Steno Arcade
Early access since Mar 2016
Steno Arcade is a suite of arcade games designed to teach and drill steno fundamentals in an immersive, addictive, responsive, and interactive way.
76% positive · 183 reviews
Not yet
In early access, content planned but development status unclear
Low confidence
Content Planned
Development Uncertain
Not yet
In early access, content planned but development status unclear
Low confidence
Content Planned
Development Uncertain
Where to get it
Free on Steam
Evaluation
Steno Arcade launched into Early Access on March 30, 2016 as a planned suite of four arcade games designed to teach stenography. Only one of those four games — Steno Hero — was included in the Early Access build, with the remaining three games explicitly promised as future content.
The developer released several updates in 2016 and 2017, adding songs and gameplay improvements to Steno Hero. The last update, posted on July 6, 2017, noted that Steno Hero was nearly complete and that the team would "be starting work on one of the other games in the Steno Arcade collection."
No developer communication of any kind has been posted since July 6, 2017. The three remaining games in the suite have never been released, and the game remains in Early Access. The store description still describes Steno Arcade as a suite of four games while noting the Early Access build includes only one. With nearly nine years of silence since the last update and three of the four promised games still unreleased, it is unclear whether development is continuing.
Evidence
Update 1.6.1 released with new songs and improvements. Developer states Steno Hero is nearly complete and they will begin work on one of the other games in the Steno Arcade collection. This is the last developer communication on record.
Store description states the Early Access build includes only one of the four planned games in the suite, with the other three still not available.
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
For All To Play
Achievements
—
Platform
Windows, macOS, Linux
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Playable
Players
Single-player
About this game
Steno Arcade is a suite of four arcade games designed to teach and drill steno and keyboarding fundamentals in an immersive, addictive, responsive, and interactive way. Steno Arcade is 100% free and open source and works with any steno machine or keyboard.
The Early Access build of Steno Arcade includes one of the four games in the suite, Steno Hero! Imagine your favorite rhythm games, but instead of pressing buttons that vaguely emulate the original instruments, you're hitting steno chords or keyboard keys to precisely and accurately produce the lyrics to your favorite music! It's like singing karaoke with your fingers! Steno Hero currently includes seven songs, with more to be added over time:
“Sunday Smiled” by Hungry Lucy
“The Standing Ones” by Hungry Lucy
“I Think I Started a Trend” by Brad Sucks
“I’m Your Moon” by Jonathan Coulton
“Mandelbrot Set” by Jonathan Coulton
“That Spells DNA” by Jonathan Coulton
“I Feel Fantastic” by Jonathan Coulton
While Steno Arcade is designed to be played with a steno machine, it can also be looked at as a traditional typing game that can be played with any standard keyboard. You only need an NKRO (N-key rollover) keyboard if you intend to learn stenography and want to play the game using steno. For example, the slower, easier songs in Steno Hero are perfectly playable using a standard keyboard, but when you get to the faster, harder songs you may find yourself having trouble keeping up with a standard keyboard and will need to use steno if you want to complete the songs with a high level of accuracy and precision.
Steno Arcade is being developed on top of the Godot open source game engine, and the source will be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license upon completion.
Steno Arcade is brought to you by The Open Steno Project and For All To Play.
The Early Access build of Steno Arcade includes one of the four games in the suite, Steno Hero! Imagine your favorite rhythm games, but instead of pressing buttons that vaguely emulate the original instruments, you're hitting steno chords or keyboard keys to precisely and accurately produce the lyrics to your favorite music! It's like singing karaoke with your fingers! Steno Hero currently includes seven songs, with more to be added over time:
“Sunday Smiled” by Hungry Lucy
“The Standing Ones” by Hungry Lucy
“I Think I Started a Trend” by Brad Sucks
“I’m Your Moon” by Jonathan Coulton
“Mandelbrot Set” by Jonathan Coulton
“That Spells DNA” by Jonathan Coulton
“I Feel Fantastic” by Jonathan Coulton
While Steno Arcade is designed to be played with a steno machine, it can also be looked at as a traditional typing game that can be played with any standard keyboard. You only need an NKRO (N-key rollover) keyboard if you intend to learn stenography and want to play the game using steno. For example, the slower, easier songs in Steno Hero are perfectly playable using a standard keyboard, but when you get to the faster, harder songs you may find yourself having trouble keeping up with a standard keyboard and will need to use steno if you want to complete the songs with a high level of accuracy and precision.
Steno Arcade is being developed on top of the Godot open source game engine, and the source will be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license upon completion.
Steno Arcade is brought to you by The Open Steno Project and For All To Play.
Are these done yet?
Last evaluated Jun 27, 2026
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