Dead Cells’ new Boss Rush update is out now on PC

Dead Cells, the superb rogue-like action-platformer from developers Motion Twin and subsidiary Evil Empire, has expanded once more, this time introducing a free Boss Rush mode – and an assortment of related rewards for those with sufficient skills – for players on PC.

Boss Rush mode is accessed through a basement door in the Prisoner’s Quarters and features four different stages to battle through. All four stages feature back-to-back bosses to defeat, one containing three bosses, another featuring five bosses, plus two more containing three and five enhanced bosses respectively. These enhanced bosses feature “more ways to kick your ass”, including new limbs, healing powers, and even some friends to help them.

Each of the four challenges feature bosses randomly selected from three tiers (although players must have encountered them in Normal mode before they appear), with three-boss challenges starting with a boss from Tier 1, then moving on to Tier 2, then Tier 3. Five-boss challenges feature two Tier 1 bosses, two Tier 2 bosses, then a final boss from Tier 3.

And if you’re wondering what each of those tiers consists of:

Tier 1

• Concierge
• Conjunctivius
• Mama Tick

Tier 2

• Time Keeper
• The Giant
• The Scarecrow

Tier 3

• Hand of the King
• The Servants (just the final fight)
• The Queen

At the start of each stage, players can choose between Brutality, Tactics, and Survival to imbue themselves with related stats and receive an associated amulet. Additionally, between each Tier sequence, players will gain access to an area featuring the likes of shops, items, weapon upgrade/re-rolls, mutation re-rolls, and health refills.

By completing Boss Rush stages, players can unlock a range of goodies, with rewards being dished out depending on the length of a stage, the type of bosses it contains, and the difficulty of those bosses. Even flawless runs are factored in.

These rewards include the new Glyph of Peril weapon, Taunt skill, Wish mutation, plus eight new skins. Additionally, by progressing through Boss Rush mode, players unlock new elements that can be applied to an in-game statue being built to honour their achievements.

Dead Cells’ Boss Rush update is out today on PC and is due to launch for consoles in late October. Further details can be found in Evil Empire’s announcement post and in the developer vlog above. In July, the studio said it now considers Dead Cells to be in its “mid-life”, teasing that 2023 will be the game’s “biggest year since the 1.0 launch”.