Pharaoh's Groove

Pharaoh's Groove is a dance-off on a row of podiums. Every phrase, each dancer types a short row of arrows and then lands a single beat at the end of it. Land it well and your chibi levels up into a bigger dance. Keep landing it and the points snowball. The arrows are only the entry fee: the round goes to whoever strings together the longest run of clean drops.

One phrase

Every phrase is two bars, a little under four seconds, and everyone's phrases start together, about 17 to a round.

• A row of arrow tablets stands in front of your podium. A plate's colour is its direction: turquoise left, gold up, purple down, blue right.
• Type them with the arrow keys or WASD. A wrong arrow buzzes, steps you back one arrow and locks your keys for a fifth of a second. The rest of the row stays typed.
• When the last arrow is in, a Space tablet lights up above the row. Press Space on the last beat of the phrase. A marker slides along the rail under your tablets once per phrase, and the gold mark near its end is the beat.

Space does nothing until the row is done, so pressing early can't waste a phrase. You get one drop per phrase, and a phrase that runs out before you drop counts as a miss. Your first row is already showing during the countdown, so read it before the round starts.

On a phone each arrow is a swipe anywhere on the screen, and Drop is a button.

Judgements and the streak

• PERFECT, within about 0.07 seconds of the beat
• GREAT, within about 0.13 seconds
• COOL, within 0.2 seconds
• BAD, within about 0.27 seconds
• MISS, anything wider, or no drop at all

PERFECT, GREAT and COOL all extend your streak, and the streak multiplies the drop. A PERFECT pays 1,000 points times your streak, up to ten, so the tenth PERFECT in a row pays 10,000. A GREAT pays 600 times the streak, up to eight. A COOL pays 300 times the streak, up to five. A BAD pays 100 and resets the streak, and a MISS resets it for nothing.

So a round is a climb, and a fall hurts: one BAD at a streak of ten takes your next PERFECT from 10,000 back to 1,000.

Levels

PERFECT and GREAT raise your level by one, up to 9. COOL and BAD leave it where it is, and two phrases in a row that run out without a drop take you down one. Your level sets how many arrows you type: 3 at level 1, then 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, and 8 from level 7 up. It also sets your dance, from a simple groove at level 1 to spins at level 9. It doesn't change what a drop pays. A higher level is more typing for the same points, and the dance is the reward.

The leader dances under a gold spotlight, so everyone knows who to beat.

Landing it

• Type fast, then wait. At eight arrows, spreading them evenly gives you about 0.4 seconds each and finishes right on the beat, with nothing left to aim the drop. Get them in early and give the last beat or two to the drop alone.
• Time the drop off the marker. Watch it slide toward the gold mark and press as it reaches the middle. The gold mark is as wide as the whole scoring window, so its edges are BAD.
• Don't wait for the flash. The Space tablet and the marker turn white as the GREAT window opens, and PERFECT is the middle half of that. React to the white and you'll land late.
• A late drop beats no drop. If you finished the row late, press anyway. A COOL still keeps the streak going, and only a BAD or a miss ends it.
• Fix a mistap and carry on. It costs one arrow and a fifth of a second. Panicking costs the phrase.

If you'd rather play every note of a song than land one big beat, Ritual Beats is the other rhythm game here.