A Dance of Fire and Ice

About

"A Dance of Fire and Ice" is a challenging one-button rhythm game where players move in a line on every beat of the music. The game features a variety of colorful fantasy landscapes and a strict timing system comparable to the Rhythm Heaven series. With no tricks and nothing reaction-based, players must predict every moment and learn to sight-read levels as they come. New levels are available for free as the game expands.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

95%

Audience ScoreBased on 10,360 reviews

music545 positive mentions

story19 negative mentions

music
1,256 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
54%
3%
The music in the game is widely praised for its diversity and quality, with many players highlighting the catchy soundtracks that enhance the gameplay experience. While some users appreciate the unique rhythms and the way the music is integrated into the level design, others express frustration over occasional mismatches between the music and gameplay mechanics. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal, especially for music enthusiasts and rhythm game fans.
- “The music is incredible and when you finally beat a difficult level it feels so satisfying.”
- “The gameplay is unique and challenging and the music goes astronomically hard, the DLC turns everything up to 11 and is 100% worth the extra 5 bucks.”
- “The music is fantastic, and the developers take such a simple concept and turn it into something else.”
- “The music in the main game sounds like an mp3 downloaded off of YouTube in 2008.”
- “The music is so fire it burned my house down.”
- “The music doesn't follow a pattern, they aren't catchy, and they aren't fun.”
gameplay
426 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
55%
1%
The gameplay of this rhythm game is widely praised for its simplicity and addictiveness, allowing players to easily grasp the mechanics while still offering a challenging experience as they progress. The innovative design, which includes unique mechanics and a strong emphasis on music synchronization, keeps players engaged, especially with the addition of community-created content and DLC that expands gameplay options. Overall, the combination of intuitive controls, a captivating soundtrack, and a gradual difficulty curve makes it a standout title in the rhythm genre.
- “Best game I've ever played, loads of cool mechanics and they're very simple to learn. The level editor is very easy to work with and the main levels have amazing themes with very cool music.”
- “The gameplay is simple but a lot of fun, and the music is incredible.”
- “The gameplay is unique and challenging, and the music goes astronomically hard. The DLC turns everything up to 11 and is 100% worth the extra 5 bucks.”
- “While the gameplay isn't exactly unique to rhythm games because it's just 'you click when a note comes up', the entire look and feel of this game is what gives it personality.”
- “Every level has about 7 tutorials ahead of it to teach you all the stupid patterns before throwing them at you 3 times faster all in a row and hoping you remember them, if that’s any indication of how unintuitive the gameplay is.”
- “The unforgiving late/miss mechanic combined with long restarts means I can't recommend any of my friends play the game.”
graphics
169 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
49%
3%
The graphics in this rhythm game are widely praised for their beauty and creativity, with many reviewers highlighting the unique art styles and immersive visuals that enhance the gameplay experience. While some players appreciate the minimalist design, others find certain visuals distracting or overwhelming, particularly when they interfere with gameplay. Overall, the combination of stunning visuals and a captivating soundtrack contributes to a highly engaging rhythm game experience.
- “The visuals and collaboration with different people make every world feel fresh, and it feels like each song is taking you on a journey.”
- “The game's simple yet visually striking graphics and atmospheric soundtrack create an immersive experience that draws you in.”
- “The music, the visuals, and the simplicity of the controls make this one of my favorite rhythm games.”
- “Graphics are very minimal when you compare it to other rhythm games.”
- “When the visuals lag, I have 0 idea of when to input, which means almost guaranteed failure.”
- “Graphically, it's ugly, I'm not gonna lie, it has awful fonts and the graphics look 2005ish; it's too late to make them look better though.”
story
103 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
68%
18%
The reviews indicate a mixed perception of the game's story aspect, with many users noting that there is little to no traditional narrative present. However, some players appreciate the inclusion of a compact storyline in the DLC, which adds depth and variety to the gameplay experience. Overall, while the main game is primarily focused on gameplay mechanics and rhythm challenges, the community-created content and DLC provide additional layers of storytelling and engagement.
- “The community made maps and map-making systems are fantastic, and the DLC (Neo Cosmos) adds a great story and really cool/tricky mechanics that breathe new life into the game even after many hours of play.”
- “In addition to introducing new maps to explore and conquer, it boasts a compact yet enthralling storyline that adds depth to the gaming experience.”
- “The story and lore in this game is incredible.”
- “Honestly one of the best rhythm games ever, was introduced by a friend by playing the demo in school but oh boy, this game is so fun, it seems challenging at first but you'll get used to it, just the art design on each boss level is insane, as well as the DLC, the DLC is wonderful, a full story for a game that had no story.”
- “While there is no story and not a whole lot of original songs, there is a workshop, and all you have to do is find your song and play.”
- “The main story teaches us some basic skills but the music and levels are mostly unattractive.”
humor
69 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is predominantly centered around the whimsical and absurd imagery of "funny balls" and "funny circles," which elicits laughter from players. Many reviews highlight the comedic names of tutorial stages and the amusing sounds made by the game elements, contributing to an overall lighthearted and entertaining experience. Despite its challenging gameplay, players find joy in the humor, often expressing their enjoyment through playful and exaggerated language.
- “The funny part is that it's just scratching the surface.”
- “Some of the names for the tutorial stages are pretty funny as well, and of course, the training mode has proven to be really useful, especially since it allows you to slow down the song in order to actually learn the song's rhythm instead of pushing buttons at random until you get it right.”
- “This game made me laugh and cry.”
grinding
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
35%
58%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively time-consuming and often tedious, requiring repetitive playthroughs of levels to achieve mastery. While some appreciate the rewarding feeling of overcoming challenges after extensive grinding, many express frustration with the lack of effective practice modes and the need to replay entire songs after failing, which can lead to a frustrating experience. Overall, the grind can be both addictive and exhausting, with some players feeling it detracts from the enjoyment of the game.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “One long, tedious grind.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “You will spend way too much time grinding the game.”
- “However, you will find yourself grinding for an absurd workshop level which you probably won't complete until months later, in turn giving you arthritis.”
- “The practice mode only allowing you to practice the parts that you have reached makes getting better or understanding a map tedious and unfun.”
replayability
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
55%
10%
The game boasts exceptional replayability, primarily due to its custom level creation feature, which allows for virtually infinite content and encourages players to master each level. Users appreciate the challenge of aiming for higher scores and the availability of community-created maps, enhancing the overall experience. With a strong emphasis on progression and skill improvement, players find themselves returning to the game repeatedly for new challenges and enjoyment.
- “The ability to create custom levels is probably the best addition to this game because it's basically infinite replayability and allows for amazing, creative levels to be made.”
- “The game's replayability is a notable strength, as players can strive for higher scores and perfect their performance in each level.”
- “The game does feature custom levels and the ability to create your own, which promotes replayability for people who have conquered the main and extra levels.”
- “On top of this, there is replayability after you finish the game, as each 'boss level' is able to be played again with increased speed, which made this game feel perfect as a perfect 'stalling game' (for when you're waiting for someone or something).”
emotional
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players consistently highlight the emotional impact of the game, with many expressing that it made them cry, both from frustration and joy. The challenging gameplay and heartfelt moments contribute to a deeply engaging experience, leaving players feeling accomplished and emotionally invested. Overall, the game is praised for its ability to evoke strong feelings, making it a memorable journey.
- “10/10 made me cry.”
- “This game makes me want to cry.”
- “Bro, I swear to God I cried of joy more when I beat world ten than when I learned my crush liked me back.”
stability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
92%
The game's stability is generally criticized, with numerous users reporting frequent bugs, glitches, and crashes that hinder gameplay, particularly when exiting the game. While some players note that these issues are minor and can be fixed, the overall experience is marred by frustrating stability problems that can disrupt progress and enjoyment.
- “There were no glitches that I could find.”
- “The game runs smoothly without any crashes.”
- “I experienced consistent performance throughout my playtime.”
- “This game is extremely buggy; I would not recommend the buy.”
- “The game is buggy and hard to use. The settings sometimes applied, yet sometimes they didn't until I entered another level, and the game literally froze when I tried exiting it. I had to kill it via task manager.”
- “Fun and difficult game, but the frustrating part is trying to close the game. It either just freezes and stays on your screen for a while, or you have to use task manager to actually close it. After a few times, it becomes aggravating, especially if you want to get to a new game or play something else.”
optimization
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
22%
33%
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while many players appreciate its smooth performance and enjoyable gameplay, others report significant stuttering issues, particularly on lower-end systems. Recent patches have improved some performance problems, but challenges remain, especially with online levels and exiting the game. Adjusting graphics settings can help mitigate some performance drops, but further optimization is still needed for a more consistent experience across various hardware.
- “The game's replayability is a notable strength, as players can strive for higher scores and perfect their performance in each level.”
- “Very simple and fun rhythm game with great optimization!”
- “Well optimized, well designed, interesting lore!”
- “Even with graphics and quality turned down, it still tends to have massive drops in performance.”
- “At one point I would have blamed game stuttering, but that issue seems to have improved in newer patches and it's still a problem.”
- “Performance-wise, this game needs better optimization. After a while, it gets very stuttery even on my gaming desktop and my low-end laptop. There is an issue where the game doesn't let me exit properly if I play online levels; I have to exit through Task Manager. If I play just the normal levels, this doesn't happen.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its immersive quality, combining simple yet visually striking graphics with an engaging soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. Players appreciate the inviting spaces, like the rhythm doctor lounge, which allow for relaxation and enjoyment while navigating complex custom levels. Overall, the game's artistic elements contribute to a captivating and enjoyable atmosphere.
- “The game's simple yet visually striking graphics and atmospheric soundtrack create an immersive experience that draws you in.”
- “It has nice graphics, amazing songs, and an overall great atmosphere to it.”
- “I spend a nice amount of time in the Rhythm Doctor lounge, and it's such an accessible place to cuddle inside and just enjoy the atmosphere while playing complex custom levels.”