Why do you play rhythm games?

I've noticed in games like this, there's usually a LOT of try hards, and I understand, I have been a try hard, I think everyones does at some point, but is there a reason why you guys mainly play like that?

Personally, I stopped doing that so often because when I play like a In The Groove or a PIU, I want to dance, jump, move around, yk, not being stiff and grabbing the bar 24/7 for a perfect score. But I still have fun with that sometimes, I mean, that's the whole point.

Do you prefer tryhards or freestyling? I think both can coexist in one long session

I mostly play rhythm games as a form of physical therapy to stave off my motor deterioration, I'll never be a top player and I don't really want to be, I just want to play them for as long as I'm able to.

I play DDR because the movement is fun and I like the music, and if I don't like a song, I likely won't play it more than once. I don't grind out songs to get PFCs. My best score on a song increases each time I play, so naturally I'll get there eventually.

One of my biggest things I like is it's kind of you vs yourself and to test your limits as to how far you can go. Also I love music, I love gaming. So it's a great mix of the two.

Plus being healthy is always a plus.

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I play because:

- It helps me de-stress from life, because life ain't easy as we all know.
- The music is amazing and a big part of my musical life is rhythm game music, I listen to it on a daily basis, more than the radio or mainstream music.
- The challenge and constantly climbing ladders to new clears and goals keeps me going.
- The games are just a visual feast to watch and explore. The companies really know how to make engaging and pretty interfaces and themes to match the gameplay.
- The community around rhythm games has really helped my mental health and breaking me out of my shell and being more social and I've met some really amazing people along the way.

It wasn't easy for me growing up in school life before I found rhythm games, I tried to take my own life after being severely bullied and abused in every way possible by kids I tried to fit in with, it got so bad to the point where I snapped, I thought just jumping off the roof on my school would be my only way out of the horrors, but as I got to the roof door, something snapped in me, and I didn't do it thankfully, and after that, when i got away from the bad, when I got to high school, met better people, got my first car, and went out to arcades and met some amazing people who loved rhythm games, who didn't judge me or hurt me or want to make my life a living hell, embraced me and wanted to get to know me and wanted to be friends, everything changed and I haven't had a self harming thought since.

I owe rhythm games and the amazing people I met along the way my life, and I don't think I would be here today if rhythm games didn't play a part in being there for me when I needed them. One day also I would love to meet my favorite artists like Ryu*, kors k, L.E.D., Nekomata Master and others and thank them for making my life what it is today and making music that I will cherish forever for years to come.

Music and video games are two of my favorite things, so having them mixed together as a genre is perfect for me. Rhythm games (primarily DDR) also first expanded my awareness of the myriad of musical genres out there and led to me discovering lots of unique music throughout my life. These games also help with keeping my sense of rhythm intact, as I used to play an instrument when I was younger, plus I perform in musical theatre from time to time and it’s helped me quickly catch on to various types of choreography. Especially tap dancing, which I attribute DDR to helping me good at (not that I’m a master tap dancer, but I do believe playing DDR as much as I did when I was younger helped me catch on to it when I first learned how to tap).

Can't think of a specific reason except that they're really fun. During my youth, fighting games are my favorite genre with rhythm games mixed in, specifically Bust a Groove and DDR. It's just that I play those two games way more frequently than any other fighting game. I just love them. It's also the reason I can easily learn easy dance steps during dance practice at work. I'm stating easy because I can't do complex dance moves like breakdancing, somersaults, cartwheels and rollerblading. It's also where I learned how fun dancing is.

I used to be a try hard but it sucks the fun out so I learned to change that mentality. I'm not a PFC player, and never will be because I just want to have fun.

Also, I'm a fat man who can clear 13 footers in DDR. That doesn't happen too often.

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Man, I feel you. I feel this community is pretty nice and comfortable, I also had issues back in the day in high school, man I sucked at socializing and I was really scared of people, but playing in the arcade everyday before school did help a lot, because many people came to me, either with or without asking and just played with me, I made a few friends and it made me more confident.

I understand what it's like to be in the lowest and looking for joy in the simple things like games, I was there and honestly, I think one of thefew if not only things that motivate me to live are these little pleasures.

Life looks a lot more colorful after I play, it trully makes me feel alive.

As for me, I never really liked this kind of game, it was never something I wanted to play. My friends however were very into it about 2001 and so I got pulled in because "if you want to hang out with us this is what we are doing." It was difficult for me to learn, I didn't have any rhythm and I didn't know how to dance. Nothing about it came natural, and I was awkward. I suppose that makes me a try-hard because I kept trying so that I could get to a level that would allow me to keep up with my friends. Despite how foolish I felt playing this silly game I practiced on my own and slowly it started to click, the muscle memory started to develop and I got an idea of what to do. I kept playing trying to get better thinking one day I'll be able to beat my friends, I kept playing, even after they stopped playing, after they moved on, moved away, after we lost touch and years went by... I kept playing the stupid game because I needed to be ready in case this difficult skill that I'm not good at was ever needed again. I wanted to be able to play with my friends, maybe even new friends.

I installed stepmania, v3 with the "techno fiend" theme (would love a new version of that BTW for SM5+) because I never actually owned DDR, it was my friends game, I went all the way to v5, then when that stopped being updated, outfox and itgmania, I've made my own custom song stepfiles (never released), I own two metal dance pads, and just today I made an account for this site I've been lurking since 06 ish, (following the RSS feed). After playing for about 25 years now, I should probably be better at it than I am, but like I said I never really liked this kind of game. Contradictory as it may seem I have probably invested more time, energy, and sweat in this kind of game than any other video game I have ever played because of the community staying maintained. I will continue to play until I am no longer able, clinging to the illusion that one day I might have friends that want to play. lol "nobody wants to play with me!"



The fact is I am unlikely to get any better at it, I still don't really like it, and I don't have any friends, nor likely to make any. So I play by myself now on a linux mini pc connected to an 80 inch screen, metal pad, and a JBL party box 720 at volumes that shake the otherwise empty house in utter defiance!

So, why do I play? Defiance. Defiance of the game itself, defiance that games (or people) that one invests time and effort into become obsolete after a certain number of years pass, defiance that my own life didn't work out as expected, defiance that friendships are temporary. At this point I play because we aren't dead yet (the game or myself) and yeah probably because I have issues and can't let things go.

I have to say, I appreciate reading these stories, these games end up meaning more than what we could expect.
You've probably already tried but if you have any local arcade thats still active, go and play, maybe there won't be many people, maybe no one will approach at first, but I swear, it's the best way to get to meet new people, maybe not the longest friends but at least in my experience, there's ALWAYs someone who will want to play if they see someone else playing, I assure you, the amount of pumpers that randomly played with me without asking... Not that it bothers me, but It happens often, at least in the old arcade I used to go.

And 25 years playing? Man, I've only been playing for 3 years! Hope I get to play that long too...

There's a lot of reasons why I continue to play SDVX -- so many that I rewrote this post several times (also didn't help that I got disconnected from wifi and lost a complete writeup once). But basically, I can boil it down to three major reasons:

The first and most important one is that it teaches me, through practical experience, how to learn and master other skills. Way before I ever picked up SDVX, I tried to learn to draw, but as an impatient teen I didn't give myself the space and time I needed to grow. I set lofty, unachievable goals and kept beating myself up for not achieving them, further spiralling as I was surrounded by friends who were already skilled and accomplished artists. I kept burning myself out so many times that I ultimately gave up about a year before I discovered SDVX. But I didn't quit forever, as I realized that I would come to regret not properly learning to draw for the rest of my life if I didn't, and about a year after I picked up SDVX, I also started drawing again. What I found was remarkable: Where before I could only see my self-doubt and impatience, now I was giving myself the space I needed to actually grow and improve, and I was able to identify individual areas of improvement. I really don't think it's a coincidence that shortly after I beat my white whale, Happiness Committee VVD; and achieved Coral rank, I also drew my first fully shaded and rendered piece that I was truly proud of. Ever since then, my improvement in art has been tied to my improvement in SDVX: I improve the fastest in one when I'm also improving in the other.

The second reason is the community. Getting to meet likeminded people, sharing accomplishments, strategies, and motivation, forming a comprehensive in-person social network... It's almost like arcades are a third place! And in a world where third places are dying -- especially in North America -- I really treasure the community I've managed to find through playing these silly rhythm games. And, most relevant to this topic, seeing other players give it their all in these games is a strong motivator for me to do my best, too.

The final reason is... Well, I've come this far -- I need to see it through until the end. So far, no obstacle in SDVX has truly stood in my way for more than a month or two, tops. I need to find out if there truly is a hard wall that will put a stop to my constant march towards Imperial. If I stop and walk away now, I'm going to think about that untapped potential and regret it for the rest of my life. I'm in way too deep; I have to keep going. I have to prove -- to my friends, to onlookers, to myself -- that all the limits that stop me from doing the things I want to do are mental, and that I can exceed them.

And so I play SDVX. I play it like hell.

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Because it has helped me a lot with expanding my musical tastes. Prior to DDR (my first music game) I don't remember being even interested in music as a whole.

Also because they're fun. While I don't have the spare time I used to have years ago to play daily, I still try to squeeze some time for them.

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It is a part of my childhood. I originally played Taiko because it had Super Mario, and I was a huge Mario fan at the time.

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For me, rhythm games, especially DDR, shaped my music tastes. Also, they stimulate my hand-eye coordination, which is always a good thing. By far, my favorite thing to do is make edits in DDR, which also lets me explore my creativity and allows me to pick out the rhythms and melodies within music and put them on display. Honestly, rhythm games helped me determine the BPM of music in my head by cross-referencing them with other DDR songs (Look to the Sky is 140, I Was The One is 125, My Summer Love is 100, etc.)

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Seeing videos of these games on YouTube got me into rhythm games. I've played StepMania/OpenITG since 2009 or 2010 even though I could only play them on keyboard and it's been a fun ride ever since. Though, not every song out there I like has a chart made for it, and I do want to learn how to make files but I'm a noob at making them. While I may not be that experienced at making simfiles I've been good at making add-ons (noteskins) for these games.

So many StepMania memories for me, I remember when it was possible to download those .smzip simfiles from the StepMania website, but I'm not sure if all of these files still exist today or if they're now lost media. I miss StepMania Share. I remember over the years, using StepMania 3.9 in 2010-2013 with themes like Cyberia Style or Techno Fiend, sometimes SM4 alphas as well, until I finally switched on over to SM5 as my main version in 2014 I think. I do not always have the time to play it, but whenever I do, I get a few songs in each day and it's fun. I'm able to full combo at least pad 8s on a keyboard spread layout.

I do wish I could play these on a pad to get the full arcade experience and maybe even a workout in, but I do not have one at the moment.

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Same thought here too. Despite the rivals features and tournaments, at the end of the day, it's just you versus yourself set to some catchy head bangers. It really lets you set the pace of things and tune in to what makes it enjoyable to you.

For me, I always tapped my feat and hands to music, so games like DDR and IIDX gave me a fun outlet for it lol. That and it was also a big stepping stone for me to discover a bunch of new genres of music. I was never too fond of whatever was playing on the radio aside from classic rock stations, so rhythm games became a good place to check out other genres.

Nowadays I also appreciate DDR/Stepmania as being a good form of exercise. When work has me tied up during the week, it's easy to squeeze in a quick session.

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I play rhythm games because I love pressing buttons to fun music! Kinda simple, but it’s really satisfying to me and learning to keep up with the rhythm is also enjoyable. I played DDR and Guitar Hero as a kid then I started getting into idol mobile rhythm games in my freshman year of high school… then I discovered that my local city had arcade rhythm games through an old friend, and I haven’t turned back since ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

Arcade rhythm games were a bit hard for me to get into at first. Most people in my local scene seemed so experienced and skilled, so there was always that underlying insecurity I can’t lie. However over time as I found my group and finally found the rhythm games I wanted to main I got a lot more confident and felt more connected to the community!!

I’ve made friends locally and internationally and I’m so grateful for all of them. Rhythm games have been such a big part of my life for so long especially at the arcade and my heart is so full from all the community and support!

As of right now, I currently main SDVX and Pump It Up. I got into SDVX because I wanted to try out more Konami games as a semi-exclusive Sega gamer (at the same lol) and then I fell in love with the gameplay, aesthetic, and the DJ/tech-like feel of it! I started to feel really connected to it and I haven’t felt this connected to a rhythm game before

For Pump It Up, what attracted me the most was the flexibility and kinda shallow but the fact that it has Kpop songs, my friend group is also almost all Pump players so having something that helps me feel more connected to them has motivated me a lot ♡ ♡ ♡

Fun, satisfying, and the music rules! When I play them it feels almost like I'm scratching an itch... I enjoy the process of improving and noticing it as it's happening.. it feels really good!!

+ I personally have always felt a strong emotional link to music, so it's a match made in heaven ＼(＾▽＾)／
This emotional bond ended up melding into rhythm games themselves, so there have been many times where I have so much fun with a chart that I have to hold back tears after playing it. (／ω＼) They are a large part of my soul..

I got into playing them as a kid when I discovered that one NotITG of Megalovania.. I wanted to be able to pass it super bad and that got me into playing Stepmania (arrow key player).. and thus my descent into the rhythm game rabbit hole started (which only sped up when my friend introduced me to LLSIF lol) (~˘▽˘)~
Even after all this time, I don't tend to find myself really trying to go for an FC or anything; I just have fun and if I happen to get a good combo.. that's Awesome! Unfortunately, this sentiment does not make me immune to choking due to The Nerves.

Rhythm games also have and continue to introduce me to really good musicians and illustrators; which has resulted in me getting inspired and learning a lot about music as a whole as well as techniques for my own artwork.

In the future when I live in a place more fit for it, I would like to get a DDR or PIU hard pad and play that as a form of physical therapy.. as I have a chronic illness that would warrant me benefiting from such a thing T_T
It'd also be really cool to encourage people who are similar to me in that sense that it is possible to play and have a fun time playing rhythm games, even if it feels like your body is trying to work against you.

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Discovered rhythm gaming through TeRa's rage video (iykyk).
Ended up becoming addicted to StepMania, and that is pretty much the only rhythm game that I play.

I keep coming back to it because it's super satisfying when you do well, and that feeling when you're realise you've gotten good and you say to yourself "I'm not bad at this!"

The rest is history.

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I remember that rage video very well too...

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