Dead Cells
There are a ton of great arcade-y roguelites out there that can make it hard to choose, but Dead Cells is probably my number go-to when I need a moment to decompress or a quick palette cleanser. The incredible pixel art still whips, the procedural generation and build variety continue to expand, and it’s lightning fast—all things that keep me coming back here or there in the years since its release.
Each new run feels fresh, and every single attack, dodge, and power-up feels rewarding in the moment. And Dead Cells keeps getting new content, from free updates to the recent Castlevania DLC. No game does it all, but Twin Motion’s side-scrolling platformer comes close. Plus it can run on just about any PC and takes up just 500MB of space. It’s barely five years old and already feels like an all-time classic. Ethan Gach, Senior Reporter.
