# Dead Cells

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Dead Cells and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for its polished gameplay, controls and progression that feels rewarding; critics note it slows in hectic fights.

## Why people recommend it

- Polished gameplay and controls (2 comments): "Playing dead cells on Apple TV is awesome. But it does tend to slow a bit in more hectic fights" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50072790)) "absolutely exquisite controls/gameplay and graphics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47589805))

## What people warn about

- Slows in hectic fights (1 comments): "Playing dead cells on Apple TV is awesome. But it does tend to slow a bit in more hectic fights" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50072790))
- Did not hold attention long-term (1 comments): "I've played a little bit of Dead Cell's but it hasn't stuck with me yet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48504624))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [NetHack](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nethack.md): 60 recommend
- [Chess-Inspired Roguelike](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chess-inspired-roguelike.md): 33 recommend
- [Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dungeon-crawl-stone-soup.md): 16 recommend
- [Xs of Y](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xs-of-y.md): 14 recommend
- [Noita](https://hackerapproved.com/p/noita.md): 13 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Dead Cells", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dead-cells/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).