Arcaea

Arcaea is a rhythm video game developed and published by Lowiro (stylized as lowiro). The game was released on iOS and Android mobile platforms on 9 March 2017. A single-player version of the game was released for the Nintendo Switch on 18 May 2021.

Gameplay
During gameplay, players must keep track of two sets of notes moving across the screen, and tap the screen or press controller buttons when the notes intersect with the guiding lines.

The game has 5 difficulties: Past, Present, Future, Eternal, and Beyond (shortened to PST, PRS, FTR, ETR, and BYD). It has a difficulty scale of 1-12, with 7, 8, 9, and 10 having + variants (e.g. Future 9+).

The game includes characters that give various beneficial effects while playing the rhythm game, and they gain experience points when selected for gameplay.

Development
Arcaea began as a single-developer project by Anton Prydatko, inspired by Japanese arcade rhythm games. Prydatko founded Lowiro in the United Kingdom, but many of the musicians working on Arcaea are Japanese indie or doujin composers, and the majority of its players are Japanese.

It was important to the developers that the game's monetization method allow players to "own" their purchased content - players can buy "packs" of songs and play them an unlimited amount, unlike the "stamina" model of mobile game monetization that limits play time.

Reception
Eric Ford of TouchArcade says that it has "an awesome art style combined with very up-beat songs and a nice twist to the traditional rhythm formula". But he also mentioned that some of the gameplay elements could make the game potentially difficult.

Digitally Downloaded's Mike S. praised the game's aesthetic and music, and described its character art as "impeccable", though not memorable compared to other rhythm games. He disliked the game's requirements for unlocking new songs, considering them to be inappropriate for the game's paid release on the Nintendo Switch.

Dani Maddox of Siliconera said the game's music was "just amazing", with a large range of songs and genres. However, she found the game's story mode to be poor, and encountered issues with controls in the Nintendo Switch version, such as the console's size when playing in touchscreen mode and the game being "finicky" with a controller.