Sound is an important part of all video games, whether it is to fill the void of silence with some background music or to indicate an action being taken with sound effects. No other game genre incorporates music into video games as well as rhythm games. Rhythm games use the beat and rhythm of songs, as the name would imply, to generate a new form of gameplay. Starting with Nintendo’s Dance Aerobics in 1987, rhythm games have only evolved onward. While Dance Aerobics is a hardware-based game, software-based games also arrived in the industry, like PaRappa the Rapper—no fancy, extra equipment needed. Not all rhythm games are just clickity-clicking your mouse or tappity-tapping your keyboard, and here’s what sets them apart from one another.
- Osu!: One of the most popular rhythm games in the world, and one of the few popular ones that focuses on the click of a mouse. Osu! is all about spatial movement and visual cues. Just click a circle on beat—sounds easy, right? Osu! is one of the hardest rhythm games out there, though, with a large variety of songs and difficulties. What sets it apart is the number of beatmaps (levels) and the complexity of handling clicking with one hand and moving the mouse with the other.
- Friday Night Funkin’ (FNF): The gameplay of FNF is really simple and stereotypical: there are 4 arrows and you click on keys on the keyboard to press the arrows on time with the falling, colored arrows. It’s just like any other rhythm game, but it has a massive modding culture and dedicated fanbase. FNF takes rhythm games from one-sided songs into rap battles, where you go against enemies and progress through a story. The community has created so many mods based on pop culture, horror, and new ideas. These mods add hundreds of hours of content, unique mechanics, and make the game much more fun to explore.
- Beat Saber: The most popular game for virtual reality (VR), Beat Saber turns rhythm gaming 3D. Beat Saber adds a whole new level of spatial recognition, and it also forces the player to utilize their entire body. Notes are also harder to time because they come right at your face.
- Guitar Hero: A rhythm game that uses a specific piece of hardware to create a new rhythm game experience. While this game might not be new, it’s always difficult. The player must press buttons on a custom-made guitar controller to hit notes on time. The guitar also detects strumming, and other mechanics, to up the difficulty. It’s a game that captures how hard it is to play an instrument.
- Geometry Dash: Is it a rhythm game? Maybe, but it’s typically addressed as a “music platformer”. Nonetheless, it turns a simple cube that jumps to avoid obstacles into a game that pushes past the human limit. It contains a variety of levels, with different game modes inside, as well as an in-game level editor/creator. The level editor created a giant community that fuels the game through new levels, content, and challenges. Whether Geometry Dash is a rhythm game or not, it has music and is a game.
- Crypt of the NecroDancer: A truly unique game in the rhythm genre, Crypt of the NecroDancer is a turn-based strategy game with rhythm game mechanics. The player has to move on the beat of a heart in an enemy-filled dungeon. The movement is strategic in itself, but enemies also follow rhythmic patterns that increase the amount of thinking needed to pass a room. The player also needs to attack according to the beat, adding some fun combat as well. Crypt of the NecroDancer definitely offers a unique roguelike experience.
- UNBEATABLE: Sometimes a cozy game, sometimes frantic, UNBEATABLE is a rhythm game that focuses on its story and style. It’s a 3D game with 2D characters and, half the time, the player makes dialogue choices and interacts with NPCs. The other half of the time, the player must fight off enemies in a rhythm game fashion. Attacks and enemies come at the player like notes, which the player must hit on beat, but it’s masked as combat. UNBEATABLE has a really unique style and loves its visual effects, making it a great artistic and rhythm game.