Cuphead

Cuphead
Promotional artwork with, from left to right, Cuphead and Mugman
Developer(s)	Studio MDHR
Publisher(s)	Studio MDHR
Director(s)	Chad Moldenhauer Jared Moldenhauer
Producer(s)	Marija Moldenhauer Ryan Moldenhauer
Designer(s)	Jared Moldenhauer
Programmer(s)	Tony Coculuzzi Eric Billingsley Kezia Adamo Thomas Pryde
Artist(s)	Chad Moldenhauer Marija Moldenhauer
Writer(s)	Evan Skolnick
Composer(s)	Kristofer Maddigan
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Windows Xbox One macOS Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4
Release	Windows, Xbox One WW: September 29, 2017 macOS WW: October 19, 2018 Nintendo Switch WW: April 18, 2019 PlayStation 4 WW: July 28, 2020
Genre(s)	Run and gun
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Cuphead is a 2017 run and gun game developed and published by Studio MDHR. The game follows its titular teacup-headed character and his brother Mugman, as they make a deal with the Devil to pay casino losses by repossessing the souls of runaway debtors. In the game, up to two players control Cuphead and/or Mugman to fight through several levels and boss fights; the game does not have a rigid narrative structure. As the game progresses, the protagonist acquires more power and abilities, eventually facing the Devil himself. Players, however, can only equip a limited number of these abilities at a given time.

The game's creators, brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, took inspiration from the rubber hose style of animation from the golden age of American animation and the surrealist qualities of works of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Fleischer Studios, Warner Bros. Cartoons, MGM Cartoon Studio and Walter Lantz Productions. Reminiscent of the aesthetics of the 1930s and the Jazz Age, the game is noted for its animation and soundtrack: all in-game assets used hand-drawn animation with deliberate human imperfections, and the soundtrack was written for and recorded with a full jazz ensemble.

Cuphead was announced in 2013, had a preview at E3 2014, and was released in 2017 as a timed-exclusive for Microsoft's Windows and Xbox One, with ports to other systems subsequently added. The game was a commercial success, selling two million copies within two weeks of release and six million in two years. Cuphead received universal acclaim^[1] for its art style, gameplay, soundtrack and difficulty. The latter two were singled out for praise, with multiple outlets extolling the soundtrack as one of the best of all time, while naming Cuphead one of the hardest video games ever created. The game won several awards, including three Game Awards, three D.I.C.E. Awards, and a British Academy Games Award. A DLC expansion, entitled Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course, was released on June 30, 2022. A Netflix animated series based on the game, The Cuphead Show!, premiered in February 2022.