 +295,7 @@ GAME: terrain-game {
             double-buffered
             T{ depth-bits { value 24 } }
         } }
+        { use-game-input? t }
         { grab-input? t }
         { pref-dim { 1024 768 } }
         { tick-interval-micros $[ 60 fps ] }