The mixed-genre game includes the ability to import custom music, and the option to use a dance pad instead of traditional controllers or the keyboard.

A crossover title, Cadence of Hyrule, featuring music and elements from The Legend of Zelda, was released in June 2019 for the Nintendo Switch.

[4] Unlike traditional roguelikes, the player can only have their character move or attack if they perform the action on the beat of the music.

[citation needed] The player returns to the game's lobby area after dying or optionally at any time, losing any items, gold, or other equipment, though retaining any diamonds they have found.

[5] In the main game, the player controls Cadence, the daughter of a famed treasure hunter who has gone missing.

In searching for him, she falls into a crypt controlled by the NecroDancer, who steals Cadence's heart and forces her to challenge his minions to retrieve it.

[6] She is forced to fight through the crypt's dungeon with her actions tied to the beat of the music and her heart, so as to stay alive and defeat the NecroDancer.

They take the NecroDancer's magical golden Lute and use it to kill him, and then use its power to resurrect Cadence's dead mother, Melody.

The NecroDancer tries to flee but is cast into a crevice by Aria (Melody's mother) who was lying in a coffin with a dagger in her chest and is brought back to life by the Lute.

Intending to finish what she started, she begins her ascent out of the crypt in search of a shrine that will destroy the lute once and for all.

When Aria reaches the shrine, she is attacked by the lute itself, which mutates into a large monster in an attempt to save itself from destruction.

Crypt of the NecroDancer was a creation of Canadian programmer Ryan Clark, inspired by thinking about the traditional structure of roguelike games.

Clark found that the player-character's death in roguelikes often occurred due to conditions created by the procedural-generation of the game as opposed to player's skill, and wanted to make a game that was more "fair" to the player to escape or avoid seemingly difficult situations.

[19][20] The expansion includes an additional zone, a new boss named Fortissimole, a new protagonist called Nocturna, new non-main characters named Diamond, Mary and Tempo, a new soundtrack by OverClocked ReMix, and new items for the game, including familiars for the protagonist.

In addition to including Amplified content as part of the base package, this version introduced a new non-main character named Reaper and co-operative support.

A character DLC featuring Hatsune Miku was released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in April 2024.

[18] A free update to the PC version of the game was released in August 2017, adding a seventh additional soundtrack by Masafumi Takada, consisting of arrangements from the Danganronpa franchise.

Nintendo proved highly interested in a collaboration, leading to further discussions that resulted in a wholly new crossover game, Cadence of Hyrule - Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda, based on Crypt's gameplay mechanics but taking place within the universe of Zelda.