2018 video game

Dead Cells is a 2018 roguelike-Metroidvania game developed by French independent developer Motion Twin. The player takes the role of an amorphous creature called the Prisoner. As the Prisoner, the player must fight their way out of a diseased island in order to slay the island's King. The player gains weapons, treasure and other tools through exploration of the procedurally generated levels. Dead Cells features a permadeath system, causing the player to lose all items and other abilities upon dying. A currency called Cells can be collected from defeated enemies, allowing the player to purchase permanent upgrades.

Production of Dead Cells began after Motion Twin planned development for a follow-up to their previous browser game Die2Nite. The developers decided to replace the cooperative gameplay of Die2Nite with a single-player experience focused around combat and action. They took inspiration from the Engineer character class from Team Fortress 2, and remade Dead Cells into an action platform game where the player would utilize a variety of combinations of weapons and skills.

The game was released for Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on August 7, 2018. A mobile port for iOS was released on August 28, 2019, and an Android port was released in 2020. A version for PlayStation 5 was added on June 29, 2023. After release, the game was supported with several updates and expansions, with developmental duties handled by Evil Empire. The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised its combat, visuals, and permadeath system. By June 2023, the game had sold over 10 million copies.

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