Steam setup guide for Taiko players

Rhythm Festival (Steam) — TDC10 / TDC17 Setup

Pick one of the three setup paths below. If drum hits don’t respond in-game, it’s always a setting mismatch — this guide will get you playing fast.

Step 0 — Turn OFF Nintendo Button Layout in Steam

Open Steam → Settings → Controller, and turn OFF Use Nintendo Button Layout.

If it’s ON, Steam can translate your right-side hits incorrectly (right rim becomes Right Don, right middle becomes Right Ka), making the game feel broken. Turn it OFF first, then choose a setup path below.

Path A

Switch Mode + Arcade Mode OFF

Recommended for most players (smooth menu navigation + confirm/cancel)

Setup

  • TDC Mate → Game Station Mode → Switch → Save
  • In-game: open Settings and choose Controller Type
  • Rhythm Festival: Controller Type = Controller or Keyboard

No restart needed — changes apply immediately.

Menu navigation (Arcade Mode OFF)

  • Left Ka → Up / Previous
  • Left Don → Down / Next
  • Right Don → Confirm
  • Right Ka → Cancel

Note: Confirm/Cancel is reversed vs Switch console in this Steam setup.

Difficulty selection via drum may be limited in this mode.

Path B

Switch Mode + Arcade Mode ON

Most arcade-like (song + difficulty + confirm via drum hits)

Setup

  • TDC Mate → Game Station Mode → Switch → Save
  • TDC Mate → Arcade Mode → ON → Save
  • In-game: open Settings and choose Controller Type
  • Rhythm Festival: Controller Type = Drum Controller

No restart needed — changes apply immediately.

Menu navigation (Arcade Mode ON)

Drum hits support song selection, difficulty selection, and confirm.

Cancel is not supported via drum hits (this matches real arcade behavior).

Path C

PC Mode (Keyboard Style)

Classic keyboard mapping (DFJK) — minimal setup

Setup

  • TDC Mate → Game Station Mode → PC → Save
  • In-game: open Settings and choose Controller Type
  • Rhythm Festival: Controller Type = Controller or Keyboard

No restart needed — changes apply immediately.

About DFJK

Steam RF keyboard mode uses D F J K as the default mapping. PC Mode usually matches this already — most players don’t need to change anything.

If drum hits don’t respond

If hits do nothing in menus or in a song, it’s a setting mismatch (not a hardware issue).

Check:

1) Steam Nintendo Button Layout is OFF
2) Drum mode matches your chosen path
3) Rhythm Festival Controller Type matches:

• Path A → Controller or Keyboard
• Path B → Drum Controller
• Path C → Controller or Keyboard

No restart is needed after changing Controller Type.

Still stuck? Email us at support@rythmagica.net.