Like other games in the genre, the player plays the main portion of "Shiny Festa" gameplay, Stage mode, as he or she listens to a selected song. Each song's performance is limited to a predetermined idol or group of idols, unlike the franchise's previous games. During a song, a predetermined sequence of note icons scroll along several lines, called Melody Lines, toward a central target icon. To complete a song, the player must press buttons that correspond to the direction from which the notes originate from—the buttons on the console's left and right halves for the PlayStation Portable version, and the left and right halves of the screen for the iOS version—as they pass over the target icon. The player is scored by these presses' accuracy in timing and direction, for which he or she is given one of four ratings: Perfect, Good, Normal, and Bad. The player's performance is also represented by the Sparkle Meter, which increases or decreases as the player successfully or fails to hit a note. Throughout the song, new target icons and lines may spawn at predetermined times in different locations of the screen to supersede or accompany old ones. The note sequences may also include Long Icons, which are streaks of notes that need to be continuously held down; Simultaneous Icons, which are pairs of icons that pass over the target icon simultaneously; and Shooting Stars, which appears once the Sparkle Meter is filled, and causes a Shining Burst that raises the player's score and changes the song's accompanying music video when it is hit. The complexity of the song's sequence varies based on the player's selected difficulty for the song; there are four difficulty levels: Debut, Normal, Pro, and Master from the easiest to the hardest. At the end of each song, a result screen is displayed to player, and his or her performance is rated with a letter grade, a numerical score, and a percentage that represents his or her accuracy. The player is awarded a number of fans and in-game money for his or her performance. The number of fans determine the idols' ranking, and as the player's idols increase in ranking, more items become available for purchase. These items can then be used to customize the game's appearance or adjust gameplay elements, such as straightening the Melody Lines' shapes or causing the player to gain fans quicker. Finishing a song also earns the player Memories with the idols who perform the song, which can be used in the Star of Festa game mode. Star of Festa is a gameplay mode in which the player's idol unit participates in a five-day music festival.