How Chord Nebula Gameplay Works

Chord Nebula is a falling-note game for learning piano chords and progressions on a MIDI keyboard. Notes and chords drop from the top of the play area, and you play each one on your keyboard before it reaches the bottom. Match it in time and it pops; let it hit the bottom and you lose a life. Run out of lives and the game ends. The pace increases as your score climbs.

The core loop

1. A note or chord appears at the top of the play area and falls downward.
2. You play what's shown on your MIDI keyboard before it reaches the bottom. For a chord, you play all of its notes at once.
3. Timing decides the outcome. Match it in time and it pops. Let it reach the bottom and you lose a life.
4. Lives are finite. When you run out, the game ends.
5. Difficulty scales with you. As your score climbs, the pace picks up.

What you see on screen

Note names are displayed on the orb at first, so you can find your footing. Once you are scoring, the note names drop away, leaving the chord name and its scale degree. This is the game's built-in progression: early levels support you with labels, later play expects you to read the chord itself.

Setup choices that shape the run

Before playing, you pick your genre, scale, key, and level from the setup screen. The genre determines which progressions you get and which scales they are drawn from:

Levels and what they cover

• Levels 1–3 are free and cover scale notes and basic chords.
• Levels 4–8 add note ordering, root-in-bass voicings, seventh chords, and more. These are unlocked with a one-time purchase from the setup screen.

What you need to play

A MIDI keyboard, or a MIDI-capable app on your phone. You connect it to your computer, select it from the list on the setup screen, and press Continue. The game is built around the order music itself is structured: the notes of a key one at a time, then the chords built on those notes, then the common progressions those chords make in real genres.