My Wife and I got Cuphead around Christmas time to see which of our 3 kids would take to it. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's important for parents to talk about gambling and additions (smoking, drinking) as tools by which some people become victimized because without that message you run the risk of children missing the message and having the game merely normalize those environs by which corrupt industries and individuals victimize others. Although the gameplay is fine for 6 and 7 year olds, the concepts definitely require subtle help to hint children into understanding that no characters are 'good' and the characters are dealing with their own consequences after succumbing to trappings of the devil.

The premise of the game has the main characters visit the devil's casino, they thus lose their souls to the devil when one of them gets caught up by the allure of high-stakes gambling for easy winnings, and they enter an ambiguous agreement to get their souls back by being enforces collecting on souls of previous losers. Thematically, the game delves into undeniable moral bankruptcy, and is somewhat of a learning opportunity. What makes it special is not being awed by stunningly beautiful images or immerse-ment, but quaint throwback production values. Beating each scenario is hard, but failing is a small setback-just try again requiring maybe up to 2-3 minutes-and practice perseverence.Īrtistically the game is a bit of a treasure with its retro drawn graphics. Generally each scenarios is a shoot-em up battle with nothing more complex than early arcade consoles, lasting a few minutes.

Cuphead game to play online