Creating Clarity in Cuphead
How the notoriously difficult game works to help players
Cuphead is a hand-drawn masterpiece that mixes platforming, shoot ’em up and bullet-hell situations to create the tough task of guiding a players’ focus towards defeating The Devil. In my second article on game usability, I aim to analyse how the game’s design uses clarity to guide the player through the peculiar world of Cuphead.
With The Cuphead Show! now released, I got the urge to jump back in as a Mugman and get a few steps closer to beating the game. While Cuphead is fairly difficult the way its colourful rubber hose art style and jazzy soundscape help the player understand the signs and feedback is no doubt impressive.
Cuphead
Cuphead is a traditional 2D run and gun action game developed and published by Studio MDHR. You play as either Cuphead or Mugman as they attempt to pay off their debt to The Devil. You acquire new weapons and learn super moves as your skill is challenged through giant boss battles in the form of quirky characters that really pack a punch.
Clarity
The term clarity here refers to the player’s ability to perceive signs and feedback in a game. This can be helped by proper use of composition, contrast, fonts, and information hierarchy. Being able to easily read presented interactions through the use of well prioritised information that is clear and distinguishable is vital for helping players gauge the game world.
Clarity is the second usability pillar in The Gamer’s Brain, right next to the signs and feedback pillar, take a look at my first Game UX article to connect the two if you haven’t already.
Clarity in Cuphead
Cuphead is a visually dense bullet hell game that needs its players to quickly understand what is going on in the game world. This will help players effectively interact with the game’s content so the game feels fair and rewarding to play.
To achieve this, let's start by looking at how the game’s developers use composition which aims to guide the player’s focus through the arrangement of game scene elements.
Composition - Guiding the players’ focus
Using composition correctly enables you to present a game environment that is easy to understand with elements that work in harmony together to prevent players from being confused or overwhelmed. Colour, lighting, proportions, and position are all elements that can make or break a scene.
Creating a game scene that incorporates composition rules is a core component in smoothly guiding the players’ eyes through the game world. You can show the way to the objective, or highlight an object that will catch their attention.
Let's take a look at one of the first scenes from Cuphead. It shows how the game will use its style to present information to the player.
Firstly, the symmetrical black arch which represents the classic scene transition during the 1930s rubber hose style cartoons acts as a virtual line guiding the player’s eye through the scene. Where the points are located at the end of the arch we can see our first two key elements, the exit, and the Elder Kettle.
Another key element, though subtle, is the white artboard which we can select to go into the tutorial. This is the centre of interest for the scene and is right under the animated musical notes which are also used to direct focus to the blank artboard. The player starts off next to the Elder Kettle and is guided towards the tutorial then onward to the exit which sets the story in motion.
Once we leave the house and change scenes we can again see the centre of interest which is the player. You’re the focal point of the screen, this allows the players to easily see Mugman traversing the lands in search of a way to pay off his debt. The camera in Cuphead is another well-positioned component and is zoomed out plenty to allow players to locate their next destination.
Contrast - Help the player perceive elements clearly
Cuphead has fast dynamic gameplay that requires its top priority elements to stand out from the environment using visual cues. Good visual language is key to ensuring the visibility of elements. In this scene where we can see the signs which invite the player to interact, the elements use contrast perfectly so players do not miss key characters or locations.
Cuphead utilizes several methods to successfully create this contrast:
- Slightly saturated background to make other elements pop out.
- Low density background making it easy for your eyes to follow the action through the space.
- High-value contrast, added detail, and movement through animation of interactable objects.
- Black lines added around interactable objects help distinguish them from the background.
These components allow the world to become extremely lucid for the player, letting you know exactly where to go. When roaming the map there is no difficulty finding characters or locations to interact with. In levels that feature combat the player immediately understands what interactions will be harmful.
Cuphead is similar to other bullet-hell games in the fact that it has to ensure the bullets are unique to characters and weapons, and are comprehensible to the player.
For example, we can see in the image above how Cuphead does this precisely. Each weapon has a different action, shape, and colour. You know exactly what weapon you’re using and who is firing. It's the same for enemies, the attacks are clearly distinct, informing the player of the attack.
The pink parry indicator is also unmistakable as players have to react very quickly for it to hit right. This is also the same for when Cuphead or Mugman die in Co-op mode, they can be revived through parrying the pink heart attached to the body.
Font - Make text readable
Fonts should not be neglected as they can provide the player with easily readable information. This allows them to continue their journey without the hassle of painfully squinting their eyes or figuring out overly stylised text.
Cuphead uses a selection of serif and sans-serif fonts that are easily readable and comfortable on the eye. They also ensure proper text size for their subtitles and menus which is essential if you’re targeting a console audience.
There is always consistently good contrast between text and background and the spacing between elements is clean. Cuphead keeps it simple, making all the right decisions to ensure their text is legible and readable.
Information hierarchy - Organise Information
When you’re playing a game you don’t want to be spending too much time reading the fine details, especially if they’re disorganised. Organising information that makes it effortless for players to grasp information such as abilities, skills or weapons is the goal.
As we can see from the shop in the above GIF, due to their close proximity its easy to go through items and compare them. Contrast values makes the selected item obvious and clever iconography makes items unique and unambiguous.
- The “Chaser” bottle.
- The self-explanatory heart medal and smoke bomb.
- The wide bottle is called “Spread”.
- And the lobber has a handle which represents the “lob” action.
Information is always prioritised in Cuphead and you’re never overwhelmed. Every sign and feedback is displayed clearly, especially the sound mix which is well-defined and clearly communicated. You can hear a torpedo flower enemy coming from the sky as the classic cartoon bomb sound drops, hitting a satisfying parry will sound a clapping noise and when you get enough charge for your super move a celebratory party horn will play. The sound follows classic cartoon norms wonderfully, adding to the entertaining experience of Cuphead.
Final Thoughts
Clarity is a significant usability pillar and its critical to ensure players can perceive all of the signs and feedback presented for the game experience intended for your audience.
Cuphead is a superb example of a perfectly presented game. The player is considered throughout and manoeuvring through the eccentric scenery will feel effortless (boss fights aside). It’s well worth experiencing especially if you want to take away lessons in how to make a uniquely stylised game for players.
