It was originally developed as a simulator of Konami's popular arcade and console video game series, Dance Dance Revolution, and has since evolved into an extensible rhythm game engine capable of supporting a wide variety of rhythm-based game types. Stepmania was included in a video game exhibition at New York's Museum of the Moving Image in 2005.

Gameplay

The primary gametype features the following gameplay: as arrows scroll upwards on the screen, they will meet with a stationary set of target arrows. When they meet the targets, the player should press the corresponding arrow on his keyboard or dance mat. The moving arrows will meet the targets based on the beat of the song, so the player's sense of rhythm plays a great role in the gameplay. The game is scored based upon how accurately the player can trigger the arrows in time to the beat of the song. The player's efforts are awarded by letter grades that tell him/her how well the player has done; AAAA is the highest award and E is total failure (although there are two types of E grades, one that registers scores and one that doesn't - probably denoting the difference between pass and fail). StepMania allows for several input options. The keyboard can be used to tap out the rhythms using the arrow keys, or specialized adapters that connect console peripherals like PS2 and Xbox controllers or dance pads to one's computer can be used.

Keyboard

Others enjoy playing Stepmania on the keyboard. Active players found on Stepmania Online servers are able to pass songs otherwise impossible to pass on the pad. There are three common techniques to playing Stepmania.

Index: Players press the arrow keys using their index fingers. This technique best emulates dancing on a pad. Players are reported to get superior timing using this technique.; Spread: Players press keys with the index and middle fingers of both hands. Unlike index, the arm and wrist need not move, as one specific finger is assigned to one specific key. Players often change the key configuration of Stepmania to have a more comfortable \"spread pattern\", such as a-s-k-l, and q-w-o-p instead of the arrow keys. The keys in spread patterns are usually congruent to the positions of arrow columns on the screen. Players are reported to get superior speed and ability to pass harder songs using this technique. ; One Hand: Playing one handed bears no technical advantage other than impressiveness. Tapping keys with one hand in rapid succession quickly wears out that hand. ;