

When these scrolling arrows reach the end, the player must step on the corresponding arrows on the dance stage, and the player is given a judgement for their accuracy of the input. During normal gameplay, arrows scroll upwards from the bottom of the screen towards the end of the play area, towards a set of receptor markers on the sides of the arrow lanes.


The core gameplay involves players stepping on the panel with their feet to correspond with the scrolling arrows (or "Notes") on-screen once they reach the end of beat lines (horizontal bars that move up the screen). Players can also customize modifiers adjust to their preferred style, such as changing the visual appearance of patterns, how fast patterns appear, background brightness, etc. Players can select between seven different difficulty levels that affect how many inputs are active and the difficulty of patterns displayed. StepManiaX uses five identically sized inputs, arranged similarly to a Directional Pad - Up, Down, Left, Right, and the inclusion of Center. Similar to other stepping or dance-based games, StepManiaX uses a "stage" that the user stands on with certain areas being pressure-sensitive buttons, or "panels".

Gameplay StepManiaX gameplay, showing holds, pits, early perfects, and so forth StepManiaX is derived from the same codebase, with modifications made to support the new game types, lights, touch support, connectivity, and the custom Android operating system and hardware that dedicated units run on. The name is a nod to the legacy of the open-source simulator StepMania, as many of the original StepMania developers were involved with the project. It is considered a spiritual successor to the In the Groove series. StepManiaX (abbreviated SMX and pronounced "Step Maniacs") is a rhythm game developed and published by Step Revolution, a studio formed by former developers of In the Groove, ReRave, and Pump It Up Pro.
