A downloadable game for Windows

Feel the beat. Bust the enemies. Don't miss.

Beat Busters is a rhythm shooter built around one simple rule - shoot on the beat or don't shoot at all. Three lanes, three keys, and a relentless stream of enemies marching toward you in time with the music. Chain perfect hits to build your multiplier, keep your combo alive and rack up your highscore!

How It Works

Enemies march down three lanes marked A, S, and D. Press the matching key to fire a laser into that lane to destroy them before they reach the bottom - but timing is everything. Shots fired off-beat won't connect, so you'll need to feel the rhythm, not just react to what you see.

Your timing is graded on every shot:

🟣 PERFECT — dead on the beat. Maximum points, combo keeps climbing.
🟡 GOOD — close enough. Solid score, combo intact.
🔴 MISS — off-beat. No damage, combo reset.

Features

🎵 Beat-synced gameplay driven by a fixed BPM clock
⚡ PERFECT / GOOD / MISS timing windows with combo multiplier
🔫 Per-lane laser effects with quality-reactive visuals
🎨 Synthwave aesthetic
🖥️ Resolution and fullscreen options
🎛️ Audio calibration tool to sync visuals with your specific audio device
♿ Toggleable beat flash for players sensitive to flashing visuals

About This Project

Beat Busters was built as a portfolio project to demonstrate end-to-end game development skills using the Godot Engine. The focus was on clean systems architecture, polished game feel, and attention to detail - from the beat detection logic and shader work to the settings system and installer packaging.

The project covers:

Custom beat clock with audio offset calibration
Shader-driven VFX (laser beams, CRT distortion, beat-reactive backgrounds)
Decoupled singleton architecture
Per-lane enemy queue system with hit detection
Full settings persistence via ConfigFile

Built solo in less than a week as part of a technical application. Feedback is very welcome.

Controls

A
Shoot left lane
S
Shoot middle lane
D
Shoot right lane
ESC
Pause / Settings

Known Issues

Resolution changes take effect immediately but may require a restart on some display configurations
Certain UI elements may not scale correctly on certain display configurations

Made with Godot 4.7 — godotengine.org

More information

Published	11 days ago
Status	Prototype
Platforms	Windows
Author	RiciTrix
Genre	Rhythm
AI Disclosure	AI Assisted, Code, Graphics

Download

BeatBustersSetup.exe 54 MB

Install instructions

System Requirements

OS: Windows 10 or later
Processor: Any dual-core 2GHz+
Memory: 512MB RAM
Graphics: Any GPU supporting OpenGL 3.3 / Vulkan
Storage: ~150MB

Installation

Windows may show a SmartScreen warning when launching the installer. This is because the application is newly released and unrecognised by Microsoft. Click More info then Run anyway to proceed. Beat Busters contains no malware.

Download BeatBustersSetup.exe
Run the installer and follow the on-screen steps
(If Windows SmartScreen blocks it from running, select "more info" then "Run Anyway" to proceed)
Accept the End User License Agreement when prompted
Choose your install directory and click Install
Launch Beat Busters from the desktop shortcut or Start Menu

First Launch

On your first run the How to Play screen will appear automatically - give it a read so you know what to expect. From the main menu, head into Settings → Calibration before your first game. The calibration tool takes about 15 seconds and makes a significant difference, especially if you're using external speakers or a Bluetooth headset.

Uninstallation

Beat Busters can be uninstalled via Settings → Apps in Windows, or by running Uninstall Beat Busters from the Start Menu folder. Your settings and calibration data stored in AppData\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\BeatBusters will not be removed automatically - delete that folder manually if you'd like a clean uninstall.

Beat Busters