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Is the title hyperbolic? I really don't think so. In my personal opinion, Dead Cells is easily one of the best games to come to Linux this year.

The self-described Roguevania, Dead Cells mixes in elements from all sorts of genres, but primarily Rogue-lite and Metroidvania hence the name Roguevania. It comes together to create a pretty interesting blend, one full of intense combat and epic loot. The Linux version was released on Steam recently, but they had some issues getting it onto GOG—until now!

Features:

  • RogueVania: The progressive exploration of an interconnected world, with the replayability of a rogue-lite and the adrenaline pumping threat of permadeath.
  • 2D Souls-lite Action: Tough but fair combat, more than fifty weapons and spells with unique gameplay, and of course, the emergency panic roll to get you out of trouble.
  • Nonlinear progression: Sewers, Ossuary or Remparts? Once unlocked, special permanent abilities allow you to access new paths to reach your objective. Opt for the path that suits your current build, your play style or just your mood.
  • Exploration: Secret rooms, hidden passages, charming landscapes. Take a moment to stroll the towers and breath in that fresh sea mist infused air...

I've been playing it quite a lot personally, honestly I don't think I've had a single dull moment. It's not an easy game though as death is around every corner. I wouldn't say it was outright unfair, it's just that plenty of it certainly will take you by surprise. I like a lot of games, I love a few games and there's a couple like Dead Cells which can truly take one hundred percent of my attention.

Our streamer has been taking it on recently live on our Twitch channel and it has been rather amusing. Be sure to follow us there to see games like this played live!

You can grab it now from GOG, Humble Store and Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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Ehvis Jun 29, 2018
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Played it for three hours now. At first some of the enemies appear quite brutal and unfair, but it helps to understand the moves and get the right gear. The progression of weapons and your own skill are quite nicely balanced. Sometimes you do get a bit unlucky on the weapons and you really don't have much of a chance. Like the first boss I encountered. First time I could barely damage it, second time I had a much better weapons and didn't have too much trouble with it. Excellent game!
anewson Jun 30, 2018
I saw the announcement on steam and bought it in a hot minute.. I'm real happy we got this one
Kohrias Jun 30, 2018
Just bought the gog version. For some reason my wireless xbox controller does not seem to be detected. Does anyone else have this problem?

Edit: just found the solution: some libraries in the game-folder were messing with the system. Removing them helped ;-)


Last edited by Kohrias on 30 June 2018 at 7:37 am UTC
Caenth Jun 30, 2018
I wishlisted it on GoG. I will purchase it once it's released.
jens Jun 30, 2018
  • Supporter
Looks cool, will go for it once it's out of EA.
Keyrock Jun 30, 2018
I'll be all over this game once it fully releases.
MessedUpHare Jun 30, 2018
Got this on this recommendation from GOG (I lumped up the extra cash from gog because I REALLY prefur DRM free) using the link in the article.
Enjoying it so far - I'd hardly know it's early access

To resolve my wireless XBOX controller not being detected, I moved libSDL2-2.0.so.0 out of the 'game' subdirectory so my system one was used.
Shmerl Jul 1, 2018
Looks good, I wishlisted it for now.
Cyril Jul 1, 2018
As I said, even in EA I bought the game on GOG/Linux with partner link.
And so far the game runs quite well on my side.
Really great news!
wazz4657 Jul 1, 2018
Dead Cells is a great game. I bought it a long time ago on GOG and have put many hours into it on WINE. I'm really happy that the devs delivered on a linux version.

BUT....

Once the linux version came to GOG, I tried to install it on my SteamOS box. It launched from the desktop, but it would not launch properly from the main SteamOS console. After messing with it for a couple hours, I decided to myself "know what? I made what was essentially a Windows purchase in the first place, I'll go ahead and just buy the game on Steam as well and that way it'll count as a linux purchase." Not that I'm such a "no tux no bux" hardcase, but it is actually a very, very good game and well worth the money.

Imagine my surprise when the Steam version has the exact same issue. It "launches", but I just see the Steam "loading" icon. I made a post on the bug forum, but then I decided to look into it a little more. First issue, no appid.txt file, easy enough. Once I got it launching from the terminal, I tried again from the SteamOS "BPM", same deal. I also noticed something else, this game was built using Haxe. There is another awesome game that was built with Haxe that shows the exact same behavior on SteamOS, Northgard. That game also launches, but never launches.

After recalling all the crap I went through trying to get Northgard to launch on SteamOS (never did, by the way), I just decided to refund the Steam version of Dead Cells. I reinstalled the GOG windows version using WINE, and it obviously runs fine. I don't know why games built using Haxe don't play well with SteamOS, but I'm not trying to spend valuable gaming time troubleshooting that.

Just a cautionary tale, I don't think other distros have this issue, but SteamOS buyers, beware.
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