We got to check out this upcoming rhythm game from Japan!
A lot of the games I’ve loved over the years were games I discovered solely because the art style drew me in. STEP THEATER is one of those games. I was walking the PAX West 2026 show floor and saw the MADE IN JAPAN COLLECTION, 12 games presented by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). STEP THEATER has such an adorable art style that I walked over to the game’s station to learn more about it and realized it was a rhythm game (hence the name). I decided to give it a shot and was immediately hooked.
There were two stages available to try at the PAX demo: mochi-pounding and scaring ghosts with other ghosts. Each stage is presented as a standalone film, and it’s the player’s job to bring the film to life by staying on beat and keeping the rhythm going for the full story to unfold.
The mochi stage features a rabbit and a turtle pounding mochi together. Playing as the rabbit, I had to hammer my mallet down just after the turtle threw the mochi down into a barrel, perfectly in time to the music. Each stage gives the player an opportunity to practice before starting, which I appreciated because the stages get difficult pretty quickly. Initially, the timer is on-screen, but it quickly disappears and you have to really pay attention to how many seconds have passed, especially once the beat starts changing up. At the end of the stage, you get a score based on your performance, and if it’s not a passing score, you fail the stage.
The ghost stage is a film about a ghost trying to frighten other ghosts with well-timed jump scares, bursting out from behind curtains as they pass down a hallway. The player has to pay attention to the number of steps they hear coming down the hall before pressing the action button to make the ghost pop out. The number and rhythm of the steps changed up partway through the stage and it got more difficult to track the ghosts as they approached. I was playing the game on normal difficulty and pleasantly surprised by the level of challenge the game presented despite not being on the highest difficulty level.
There will be a variety of stages once the game releases, according to NB Games, each with their own stories, characters, and rhythms to bring them to life. There’s some footage of those stages in the screenshots and trailers that have been shared on STEP THEATER’s Steam page.
A short time after PAX West, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and an artist I follow named Mikuro — or @mikuro8423 — happened to have posted about handling the art and graphics for STEP THEATER. It was no wonder then that I was so drawn to the game’s art — I’ve been following its incredibly talented artist for years! I definitely recommend giving them a follow on Instagram, especially if you’re a Kirby fan like me.
STEP THEATER is being developed by Pixel Smile and published by NB Games. The game releases for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on December 3, 2026.