Rhythm Heaven uses the Nintendo DS touch screen for flicking, tapping, and sliding. Players generally hold the DS vertically and use the stylus to perform gestures in time with audio and visual cues.
This control scheme was a major departure from the button-based controls of the original Game Boy Advance Rhythm Tengoku. Nintendo designed the DS installment around touch interaction, making gestures such as dragging, holding, tapping, and flicking central to its rhythm challenges.
The game is not primarily a motion-control or microphone title. Some later activities, including guitar-focused content, use the DS shoulder buttons, but the defining input method for the main game is the touch screen. Rhythm Heaven Fever subsequently moved the series back to simple Wii Remote button controls.