The game follows its titular teacup-headed character and his brother Mugman, as they make a deal with the Devil to pay casino losses by repossessing the souls of runaway debtors.

The latter two were singled out for praise, with multiple outlets extolling the soundtrack as one of the best of all time, while naming Cuphead one of the hardest video games ever created.

[2] Equippable weapons and special abilities, referred to as Charms, can be purchased from Porkrind's Emporium, an in-game shop, using coins found in levels and the overworld.

Three Super Arts are available, one in each of the first three worlds; to earn each one, the player must enter a mausoleum and parry a horde of ghosts to stop them from reaching an urn at the center of the screen.

Ms. Chalice has her own unique set of moves, including a double jump, an invincible roll maneuver, and a parry dash.

After returning home and informing Elder Kettle about 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 turn in their soul contracts willingly.

As they enter the second sector of the island, Elder Kettle notices that the duo are getting stronger from their battles and urges them to make the right choice when they meet the Devil.

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.

After freeing a spirit known as the Legendary Chalice from one of the main game's mausoleums, Cuphead and Mugman receive a summons from her to visit the distant DLC Island.

Once they arrive, Chalice demonstrates an "Astral Cookie" which allows her to trade places with the brother who eats it, turning him into a spirit and temporarily bringing her back to life in a youthful form.

The cookie's inventor, Chef Saltbaker, unveils his recipe for a special dessert known as the Wondertart, which has the power to give Chalice her own permanent body.

Saltbaker notes that several antagonistic inhabitants on the island hold its required ingredients and the brothers set out to collect them with Chalice's help.

Unwilling to let anyone else give up their soul for her benefit, Ms. Chalice decides to remain in her spiritual form until she can find a non-sacrificial way to return to life while offering to continue helping Cuphead and Mugman when needed via the Astral Cookie.

In an epilogue, Saltbaker is arrested for his crimes and sentenced to a form of community service that involves assisting DLC Island's inhabitants with their various problems.

The game was written by Evan Skolnick;[7] additional animation work was contributed by Jake Clark, with programming led by Tony Coculuzzi.

[3][10][11][12] It was inspired by cartoons from the early days of the golden age of American animation such as Disney and Fleischer Studios, along with cartoonists Ub Iwerks, Grim Natwick, and Willard Bowsky.

[2] Chad Moldenhauer called Fleischer Studios "the magnetic north of his art style", and particularly sought to mimic their "subversive and surrealist" elements.

[13] Chad Moldenhauer, who had previously worked in graphic design, hand-drew the animations and painted the backgrounds using watercolors, colorizing them in Photoshop.

[13] The score was composed by Kristofer Maddigan and consists of fifty-one tracks performed by jazz and big band musicians.

[13] They planned multiple difficulty levels and chose to abandon a typical damsel in distress plot for one where Cuphead perpetually creates trouble for himself.

[17][18] Though the game was shown during the Xbox press event of Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014 to audience approval, it was not available to play and was estimated to be 40 percent complete.

[20] Downloadable content for the game, The Delicious Last Course, which adds a new island, boss encounters, and a third playable character (Ms. Chalice), was revealed at E3 2018 for release in 2019.

[30][31] Ben Kuchera of Polygon wrote that Cuphead was one of the five most interesting reveals at Microsoft's E3 2014 press conference, even though he knew little about the game apart from its aesthetic.

[40] Lucas Sullivan at GamesRadar+ wrote that Cuphead "stands tall among the best 2D shooters of all time", and that the gameplay demands patient pattern recognition, but which is not frustrating and would reward players "tenfold".

[42] Joe Skrebels of IGN declared every scene a "masterwork" and commended the sound work, calling it an "ideal match" to the aesthetics.

He called platforming battles the most imaginative part, and the lack of enemy health bars its "smartest" and "most devilish" feature.

Schilling explained that certain random elements meant "you can't simply learn patterns by rote and rely entirely on muscle memory".

[45] Colm Ahern of VideoGamer.com wrote, "Cuphead will best most games in how it looks and sounds, and defeating that boss that you once deemed unbeatable is glorious."

[122] Later in 2020, Arby's added limited-edition toys and papercrafts based on some characters from the game to its kids' menu at select locations.

Chad and Jared Moldenhauer serve as executive producers alongside CJ Kettler from King Features Syndicate.