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

Dead Cells, the superb roguelike action-platformer from developers Motion Twin and subsidiary Evil Empire, has been expanded once again, this time introducing a free Boss Rush mode – and a selection of associated rewards for those with enough skill – for players on the PC on .

Entered through a basement door in the prisoner’s quarters, Boss Rush mode features four different stages to fight through. All four stages have consecutive bosses to defeat, one with three bosses, another with five bosses, and two more with three and five upgraded bosses respectively. These upgraded bosses offer “more ways to kick your ass,” including new limbs, healing powers, and even some friends to help them out.

Each of the four challenges features bosses that are randomly chosen from three stages (although players must have encountered them in normal mode before they appear), with three boss challenges starting with a boss from stage 1, then to stage 2 and then Advance to Tier 3 Five Boss Challenges feature two Tier 1 bosses, two Tier 2 bosses, and then a final Tier 3 boss.

And if you’re wondering what each of these layers consists of:

step 1

• porter
• conjunctiva
• Mom Tick

rank 2

• time preserver
• The giant
• The Scarecrow

level 3

• hand of the king
• The Servants (final battle only)
• The Queen

At the start of each stage, players can choose between Brutality, Tactical, and Survival to infuse themselves with appropriate stats and earn an associated amulet. Additionally, between each tier sequence, players gain access to an area with shops, items, weapon upgrades/replays, mutation replays, and health refills.

Completing Boss Rush stages allows players to unlock a variety of goodies, with rewards distributed based on the length of a stage, the types of bosses it contains, and the difficulty of those bosses. Error-free runs are also taken into account.

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

The Dead Cells Boss Rush update is out today for PC and is slated for release on consoles at the end of October. See the Evil Empire announcement post and developer vlog above for more details. In July, the studio said it now considers Dead Cells “mid-life” and teased that 2023 will be the game’s “biggest year since the launch of 1.0.”