Philadelphia-based developer , however, wants to rewrite the rules by creating unique casual games. At the Game Developers Conference, Cipher Prime announced and demonstrated , a soon-to-be-released, remarkable rhythm game for the iPad that has no instructions. The player plays a tutorial level without any idea of the gameplay

The tutorial level displays a black screen with several rings. A pulse is generated from the center of the screen and several circles appear as a song plays. The idea is to tap the circles as the pulse reaches them, playing a note. Players need to rely on auditory indicators to understand how to play.

According to Dain Saint, Cipher Prime’s technical director, testers of Pulse understood how to play the game by the end of the tutorial level. Before bringing the game to GDC, Saint explained that they used creative testing methods to ensure that anyone who picked up the game could understand it. “We’ve done lots of testing on drunk people,” Saint said with a laugh.

The initial release will feature seven tracks, including several from independent music artists throughout the Philadelphia area. These artists run the spectrum of genres, including metal, nerd-core, party, and mashup. The game is more than just a “tap the note” game a la Tap Tap Revenge or Guitar Hero. Each pulse is a measure of music. In a given map, six rings would indicate a 3:4 time signature while a 4:4 signature would appear on a level with 4 rings.

Look for this quirky but oddly addictive game in the App Store at the end of the month for $5.