Shinobeat Rush

Of ink and sound

Hit play. Run the track.

Pick a track from your music library: Shinobeat Rush turns it into a level, with its own scenery and palette. The same track always gives the same level.

It is a side-scrolling running game: a ninja wearing headphones runs across an ink scroll. The world is drawn before your eyes, on washi paper.

The story

In Sumioto, village of the Tempo clan, a letter arrives. Master Seijaku (“deep silence”), very old, feels his end approaching and wants to secure the clan’s future: he invites the twins to take the trials of the Tempo-ji, the great library of sound. There is only one place to win. Oto (“sound”), the silent one with the headphones, and Uta (“song”), his talkative, theatrical twin sister, bear each other no grudge: may the best one win.

Whoever prevails in the trials of the Tempo-ji earns the Onshin, the golden headband that holds extraordinary powers and stirs up plenty of envy. The twins will not be the only ones running.

The trials are scrolls. Whoever unrolls one is pulled into a world of ink shaped by a piece of music. Falling is never a defeat there: the scroll rolls itself back up, and you start again. But stains slip in between the notes, and Uta would very much like to know where they come from.

How to play

• Jump to clear the gaps.
• Draw a stroke of ink with your finger to bridge the ones that are too wide. Ink is limited: use it wisely.
• Throw shuriken to take down targets. From Medium difficulty, ink and shuriken become essential.
• Three difficulties to choose from: Easy, Medium, Hard. Each track also has its own difficulty: the same setting does not play the same from one track to the next.
• Finish a track to earn the red Kodō seal, the pulse. Finish it without a fall to earn the golden Onshin seal, perfect harmony with the music.

Ink stains called Shimi creep onto your path: shoot the right ones and you get ink back. Your headband turns gold little by little as long as you don’t fall. Reach the end without a single fall: that is the perfect run.

Two modes

• Adventure mode. 16 original tracks, composed by Ame Otoko studio, offered in increasing difficulty and unlocked as you progress.
• Free mode. The music in the library of your iPhone or iPad, with your permission.

Streaming is not supported.

Challenges

A good score is meant to be shared. On the score screen, a button creates an image of your run (score, difficulty, seal): send it to your friends, or to the whole world, and see who can beat it.

A track beats you? Don’t give it back: seal it as a cursed scroll. Your impossible track becomes a challenge to throw down to anyone who dares. The curse only lifts the day you finish it.

No account, no online leaderboard: you share through the share sheet on your iPhone or iPad, with whoever you choose.

Characters

34 characters to unlock as you play. A Journal keeps your games and each character’s profile.

Your data

Everything stays on your device. Shinobeat Rush collects no data.

Availability

coming soon

In English and French. For iPhone and iPad.