Introduction to VSRGs

The goal of these instructions is to introduce you to the wide variety of rhythm games available, as well as help you improve your playing through practice tips. These instructions are intended for players between no experience and intermediate experience with rhythm games. For players with no experience, I would recommend installing Quaver from the Steam games store. It is a free VSRG (vertical scrolling rhythm game) which is the type of game I will focus on. I find it to be the most accessible due to its price, relative ease of use, and customizability. To have the best gameplay experience, I would recommend a computer that can run games at a smooth 60+ frames per second.

Rhythm games are conceptually simple, you hit keys on time with the music with higher accuracy resulting in a higher score. But underneath the simple nature of the games lies a whole host of skills to master, from finger control to speed to accuracy. Some people strive for metronome-like plays on any difficulty of map, while others only care about surviving impossibly fast and difficult patterns. Regardless, everyone started out by playing basic maps to understand the fundamentals. Trying to skip this step will only result in building bad habits.

Let’s start by opening up Quaver. Before we get into the first map, there are a few options to set regardless of gameplay preferences. In options, either enable fullscreen or borderless window. Fullscreen prioritizes gameplay, making the game application the computer’s entire focus aside from essential background operations. Windowed fullscreen acts as a pseudo-fullscreen, providing the same display while not completely focusing all processing power on the game. Choosing between these two is a mix of personal preference and the power of your PC. Other options tabs like Gameplay, Skin, and Input will be changed later depending on preference, although it is recommended to change them around early on to see what works best.

Now we’ll download our maps, and here’s where Quaver shines over its other free competitors. Along the top is a tab called Maps, which you can click to view and download any song and beatmap created by any player. Along the left are filter options, and for your first maps I would recommend a maximum difficulty of 2. From here, download all the songs you find interesting or enjoyable, and then a few more. It should also be noted here that there are two main modes of play in Quaver, those being 4key and 7key. The names themselves are self-explanatory, and once again which one you play is up to preference. Once you have a decent selection of beginner maps, navigate back to the Home tab along the top and then select Single Player. You’ll select your first map and start playing! If it’s too easy, then stick through to the end and be satisfied knowing you can handle that level of play. If it’s too difficult, there’s no shame in backing out and finding an easier map.

So your first map is complete and there are probably at least a few aspects of gameplay you’d like to change. Almost everything in Quaver is customizable, from the speed at which notes fall, to the “correct” timing of when to press the notes, to even what the notes themselves look like. These and more should be changed as you see fit, and more experimenting means knowing your preferences quicker. The ultimate goal is to find the playstyle that’s most comfortable for you which helps you focus.

“I finished the map, do I win?” The great thing about rhythm games is that there’s nearly infinite difficulty to try and master, with your level of improvement being directly correlated with the effort you put in. From here, regardless of your ultimate goals, the best way to improve is to play- play a lot. This is why I recommended downloading so many beginner beatmaps before we even looked at higher level ones. Once you have a good grasp of the basic timings and finger control it’s a good idea to always push yourself beyond your comfort zone, but here at the start is simply getting your brain used to pattern recognition. VSRGs at their core are a continuous challenge of pattern recognition, so the more diverse set of simple patterns you start with the easier it’ll be to expand that knowledge to tougher situations.

From here are just general tips on improving, since everyone’s available time and starting level of skill will differ. In general, you want to approach skills by playing easier maps which focus on that particular skill. The reasoning behind this is that your brain can focus on just that new skill, without also worrying about keeping up with other aspects of gameplay. Once you have a basic grasp, keep finding maps which apply the skill just outside of your comfort zone. Staying content with your current skill level isn’t a bad thing, but if your goal is improving then you’ll need to push beyond what you can currently do. This ties in with another very important aspect of VSRGs: take breaks when your hands hurt. The fingers are muscles and tendons just like any other, but they’re particularly prone to having lasting issues if pushed too hard due to the repetitive nature of pressing a keyboard. It’s fine for fingers to feel tired from playing, but they should never hurt. Attached are a series of hand stretches to do before and after playing to ensure you don’t develop lasting conditions like RSI or snap a tendon.