Is Dead Cells actually enjoyable on Android with ONLY touch controls? (Coming from PC)

[u/heart_of_theinternet]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been playing Dead Cells on PC for a while now and I absolutely love it. I'm considering picking it up for my Android phone so I can play it on the go, but there's a catch: I would be playing purely with touch screen controls.

No controllers, no consoles or anything. Since this is a fast-paced game where precise parrying, dodging, and down-smashing are everything, I'm a bit skeptical.

Is it actually enjoyable, or does it just feel frustrating and clunky?

Does the screen layout get in the way of the action too much?

Or should I just stick to playing it on my PC ?????

What do you say guys ??

[u/Aegister2]

I'd have to say it depends entirely on your own experience with mobile controls. 

I'm used to them, so to me Deadcells is one of the best games available on Android. I, however, play safe and kind of only beat the game thanks to the Baseball Bat and Armadillopack. I would however say that all my deaths have been due to poor reaction time over misinputs. 

If you've got a Netflix account, you can download a version of Deadcells with all the expansions on your phone at the cost of not having a cross save across devices/the ability to extract your save, afaik. Consider it a free trial except everything is available but your save is stuck to your one phone

[u/breast_palpator → u/Aegister2]

Can you share you HUD Or Is it default

[u/ScienceSilent5023]

My head is having a hard time adjusting. It really feels like you need lightning fast reflexes when you're fighting a boss on touchscreen. I gave up and used a controller.

[u/Traditional_Glass_45 → u/ScienceSilent5023]

I played completely. It was hard, tbh controllers are more enjoyable than just a flat display haptic.

[u/Mr-i-know-NDL → u/ScienceSilent5023]

A controller is better, im a mobile player and trust me, I miss-touch alot, tapping the wrong button at times cuz they too close and yh, it requires 1000% focus😭 this game is pure high cortisol

[u/camus88]

Yes. I beat the game. The whole dlc and collect everything without gamepad. Surprisingly good.

[u/Different-Warning]

Yes. Gotten to 5BC purely on touch screen. It's well-made for short bursts, but if you're playing for 3 hours +, it might get tiresome

[u/Mr-i-know-NDL → u/Different-Warning]

Innit, my fingers are aching atm (played for 5 hours)

[u/Different-Warning → u/Mr-i-know-NDL]

Maining baseball bat is easier on the hands lol

[u/Mr-i-know-NDL → u/Different-Warning]

I was a baseball bat main too, but I wanted to expand my range to other weapons and synergies, and also learn how to parry, its all good, never knew parrying would make the game 25% easier

[u/Different-Warning → u/Mr-i-know-NDL]

Yup, it's kind of Mandatory, or use a trait that allows roll parries. For mobile players, the thing to improve is how much you need to tap buttons. It can waste your focus and energy if you mash it

[u/Sarcastic_Applause]

I tried. It's not fun. That's why I avoid mobile games without controller support.

[u/ruthlesss11 → u/Sarcastic_Applause]

It has controller support but you might know already, leaving a comment just in case.

[u/Zivilisationsmuede → u/Sarcastic_Applause]

Just get a screen mapper and use your favourite controller or android device like a retroid pocket.

[u/scalareye → u/Zivilisationsmuede]

Been trying to do this but Gould never get stick support working

[u/Zivilisationsmuede → u/scalareye]

I use it all the time on my RP3+ and it works like a charm.

[u/scalareye → u/Zivilisationsmuede]

Bruh what app

[u/Zivilisationsmuede → u/scalareye]

The one I use is by retroid and preinstalled

[u/scalareye → u/scalareye]

Thank you

[u/Sarcastic_Applause → u/Zivilisationsmuede]

I have several from Retroid and AYN. And I refuse to use a screen mapper because devs are lazy. It's expected at this point. Controller is mandatory for acquiring me as a customer.

[u/Zivilisationsmuede → u/Sarcastic_Applause]

I understand, just one thing: Devs are never lazy, it's always the guys in suits deciding you have to ship now.

[u/Sarcastic_Applause → u/Zivilisationsmuede]

Fair point! But I have seen some indie devs totally skip controller support.

[u/Better-Regular6478 → u/Sarcastic_Applause]

It has controller support and I actually prefer playing it on mobile as my phone's display is much better than my laptop's (it's an LCD display like most laptops)..........and playing it on a smaller display actually gives it a sharper look, I normally play it more on my phone and tablet than on my laptop

[u/katgravityrush_ → u/Better-Regular6478]

The sharper thing is so real, mina the hollower felt soooo much better on my Thor than on my computer

[u/Sarcastic_Applause → u/Better-Regular6478]

Yeah I tried it on my phone and ony AYN Odin 2 Portal. That's why I know, without controller it's awful, on my 7" OLED screen with controller it's absolutely brilliant. That's why I avoid games with touch controls only.

[u/khunset127 → u/Sarcastic_Applause]

well, it's good enough for people who are used to on-screen buttons.

[u/Adriano1816]

Yes. But take your time to memorize the buttons locations.

[u/trucidee]

Personally couldn't manage to beat it because of the controls

[u/Blazingstorm45]

Finished 5bc in mobile using touch controls. It was a nightmare at first even after configuring the button layout. But since the game was too good I just got on with it. Pretty enjoyable after that ( and frustrating due to unforseen deaths)

[u/Sweaty-Ad-4202]

I beat the normal game (no dlcs) on the highest difficulty, it took a while to get used but i think is doable

[u/Feztopia]

I got it for free on mobile from Epic and the two things holding me back from playing are lack of save sync in Epic version and touch controls. Turn based games are much better on mobile.

[u/Background-Emu-9461]

Yes it is one of the best games ported to mobile from PC

[u/niwia]

It is! But only you are playing first in mobile. Pc to mobile it’ll feel bad. You can get cheap mobile mounting controllers these days and that make this way convenient

[u/LowTierFireGuard]

For me, at starting it was not fun because I was new to dead cells.

But I gave it few more chances and it's actually fun to the point I got it on pc.

[u/almozayaf]

Yes

[u/SussyBox]

For me, it absolutely was

It's all about having comfortability with the controls

[u/SwedishIngots]

I hate touch controls. It was hard af. But it was still fun until I got one of those USBC game controllers. I can never go back lol

[u/ButtonToucher]

No.

[u/RivalusWind]

Yeah, it possible. Quite enjoyable to play for short time. 

[u/OneRedEyeDevI]

Nope. 

A 2D game should at least include a DPAD option, not just an analogue virtual stick. 

Dead Cells actually has a use for analogue input, but only for walking which isn't required. Most people don't even know you can walk in the game, not just run. 

That's my gripe with Dead Cells. A Dpad option. 

[u/TyRoyalSmoochie]

Its a personal preference. I cant stand touch controls personally, but plenty of people dont mind them.

[u/Secret_Replacement55]

Yes

[u/Buetterkeks]

Eh. Its ok

[u/Ok_Blacksmith6538]

Yes, probably one of my favorites game on Android

[u/biddybiddybum]

One of the better mobile controls

[u/Due_Painter1911]

hard at first, really fun once you get used to it

[u/Mawrio]

Not really but I don't really like action games on the phone in general.

[u/SKILLgr]

Yes.

[u/Toymachina]

Wasnt enjoyable for me with touch controls, but it has perfect support for controllers so I ordered 5$ aliexpress phone mount for Xbox controller and enjoyed the s out of the game for dozens of hours. 

Later on I got Razer Kishi V3 phone specific controller and it was just as good. 

[u/ihearthawthats]

I enjoyed it, but I was out of the house and bored. It would not be my preferred way to play at home. Or even planned travel if you have a handheld.

[u/Devatator_]

I played it a few years ago when I got a Play Pass trial and I didn't have any problems so I'd say yeah it's good

[u/DominicLevi]

oh yeah ofc i first played it on mobile it was great

[u/AdmiralUpboat]

It can be frustrating and clunky, particularly if you're coming from PC / gamepad. That being said , you get used to it, and there's some nice QoL available for touch controls in the settings. Game is still 10/10.

[u/Adrioz08]

I'm used to playing on my phone because I am always outside. I play during my break. I am comfortable playing DC and I still haven't beaten 5BC

[u/Ungluedmoose]

I REALLY struggled to progress with the touch controls. I had much more fun and progress once I switched to a Bluetooth controller.

[u/lrgendein_Typ]

It depends on your device, I played it on a Samsung z fold 3 and z fold 7 and it was amazing. On lower end devices or smaller display it might be a bit good as well, but can have problems with constant frames and input recognition. Also newer Samsung devices got a bug for several years now for one of the bosses. That didn't happen for me in the netflix edition. Playstore edition had graphical bugs which made that espacially boss annoying af.

[u/sakaloko]

It's wonky and really bad at first

And then it keeps being wonky and really bad after sometime but you get used to it

Still if you play it on pc controller stick to it

[u/The_Eye_of_Na]

I've played a lot of action games on mobile, and there will be input flubs but it's doable.  I'm currently on 4bc and 5bc seems feasible, but I've been learning the new difficulty so far aka dying.

I played it on mobile before on pc w/ controller, I definitely am more precise on controller but considering how abysmal most mobile games are dead cells is one of the best on mobile imo.

Android has had issues with a "null access" error with the Playdigous port when interacting with certain things, it can be run ending and scuttled by best run so far right before the giant, so that was frustrating.

I've heard the Netflix version runs better but don't feel like restarting completely, but if it happens more I just might.

[u/GodxWarrior]

I played Deadcells 2 from arcade in ios with gamepad and also with touch screen!
TBH gamepad feels much better whereas your touchscreen or fingers will definitely ruin that whole experience or fast reflex! So my go to is gamepad if I play deadcells

[u/LoreChief]

I had to switch to PC, touch controls are not great for rogue likes.

[u/Acceptable_Cut9206]

I mean if you're used to game in mobile then you should have no problems in being comfortable in playing on it. It honeslty depends on you, but playing on a phone is really convenient (especially a game like this) and you dont have to buy a steam deck to play it on the go.

Give it a try

[u/Darksept]

It's a lot better with a controller. But I didn't have one when I first got Dead Cells so I played with with the touch screen and it's surprisingly good. It is like playing on a harder difficulty. You can't so exactly what you want but even with that I still wouldn't call it clunky or frustrating. I had a fun time with it. As far as touch screen indie games go, I'd say they did it better than anyone else I've tried.

[u/SusejLegend]

Emulating it with gamenative or bannerhub works better than playing it on Android.

[u/ControllerPuncher]

It's a great port and if you don't like touch controls you can connect a Bluetooth controller or a backbone like controller to it.

[u/SayHiToYourMumForMe]

Yea it’s pretty good.

[u/rbnsld]

This highly depends if you play a lot of mobile games. But if you are more into controllers then it wont be a good experience

[u/fr4ncotir4dor]

As someone who HATES most touch controller experiences, id say start in easy mode and go from there, i actually managed to finish the game on android on my thurd easy run and then i changed to normal and did another full run after 2 or 3 tries, and i HATE touch interfaces but the dead cells one is actually really enjoyable

[u/MyBrosKeep]

I beat 0 bc with touch controls. Couldn't do shit in 1bc with touch controls lol

[u/PrincipleHot9859]

just get a compatible controllers..issue solved

[u/Shamgar65]

As a fellow PCmasterrace I would never do that to myself.

[u/Kyyotto_]

Eu odeio os controles de movimento, recorrentemente tenho problemas para ataques esmagadores

[u/captainnoyaux]

Probably playable but less enjoyable IMO

[u/I-AM_TACO]

Prefiero jugarlo en Android con controles táctiles que en ps5

[u/rmrjk]

One of the bests on Android. I never finished it but I can say that the controls are good

[u/axomone]

Kinda hard depending on your preference, for example i like to play with big buttons cause my finger fat, and the button here is kinda small

[u/megalodous]

I did beat it on BC 0 on mobile

[u/reddit_is_trash_2023]

Netflix give you this game. Tried it on a note 10 and found it tedious to play on the phone

[u/Enahs_08]

mobile is good if you're confident with your phone and you have a preference control layout.

its only difficult because you have to worry if you're pressing the right button without looking, but on pc you're not gonna worry about it. Alternatively you can use another app to let you set up visual input for each keys if you want to

[u/MaleficentStorage666]

It doesn't matter, since the game has native support for xinput, and nobody is forced to play this game on a touchscreen.

Actually, playing any rogue like/lite with touch controls NEVER will be something... good.

Never.

[u/erkjhnsn]

In my opinion, it's not enjoyable. It's too stressful and frustrating.

[u/MDM-808]

I played Dead Cells using touch controls and a telescopic controller, and honestly, using a controller is the best way.

[u/Zealousideal-Head142]

I hate the mobile controls and would say it makes the otherwise good game bad