Inkwell Isles

Lore & Background

On Inkwell Isle, the game follows Cuphead and Mugman, two fun-loving brothers who live under the watchful eye of Elder Kettle. Against his warnings, the brothers wander off to the Devil's Casino and begin playing craps. When they go on a winning streak, the Devil appears and makes a deal, offering to give them all the money in the casino if they win the next roll and threatening to take their souls if they lose. Cuphead accepts the offer but loses by rolling snake eyes. As he and Mugman beg for mercy, the Devil offers them another deal – if the brothers can collect the 'soul contracts' from his runaway debtors by midnight the next day, the Devil might spare them. After returning home and informing Elder Kettle of their predicament, he gives the brothers a potion that allows them to fire blasts of energy from their fingers and warns them that the debtors may not willingly turn in their soul contracts. The brothers travel across Inkwell Isle, fighting the debtors to obtain their contracts. As they enter the second sector of the island, Elder Kettle notices that the duo is getting stronger from their battles and urges them to make the right choice when they meet the Devil. After Cuphead and Mugman enter the third sector, King Dice, the Devil's right-hand man, reports the brothers' progress to his boss and says he is suspicious of their intentions. The Devil replies that if the brothers were to try anything, he would be ready for them. The brothers eventually collect all of the soul contracts and return to the Devil's Casino. King Dice stops them, saying that their success has caused him to lose a bet. In retaliation, he sets up an extended casino-style battle in an attempt to exact revenge. After defeating King Dice, the brothers confront the Devil, who tries to tempt them by inviting them to join him if they turn over the soul contracts. If the player chooses to do so, Cuphead and Mugman are transformed into the Devil's demonic lackeys, and the game ends. If they refuse, the Devil becomes furious with the brothers for failing to uphold their end of the bargain and battles them. Cuphead and Mugman defeat the Devil, incinerate the contracts, and return home. Learning that they have nothing to fear from the Devil anymore, the former debtors honor the brothers for their heroism as everyone celebrates.

In Their Own Story

The sun dipped below the horizon of the Inkwell Isles, casting long, wobbly shadows across the cartoon grass. Cuphead adjusted his straw hat, feeling the weight of the contract burning in his pocket like a hot coal. Beside him, Mugman clutched his teapot handle nervously as they approached the jagged cliffs of the next island. The air smelled of sulfur and old paper, a stark contrast to the sweet scent of the bakery they had left behind. Somewhere beyond those rocky peaks, another friend was trapped in a debt that could only be settled with fists and courage. 'Ready?' Cuphead asked, his voice trembling slightly but determined. Mugman nodded, taking a deep breath as the wind howled like a silent orchestra tuning up for their next battle.

Reader's Guide

The game's creators, brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, took inspiration from the rubber hose animation style from the golden age of American animation and the surrealist qualities of the 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 were created through traditional animation with deliberate human imperfections, and the soundtrack was written for and recorded with a full big band. Chad Moldenhauer called Fleischer Studios 'the magnetic north of his ar' (the source cuts off here). The levels are accessible through a top-down overworld perspective, each with its own secret areas. The game has a two-player local cooperative mode, in which either player character can return to the game after being killed if the one parries the other's soul before it rises off the screen.

Did You Know?

• 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.
• The game sold 2 million copies within 2 weeks of release and 6 million in 2 years.
• The game's soundtrack was written for and recorded with a full big band.
• All in-game assets were created through traditional animation with deliberate human imperfections.
• The game includes role-playing elements and a branching level sequence.