Dead Cells' accessibility improvements will help the "tough but fair" game reach more people

Dead Cells
(Image credit: Evil Empire)

Evil Empire has detailed some of the accessibility improvements coming to Dead Cells.

In an interview with Twinfinite (thanks, NME), marketing manager Matthew Houghton talked about the "big accessibility update [EE has] been working on for four months", confirming that it'll be released "pretty soon" on consoles and PC. 

"When you activate assist mode, there is a disclaimer that comes up saying part of the fun of Dead Cells is to enjoy the tough but fair experience, but we know that it can be complicated for some people," Houghton said. 

"You’ll also be able to activate a continue mode that lets you start where you died instead of restarting. You’ll start here with the same build. There is also an auto-hit mode. It is funny because this mode came from the mobile version of Dead Cells."

Game designer Arthur Decamp also added that whilst the game "had keybindings before", now the team is "giving players the option to bypass the need to use all buttons" as well as rebind the sticks. Other changes include an improved UI as well as the ability to select your preferences when it comes to color, font size, and font type, too.

"There’s also the ability to change around the songs, music, and SFX," Houghton also said. "For instance, if you have trouble hearing enemy attacks, you can narrow down the volume of the environment and what not to make the enemy’s attack the focus."

"With its 25th update, Dead Cells is recognizing something that we all know to be true: gaming is better when more people are given the opportunity to play," Josh recently wrote in his feature, Dead Cells is getting an 'easy mode', and I'm re-downloading it after rage quitting years ago.

"There are a lot of people out there who enjoy the gameplay of Dead Cells but just hit a wall and can't continue, which is a shame," Houghton told 12DOVE at the time the new settings were announced. "Options like this allow those players to continue to have fun with a game that they like without messing around with mods. And at the end of the day, gaming should be fun!"

You're going to be dying a lot in Dead Cells, the demanding 2D platformer that blends rogue-lite progression with Metroidvania-style level layouts. But death isn't the end - and with these trusty Dead Cells tips, you'll be getting more mileage out of every run. 

Check out our list of the best Metroidvania games

Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, 12DOVE

Vikki Blake is 12DOVE's Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter. 

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