007. Mission Impossible. I Expect You To Die. The great spy thrillers share a lot of commonalities like cool gadgets and over-the-top set pieces, but one part of this genre is absolutely essential: the music. Spy music has to be memorable, it has to be bombastic, but more than anything, it needs to be something you easily can hum long after you hear it.

We wanted to dedicate this blog solely to the music of Schell Games' I Expect You To Die series, which continues to deliver banger after banger through jaw-dropping opening sequences that have taken on lives of their own. Enjoy the original songs, remixes, orchestral versions, and even some secret intel below.

Warning: These will be stuck in your head for days (in the good way)

The Iconic Intros

Listened to tens of millions of times across Spotify and YouTube, the intros of I Expect You To Die set the stage for the VR adventure you're about to go on perhaps as well as any opening sequence in video game history. Each one combines a unique 360-degree perspective of traps and dangers lurking all around you combined with an incredible, jazz-inspired tune that soars to new heights.

This one started it all, and from humble beginnings. We documented it all here, but this song was born from lots of late night sessions and improvised lyrics until eventually evolving into the most popular song in Schell Games' audio library.

I Expect You To Die 2's intro raises the stakes with a powerhouse vocal performance by Puddles Pity Party preparing you for series' favorite character John Juniper.

By game three, these opening sequences are chef's kiss perfection. The soulful single by Haley Reinhart is a CONSTANT on our in-office playlist, but add in the incredible visuals of the deadly traps and Roxana Prism's towering presence, and this is opening scene bliss.

As YouTuber user @ilikecheese5832 commented so aptly, "this trilogy will forever be known as 'those games with the absurdly unnecessarily cool opening credits'."

Soothing Soundtracks

Yeah, the intros are incredible, but those tracks should be your gateway to more exploration of the music of I Expect You To Die. You can check out the official soundtracks to IEYTD 2 on our YouTube, or take the music anywhere with IEYTD 3's full OST on Spotify.

Even Better Orchestrated

If you love "The Spy and the Liar" from IEYTD 2 as much as we do, you're in for a treat. Orchestrated, mixed, and mastered by Bay Area Sound, this gorgeous orchestral recording gives us chills every time we hear it. Accompanied with the behind-the-scenes footage of this being recorded during the pandemic era, this is the perfect time capsule of the world and our game studio in the early 2020s.

Music to Speedrun to

Need something a bit more high energy? Say no more, Agents. This remix takes classic tracks from the IEYTD franchise and ups the beats-per-minute to result in the perfect mix to Any% to during your next speedrun or play during your next workout.

Hidden Tracks

We love music so much here at Schell Games you never know what we might come up with. Take this song, for example. This started off as a hidden track you could only briefly listen to during a specific level of the first I Expect You To Die. But we loved it so much, we recorded a full length song (in Polish, no less) and recorded an accompanying video featuring our Game Developers and shot around our studio in Pittsburgh, PA.

You can't even find this on our YouTube! Players had to find the fake account listed here to check out this exclusive release, but we embedded it here to save you the trouble.

Karaoke

Ready to show off your skills? Want to impress John Juniper himself? We have karaoke versions of "I Expect You To Die," "The Spy and the Liar," and "Cog in the Machine" all available on our YouTube channel.

Secret Bonus Track: Want to hear Toad sing his lungs out? We have that one cued up, too.