Daravath Saathvik
All games

Game / 2026

Neon Rekha

A simple, rewarding rhythm game for Indian players: you draw the shape you see, on the beat. The game checks your drawing live, while you are still drawing it.

Play on itch.io
Role
Solo project. Game designer and developer (I directed the code with AI coding tools)
When
May 2026
Built in
1 week
Tools
Unity 6, C#, URP, Unity Leaderboards, Python, Google Gemini (music), Claude Code
Cover image of Neon Rekha
  • 19shapes
  • 2languages (English, Hindi)
  • 93%correct drawings accepted (tested with simulated strokes)

01Brief

Make a rhythm game for Indian players that's easy to pick up and rewarding to play, where you feel in the flow, drawing in time with the music, shape after shape.

02Research and concept

The look came from Tiles Hop, where a ball bounces on glowing tiles in time with the music. In those games you only tap, and I wanted something that asks for a bit more thought, so in Neon Rekha you draw. I started from a reference picture of a neon road with tiles and a ball.

The game is endless. Every 10 shapes is a new level, with faster music and harder shapes. The key mechanic is live checking: the shape fills green while you're drawing it right, and blasts when it's done.

15 seconds of level 6 into level 7.

03Prototype

The first prototype tested the core feeling: does it feel good to draw a shape before its tile reaches the ball?

04Development

  • A live shape checker compares your stroke to the shape as you draw. It allows any size, a small tilt and either direction, and counts corners to tell a circle from a square.
  • Beat maps: every beat in each track is measured, so the ball and the tiles stay on the music.
  • A weekly leaderboard that resets every Monday.
  • English and Hindi, with the Hindi text prepared so Unity shows it correctly.

Levels 1 to 5 each switch to a faster track, from 105 to 150 BPM. After that the music stays fast and the shapes come closer together: four beats between shapes up to level 5, then three, then two, and never less than a shape needs.

0.0 s0.5 s1.0 s1.5 s2.0 s2.5 sLevel 1: 2.3 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 2: 2.1 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 3: 1.9 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 4: 1.8 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 5: 1.6 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 6: 1.2 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 7: 1.2 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 8: 0.8 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 9: 0.8 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 10: 0.8 s (Line (needs 2 beats))Level 1: 2.3 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))Level 2: 2.1 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))Level 3: 1.9 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))Level 4: 1.8 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))Level 5: 1.6 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))Level 6: 1.6 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))Level 7: 1.6 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))Level 8: 1.6 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))Level 9: 1.6 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))Level 10: 1.6 s (Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats))1105 BPM2112 BPM3126 BPM4137 BPM5150 BPM678910Level
  • Line (needs 2 beats)
  • Circle, square and triangle (need 4 beats)

Up to level 5 both lines are the same: every shape gets 4 beats.

Time between shapes per level: faster music up to level 5, then tighter spacing.

19 shapes in five tiers

Lines first, then corners, curves, combined shapes and finally hand-drawn ones like the M.

The glow, tuned in the Inspector

The neon look comes from line colours pushed above 1, which bloom then picks up.

Art direction

Glowing lines on a dark purple night: pink road edges, a white ball with a pink trail, and green when you're right.

05Testing and iteration

The music drifted

I made the music with Google Gemini, and the tracks drifted off tempo, so the ball bounced off the beat. I measured every beat in each track and cut clean loops, and the game now moves the ball and the tiles by that list of beats.

Correct drawings didn't count

Friends and classmates said correct drawings sometimes failed. I tested the checker with thousands of simulated shaky drawings and improved it: it went from accepting 54% of correct drawings to 93%.

Accepted, out of 300102030Flat line: 14 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Upright line: 9 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Slash: 8 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Backslash: 12 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))V: 9 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Caret: 19 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))L: 19 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Less-than: 16 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Greater-than: 15 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Arch: 15 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Cup: 17 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))C: 20 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Circle: 24 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Triangle: 21 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Square: 17 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Zigzag: 19 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Wave: 20 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))M: 19 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Tick: 17 (First checker: 310 of 570 (54%))Flat line: 19 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Upright line: 25 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Slash: 30 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Backslash: 29 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))V: 30 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Caret: 30 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))L: 30 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Less-than: 30 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Greater-than: 29 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Arch: 24 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Cup: 29 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))C: 29 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Circle: 30 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Triangle: 30 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Square: 30 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Zigzag: 30 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Wave: 22 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))M: 28 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Tick: 28 (Second version: 532 of 570 (93%))Flat lineUpright lineSlashBackslashVCaretLLess-thanGreater-thanArchCupCCircleTriangleSquareZigzagWaveMTickShape
  • First checker: 310 of 570 (54%)
  • Second version: 532 of 570 (93%)

30 simulated shaky-hand drawings per shape, from my own test harness.

Correct drawings accepted: 54% in my first checker, 93% after I improved it.

06Outcome and learnings

The live checker is the heart of the game: it knows you're drawing the right shape while you're still drawing it.

What I learned

  • Simulated tests found checker problems far faster than playing by hand.
  • AI-made music isn't exactly on tempo. A rhythm game needs every beat measured.
  • A game that feels simple takes a lot of work behind the scenes.
  • Designing for Indian players, down to the Hindi text, shaped the whole game.

Next

Test the checker with real players (so far it has only been tested with simulated strokes), then add more shapes and tracks.

Gallery