The player controls Mr. Hi-Hat (ハイハット君?, Hai hatto-kun), also known as Hi-Hat in Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise, a percussion instrument with a round face, nice eyebrows and cute tongue. Bouncing on Hi-Hat are weights with springs. The player must clamp the Hi-Hat down when the first weight hits and release as the biggest weight lands. Repeating this creates a simple rhythm, with more instruments added the longer the beat is kept going. The player can choose to view a demo at any time, but viewing it will not progress the addition of instruments.
The player can select from three different beats, each with a remix of an existing Rhythm Heaven song: