This page takes you from installing Miko Rhythm to your first unlocked outfit. Most players get through it in a few minutes.
#1. Install through Steam
- Open the Miko Rhythm Steam page. Until launch, click Add to your Wishlist and Steam will tell you when the game is out.
- Once you own it, install it from your Steam Library and press Play.
Miko Rhythm runs on Windows (64-bit). The Play page lists the system requirements.
#2. First launch: the welcome screen
After the title screen ("Press any key"), a new player sees one welcome screen with everything you need:
- the song Miko recommends for your first play
- your current controls
- a short explanation of taps, holds and pausing
- three choices: Play first song, Quick calibrate and Browse instead
Nothing on this screen is mandatory. If you close the game partway through, the welcome screen comes back next time until you play or browse.
#3. Your first song
Play first song goes straight to Overclocked Skies by Kittyvenom on Easy, a level-1 chart at 100 BPM with 64 notes. It's short, steady and stream-safe.
If you'd rather pick your own, Browse instead opens the song list. Easy and Normal charts at level 3 or lower are a good first choice.
#4. Calibrate (optional)
Auto-Sync is on from the start. After every finished song, the game adjusts your timing slightly toward how you actually hit, so most players never need to calibrate.
If notes still feel early or late, especially with Bluetooth or wireless headphones, run Quick calibrate:
- Listen to the click track, then tap along with the clicks.
- Then tap with the moving arrow.
- Press Apply to keep the result, or Cancel to go back.
It takes about 20 seconds. You can run it again any time from Calibration on the home screen, or from the "Timing feel off? Calibrate" prompt. If the game sees a wireless audio device, the calibration card tells you so, because those add the most delay.
#5. Controls basics
| Lane | Keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| Left | ← or D | D-pad ←, X, left stick ← |
| Down | ↓ or F | D-pad ↓, A, left stick ↓ |
| Up | ↑ or J | D-pad ↑, Y, left stick ↑ |
| Right | → or K | D-pad →, B, left stick → |
Pause with P (Start/Menu on a controller). Restart a song with F2 (RT). Dance pads work as controllers: see Controls.
#6. Play
Notes travel along the highway toward the receptors, the arrow outlines at the end of each lane. Press the matching lane as a note reaches its receptor.
- Tap notes: press once.
- Hold notes: press and keep holding until the tail ends.
Each press is judged Perfect, Great, Good, Bad or Miss. Miko reacts as you play: she cheers your streaks and (if you let her) roasts your misses. More in How to play.
#7. Your first unlock
When the song ends, the results screen shows your grade, score, accuracy, max combo, a timing chart and the XP you earned.
Your first cleared song gives a one-time bonus of 400 XP, which is enough for level 2. So your very first results screen unlocks the Witch outfit for Miko. Press Try it on to put it on her and open the wardrobe, where you can turn her around and look at it.
After that, a new reward (outfit, note skin, receptor or highway world) arrives roughly every 10 minutes of normal play, through level 14. See Progression.
#Next steps
- How to play: judgments, combo, life and grades.
- Modes: Practice Mode and the Daily Challenge.
- Settings: switch between the 3D highway and Classic view, pick a color scheme, and more.
Judgments at a glance
Marvelous is a sub-tier of Perfect. A broken hold also counts as a Miss.