The Metroidvania craze found new life with 2004’s Cave Story and never looked back. The action and exploration of 2D sidescrollers have been addictive as ever, with modern takes adding inventive twists on the genre. Dead Cells faithfully carries that legacy with a most unusual twist. Games spent 50 years conditioning the need to keep characters alive, while Dead Cells’ roguelite roots practically demand that you die over and over to win.

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The Beheaded’s escape from the malaise-infested prison must be done in a single life, powering up and outfitting him en route to the end. That single life is dependent on the loss of many. With minimal narrative cues to go on, progressing and completing Dead Cells is decidedly less frustrating if you know where to start.

10 Breathe And Be Patient...With Yourself

Dead Cells Screen After Dying And Losing Cells

Things will seem straightforward to veterans at the beginning of Dead Cells; run rightward, kill things, and navigate forks in the platforming road to their end. You'll ease into familiar work, intent on exploring every secret and dying minimally, eager to consume the experience and spit out the bones of another conquest.

Then Dead Cells will trip you up with impossible enemies and impassable walls. Clinging to a sliver of life you’ll wonder where you went wrong, then you’ll die. Questioning whether your skills are fading or the developers are simply cruel, a few play hours will put those fears of decline to rest. You’ll die repeatedly, stumbling upon new lore, areas, and weapons, surviving longer and going farther. Dead Cells wants you to learn, to progress, and to get better, it just has a funny way of showing it. Be patient, you’re well on your way.

9 When In Doubt, Just Roll With It

Dead Cells Hero The Beheaded Rolls Mid-Air On Promenade of the Condemned Biome

Dead Cells is packed with weapons and upgrades whose usefulness (or uselessness) are wildly varied. What can be counted on, however, is your trusty roll. Staying out of range or ducking are smart tactics, but it's rolling that’s most critical to survival, here at the beginning and beyond.

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The roll technique has incredible utility and mastering it might as well be mandatory. Rolling extends horizontal jumps and accesses hidden areas like Metroid’s morph ball. Most importantly it allows you to move through enemies and their attacks without taking damage. You're essentially impervious during the roll, a valuable lifeline when aggressive or clustered enemies bear down. Roll through maps quickly or maneuver to attack foes from behind, but get familiar and fast.

8 Get To The Collector

Dead Cells Hero The Beheaded Approaches The Collector

Your objectives are not terribly clear the first time you explore the prison and its branching paths. In the beginning, you'll wonder where to go and what to do, where progress is saved, and how to know if you've made any. Similar to other roguelites like Hades, death is near and carrying progress forward is essential. The authority in that quest for empowerment is The Collector.

Waiting between biomes, The Collector demands all of your accumulated cells to invest in upgrades, weapons, and mutations. Transactions with The Collector and his friends Guillain and The Blacksmith are keys to progress and survivability later on. Similar to Dead Cells' contemporary Hollow Knight, you'll be eager to root out secrets immediately. It's recommended that you meet The Collector first, it’ll clarify progression and should be considered a priority.

7 Scrolls: Strike Harder And Survive Longer

Dead Cells.Scroll Upgrade Options

Hidden on the path less traveled, scattered throughout biomes, and behind ability-locked areas are health and damage-boosting scrolls. Each level has scrolls to be picked up or dropped from baddies.

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Scrolls focus on one of three stats associated with a color; Brutality (red), Tactics (Purple), or Survival (Green). Early scrolls offer a significant boost to max health in addition to a 15% damage increase for weapons of the corresponding color. This 15% will stack with each similarly invested scroll, providing critical improvements to killing power and longevity.

6 Exploration Requires Runes

Dead Cells Split Image Of Runes For Traversal

You’ve played Moon Studio’s Ori series and know that beyond the dead-ends and suspicious monoliths of Dead Cells, paths are accessible by power-up. The question is whether you'll get them through game progression or by actively searching.

Dead Cells’ ability unlocks are runes and they are found through both natural progression and exploratory initiative. After familiarizing yourself with The Collector and how to conquer a biome, feel free to explore every corner. In addition to challenge rifts and scrolls, you’ll likely stumble upon elite enemies that guard a traversal rune. Four of the eight runes will open potential pathways to the end boss and a few extra scrolls with which to prepare.

5 Timed and Perfect Doors Are Worth The Effort

Dead Cells Hero The Beheaded Approaches Locked Timed And Perfect Doors

On your first foray into a safe zone to meet The Collector, you’ll come across two doors with labels hovering above them (likely locked this time). Timed doors require that you complete the previous biome within a set time limit that’s tracked in the bottom right of the screen. The perfect door requires killing a set number of enemies without taking damage from them, essentially being perfect en route to the target kill count.

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Timed and perfect doors access treasure rooms that give an amount of gold, 20 Dead Cells for purchasing upgrades, and possibly a blueprint or choice between higher-level pieces of gear. In the early stages of the game, you’ll be focused on improving and powering up for later runs, making the extra cells critically important. Targeting these doors later will aid in outfitting you for later levels.

4 Monsterpedia Research Is A Must

Promo Image For Dead Cells Barrels O Fun Update With Derelict Distillery

En route to the final boss, you’ll pass through different biomes, encountering unique monsters native to each area. Though there is some overlap, new biomes will introduce one or more enemy types to obstruct your progress and strip you of your cells.

Enemies in Dead Cells range from mindless to maddening. Seeing an unfamiliar monster pacing your exit route is terrifying with little health and a pocketful of cells. The best way to conquer the pace and strategy of an area is to study its range of creatures. Watch them from a safe vantage point or probe their attack patterns with a ranged weapon, observing their speed and range. Effective research is the only surefire way to confidently carry a curse counter or meet that perfect door requirement unscathed.

3 Dead Cells And The Discerning Shopper

Split Image Of Dead Cells Purchase Screens For Gold And Cells

Like social media ads and Las Vegas shopping outlets, the isle in Dead Cells is littered with shops, kiosks, and vendors eager to part you from your newly acquired riches. While gold will predominately affect individual playthroughs, cells are spent improving the quality of future lives. The options for gold are plentiful and every weapon or skill looks useful when you’re carrying a rusty sword. With gold, it’s important to remember the age-old idiom: “You can’t take it with you,” but if you're not completely sold on a weapon it's better to save it for later.

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Cell spending can be fraught with uncertainty too as The Collector plies numerous unlocks at once. Sure, there’s some interesting stuff available, but nothing’s worse than spending hard-earned cells on a sword with complicated status conditions outside of your playstyle. You can't go wrong investing in general upgrades for health, gold, or starting weapons first. Also, remember that unlocked weapons become a part of the drop and shop pool, so being selective while bringing blueprints to life will make better weapons consistently available.

2 Your First Mutation Is The Most Important

Dead Cells Mutation List Highlighting Ygdar Onus Li Ox Mutation

Upon meeting Guillain, players are introduced to mutations; unique buffs and abilities that can enhance playstyles, stats, or offer special perks. While there plenty of starting and unlockable mutations, the Ygdar Orus Li Ox (or “YOLO”) is among the most valuable, allowing you to cheat death once and return with 25% health.

YOLO has the most restrictive condition for a reason, effectively locking your first (of three) mutation slots and unavailable if not chosen first. This mutation is useful early on when hoarding cells while taking clumsy, unnecessary damage, or later when challenging the final boss.

1 Fight Smarter Not Harder, Well Out Of Harm’s Way

Dead Cells Hero The Beheaded Deploys Double Crossb-O-Matic And Cleaver Skills

When speed is of the essence, a strong DPS melee weapon is a must, rolling and ravaging mobs to beat the timed door’s target. On serious playthroughs toward the end, a deliberate, completionist approach might work better. Gathering scrolls and taking perfect doors might mean playing it safer.

Ranged weapons and automatic traps or turrets will deal with enemies and keep your skin blemish-free. Toss a turret onto an enemy’s platform and quickly cling to a chain while it goes to work. Try lending a hand with a status-effecting ranged weapon as the bad guys beat up on the inanimate object plinking away at their health.

Next: Every Metroid Game In Chronological Order