Is Cuphead fun? Yes, if you like a challenge. Cuphead scores 9/10 for fun. It’s brutally hard, but every death feels fair, and beating a boss is one of the best feelings in games.
Where this score comes from: Steam player reviews, last checked against the 300 most recent English reviews in September 2026. Cuphead on Steam
Cuphead is one of those rare games where dying over and over somehow stays fun. It’s punishing, yes. But it’s almost never unfair. If you’re willing to push through the frustration, what’s waiting on the other side is genuinely one of the best-feeling games ever made.
The key thing Cuphead gets right is that every death teaches you something. Patterns are readable. Tells are clear. You don’t die because the game cheated; you die because you weren’t quite good enough yet. That’s a huge distinction, and it’s why the “one more try” loop stays compelling for hours.
It also helps that the game looks incredible. The hand-drawn 1930s rubber-hose animation isn’t just a gimmick; it’s a full artistic commitment. Every boss is its own little cartoon short, complete with an original jazz soundtrack that matches the chaos on screen. You’ll die to a giant flying lion, and you’ll still stop for a second to appreciate how good it looks.
The boss fights themselves are the main event, and they deliver. Each one has a distinct personality and a set of mechanics you have to learn from scratch. Getting to a new boss genuinely feels like an event.
There’s really only one honest complaint: if you’re not into hard games, this one will wear you out before you see the best of it. The difficulty isn’t adjustable in any meaningful way (the simple mode cuts off access to the final boss), so players who don’t connect with the challenge loop may bounce off before they experience what makes Cuphead special.
Solo: Solo is the classic way to play: hard, but fair.
With friends: Two-player co-op makes bosses easier to beat, and players say it feels like a different game. One heads-up: a second controller can drop player two into a fight by accident.
Cuphead earns a 9/10 because it pairs world-class art with mechanics tuned to near-perfection. It drops one point purely for accessibility. The high difficulty floor keeps casual players from seeing everything the game has to offer. But for anyone willing to stick with it, it’s a mandatory experience.
Deciding between similar games? See how Hades II (10/10) and Ori and the Will of the Wisps (9/10) stack up.
See where it lands in the most fun co-op games.
Cuphead scores 9/10 on immediate fun. Flawless retro-styled challenge that provides immediate difficulty without feeling unfair. Pure adrenaline.
Extreme difficulty (for some).
One question: did it deliver immediate fun? Graphics, story depth, difficulty and critical acclaim are ignored. Pick-up-and-play accessibility is rewarded; anything that makes you wait for the fun to start is penalized.
How we score: We don't care about graphics, story depth, or critical acclaim. One question — did it deliver immediate fun? We reward pick-up-and-play accessibility and penalize anything that makes you wait for the fun to start.