Child of Eden is a musical rail shooter. The game is split into six levels called Archives: five make up the main campaign, with a sixth unlocked as a post-game challenge.[1] Each level is replayable, changing each time depending on the player's performance and style of play in the previous run.[2] The aim is to get through each Archive, defeat its boss, earning points and Stars to unlock more levels.[3] In addition to standard controllers, each version uses motion controls as an alternative;[4] the motion technology uses Kinect for Xbox 360 with different actions mapped to hand and arm movements, and PlayStation Move for PlayStation 3 incorporating swiping and stabbing motions with the control sticks.[1][5]
Each Archive is played from a first-person on-rails perspective, with an aiming reticle, health meter, and a limited number of screen-clearing attacks dubbed Euphoria Bombs.[6][7][8] The UI style and sound effects change depending on the Archive being played.[8] During levels, the player is attacked by enemy viruses, which can be attacked in two ways; a lock-on missile attack, or a purple-colored rapid fire attack. Some enemies and attacks can only be stopped using the rapid fire. The lock-on missile can target up to eight enemies at once. If eight enemies are targeted, a score bonus is granted if players launch the attack in time to the Archive's music track. Use of the lock-on attack increases the player's score multiplier.[1][6] Enemies that have been purified of viruses will occasionally drop health orbs or Euphoria Bombs. Using Euphoria Bombs negatively impacts the player's score, reducing their rank at the end of the level.[3]
There are multiple difficulty levels available; Easy and Normal are available at the outset, while Hard is unlocked after completing the game on Normal.[1][3] Easy allows players to go through levels without threat of damage from enemy attacks.[8] On level completion, extras are unlocked for the player, mainly coming in the form of decorations for Lumi's Garden, a customizable home screen area. On achieving feats, other rewards can be unlocked, including concept art, music videos, and sound and visual options which alter levels.[3][9] Additionally, players can post their scores into online leaderboards.