Cuphead is a run-and-gun video game that drew widespread attention for its 1930s cartoon-inspired visuals and challenging gameplay. The game was released in September 2017 by Studio MDHR. It was first published first for Xbox One and PC with later launches on other platforms. It has since gained a large following for its unique aesthetic, attention to detail, and engaging boss battles. The game features a series of boss battles within levels full of run-and-gun gameplay. Cuphead is presented in a hand-drawn, retro animation style reminiscent of the 1930s. Without further ado, let’s discover cheats, characters, and more about the Cuphead universe.
Cuphead: Don’t Deal with the Devil Premise
In Cuphead: Don’t Deal with the Devil, players take control of Cuphead, a cup man who strikes a deal with the Devil. After losing at the Devil’s casino, Cuphead embarks on a quest to collect souls from runaway debtors to repay his debt. Like many games in the genre, Cuphead: Don’t Deal with the Devil isn’t necessarily a narrative-driven experience. Instead, it focuses on engaging gameplay that becomes increasingly challenging as Cuphead gains more abilities. It culminates in the most extreme of challenges as Cuphead has to defeat the Devil himself.
The gameplay focuses heavily on boss fights. Players have to navigate through four worlds to ultimately face the Devil. The game incorporates role-playing elements and offers different difficulty modes for each boss fight. Alongside this, players collect coins and items to enhance their abilities. A local co-op mode enables two players to play together, with the second player controlling Mugman, Cuphead’s brother.
Cuphead: Don’t Deal with the Devil Characters
In the visually striking world of Cuphead, a variety of unique characters come to life in a retro animation style. The key characters are the adventurous protagonist, Cuphead, and his more sensible twin brother, Mugman. There are also other allies like the wise Elder Kettle and the mysterious Ms. Chalice, who give the quest a little narrative oomph. Meanwhile, antagonists include the King Dice and the Devil.
Characters
- Cuphead: The main protagonist, a brave but reckless cup who deals with the Devil. Cuphead, the main character of the game, lives on Inkwell Isle alongside his twin brother, Mugman. He is the more irresponsible of the brothers.
- Mugman: Mugman is Cuphead’s younger twin brother and also resides on Inkwell Isle. Unlike Cuphead, he is known for his sensible nature. Originally, only the second player could control him.
- Ms. Chalice or The Legendary Chalice: Ms. Chalice, initially known as The Legendary Chalice, evolves from a damsel-in-distress figure in the main game to another protagonist in the DLC, Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course.
- Elder Kettle: Elder Kettle serves as the parental figure and caretaker for Cuphead and Mugman, guiding them through their adventures on Inkwell Isle. He’s the one responsible for giving the brothers their finger gun powers and often advises them against risky behaviors, like going to the Devil’s casino.
- Porkrind: Porkrind is the shopkeeper in Cuphead, offering a range of weapons and charms to assist players in boss battles and other levels. He appears in every overworld area except for Inkwell Hell.
- King Dice: King Dice is the Devil’s right-hand man and the secondary antagonist in Cuphead, appearing initially in the opening cutscene. He blocks the players’ progress at every Die House, requiring them to hand over soul contracts to proceed to the next isle.
- The Devil: The Devil is the primary antagonist and final boss in Cuphead: Don’t Deal With the Devil, and also plays a significant role in its DLC, Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course. He rules over Inkwell Hell from his massive casino. Players battle him in the final stage, One Hell of a Time, and defeating him concludes the game’s story.
Games in the Series
Cuphead is a standalone game that was initially released in 2017 for PC and Xbox One. The game garnered success, leading to ports on other platforms. An expansion titled The Delicious Last Course came out in 2022, introducing new areas, bosses, and a third playable character, Ms. Chalice.
Cuphead: Don’t Deal with the Devil Cheats
Cuphead: Don’t Deal with the Devil doesn’t offer a regular cheat code system, which would allow the players to activate cheats by entering certain strings into a prompt. However, players have found exploits, whether they be intentional or not, that give massive advantages to the player and allow for a much easier time completing the levels and ultimately the game. Here we will take a look at the most important among those.
Summon the Djimmi
This is a simple cheat that was added to the game. It allows players to access more live with a simple action. Just run in a small circle until the Djimmi appears granting your wishes. Wearing the Twin Heart charm, the player gains a maximum of 9 HP for one run and gains an achievement. This can be used on either the base game or the expansion and it works on Simple or Regular difficulty.
The Max Damage Glitch
The Max Damage Glitch in Cuphead is an unintended exploit that allows players to deal significantly more damage than usual to enemies and bosses. By manipulating specific game mechanics and using weapons in a particular way, players can dramatically speed up battles, turning even the hardest foes into fodder. This trick simply requires to use of two weapons, any will do, although some prefer specific weapons. The damage is amplified as you switch between the weapons while constantly shooting.
Disable the Flower
This glitch is specific to the Flower boss, known as Cagney Carnation, and allows players to easily dispatch the enemy potentially without taking minimal damage with guaranteed success. As players enter the battle, they need to wait for a specific attack animation from the Flower. While waiting, players can shoot to deal damage. As the flower does the attack, where it opens its cupped “hands” up and down and starts flinging acorns, the player needs to rush into the Flower. If this is done quickly enough, it freezes the Flower in place and leaves the player an easy job of blasting the boss down.
Beppi the Clown Glitch
This glitch is used against the Clown and also freezes the opponent to a specific animation. This isn’t necessarily as useful as the Flower one, since the state that it freezes the clown is not as easy as with the Flower. However, it can still tremendously speed up the process, especially if you find other stages of the fight more challenging. This requires the player to deal damage very quickly as soon as they enter the battle. However, the damage needs to be on both sides of the enemy. If done currently, once the Clown jumps out of the bumper car the player should see explosions above. Now the clown stays in the next phase until you defeat him.
The Devil Exploits
There are at least two glitches that can be abused in The Devil battle that can help with the task of killing the final boss tremendously. One of them is available early in the battle and the second in a larger stage. Right from the start of the battle, the player is able to damage The Devil by simply crouching and shooting to the left. This makes dealing damage to the opponent while dodging its attack very easy. The other one allows players to skip the second stage of the battle. When The Devil jumps out of its skin down and the game suggests for the player to follow, the player can instead just stand next to the hole in the ground without getting damaged by the flames. When you combine this with the first glitch, you can just finish the boss next to the hole crouching and shooting left.
FAQ
What platforms is Cuphead available on?
Initially an exclusive for PC and Xbox One, Cuphead is now available on multiple platforms, including PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
Is local co-op available in the game?
Yes, a second player can join the game, controlling Mugman alongside Cuphead.