In Alpha Nomos, the music has stopped and the world has fallen apart with it. The rhythm-action roguelite from independent studio RibCage Games is now available to purchase on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
The game is set in a world where cities have been abandoned and a circus has turned against its own audience. Its puppets, which once performed for crowds, now hunt anything that moves. Players control Cello, who along with her friends is among the last still able to hear the music, and progressing means fighting in time with the beat.
That timing sits at the centre of how combat works. RibCage Games has built the game without input quantisation, meaning inputs are not automatically snapped to the beat. Each attack lands at the exact moment the button is pressed, so staying in rhythm is a skill players need to develop themselves. For those who need to adjust for their hardware, a timing offset setting lets players calibrate the beat to their own setup.
Cello’s weapons are instruments that were recorded live in the studio by real musicians, ranging from a cello through to the Xyloblades, a xylophone blade. Attacks therefore play back actual performances, and the soundtrack builds as the player’s performance improves.
Each run is also shaped by musical powerups, including Reverb, Flanger and Delay. Stacking these alters both how Cello fights and how the run sounds. Between runs, players can visit Maestro’s move shop to add new moves to their arsenal.
RibCage Games CEO Itamar Berner explained the studio’s thinking behind putting rhythm at the heart of the game’s combat:
We always felt rhythm games could go further, so we made the beat the reason you fight instead of something playing in the background. Every weapon you hear was played by a real musician and every hit lands exactly when you press it. Today the full show is finally open and we can’t wait to hear what players make of it.
Alpha Nomos is available now on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, priced at $17.99 USD or local equivalent.
