PAX East Hands-On: Spin Rhythm XD, the Rhythm Game for DJs

PAX East hands-on: playing the Spin Rhythm XD demo

Cracking a safe has a musical side. The safecracker has to hear a rhythm and turn to a beat, and the clicks that guide the process are a kind of music. Spin Rhythm XD asks what would happen if a player had actual music in their ears instead of tiny clicks, and the result at the PAX East hands-on Spin Rhythm XD booth is a game that makes the heart race and the blood pump almost at once.

The demo asks players to use a spinning wheel, whether on a mouse, a track-pad or a real DJ deck, to hit notes while holding, tapping and scratching in the right zones. It sounds simple and plays as a complicated and rewarding challenge. The look and feel are smooth, and the experience encourages the kind of fantasy in which anyone stepping up feels like a DJ.

The hands-on session began on a hard difficulty because the player wanted to use both hands on the turntables. It did not go well at first. The team moved the player to an easier mode, and failure continued, mostly because of excitement. The game rewards the instincts of a DJ and punishes overconfidence, and it uses both halves of the brain, visual and auditory, at once.

Where Spin Rhythm XD came from

Dave Curro of the Spin Rhythm XD team says the idea had floated around for about eight years. Artist Shath McGuire, who worked at Halfbrick on Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, loved Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and the team had grown up in Australia without the arcades that other countries had. As rhythm games faded from view, with Beat Saber the notable exception, the team decided to make the game they wanted to play.

The first version was a mobile prototype. At the time, mobile rhythm games were mostly about tapping, and the team wanted to build something that used spinning while holding and tapping, with a scratch zone and a flow. The concept grew into a premium PC release, not a free-to-play one.

Real DJ gear and MIDI support

The game supports a MIDI DJ setup, which is rare. Rock Band and DJ Hero used peripherals, but a true MIDI connection brings in actual musicianship, and a former DJ who tried it found the result rewarding. Curro explains that the team exhibited at PAX Australia in 2017 using Pioneer CDJs with a solid mechanized wheel, and wanted to see whether the same sensation could be reproduced in the game. MIDI testing went well and proved robust. People stepping up to the wheel wanted to experiment with it, so the team widened the mission: make it work for every DJ wheel available.

The music and the look

The soundtrack was a point of debate. Fans suggested more anime music, others wanted more rock, and the team decided that nobody could be pleased and chose to please themselves. They hand-picked artists from labels and collectives such as Monstercat and NCS and from independent producers. Curro mentions a track from Haywire, who was willing to take part when approached.

The team looks for rhythmic and harmonic motion, changes between sections and contrast. A track can be good to listen to and still be a poor fit if it is simply a vibe that never goes anywhere. What works is melodic, rhythmic, structured electronic music that meets the demands of the game.

Visually, McGuire shifted from the primary colors of Rock Band to neon pastels: cyan and magenta, a yellowish-green for beats and purple for spin prompts. The colors blend while playing, the effect is futuristic and it feels like how a DJ’s brain might look.

Spin Rhythm XD at a glance

• Developer: Super Spin Digital, with Dave Curro and artist Shath McGuire among the team.
• Control options: mouse, track-pad or any MIDI DJ controller.
• Soundtrack: electronic music hand-picked by the team, including artists from Monstercat and NCS and independent producers.
• Custom music: the team described plans for importing your own tracks and building levels, with an open-source approach.
• Steam: early access launched on October 22, 2019.
• Later platforms: Nintendo Switch on October 26, 2023, and PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR2 on July 9, 2024.

PAX East hands-on verdict: Spin Rhythm XD

Asked about recording and sharing mixes, Curro says legal limits prevent the team from facilitating the sharing of music. Instead, the team planned an option to import tracks and build levels, with the tools open-sourced. Players can already edit tracks in the game, though slowing the tempo or cutting them up is not allowed, and they can bring in their own music.

Curro also notes that sensitivity on real DJ decks is high by default, which can overwhelm players used to ordinary turntables, but that it can be customized and controlled.

The PAX East hands-on Spin Rhythm XD verdict is simple. The game is the strongest argument yet for making a rhythm game about turntables, and the team’s care over music and color shows. It is easy to recommend to anyone who wants to feel like a DJ for a few minutes. Players who try it with a real deck get the full effect.

Thanks go to Dave Curro of Super Spin Digital and to Zack Furniss at Stride PR for arranging the demo and interview.

Sources

• Spin Rhythm XD on Steam — developer, release and platform details