Players can also customize modifiers adjust to their preferred style, such as changing the visual appearance of patterns, how fast patterns appear, background brightness, etc. Players can select between seven different difficulty levels that affect how many inputs are active and the difficulty of patterns displayed. StepManiaX uses five identically sized inputs, arranged similarly to a Directional Pad - Up, Down, Left, Right, and the inclusion of Center. Similar to other stepping or dance-based games, StepManiaX uses a "stage" that the user stands on with certain areas being pressure-sensitive buttons, or "panels". StepManiaX gameplay, showing holds, pits, early perfects, and so forth