Why Does Celeste Feel So Good to Play?

Celeste is one of the most satisfying platformers released in recent memory. And a big part of that is due to the tight and responsive controls of the game’s main character: Madeline. In this video, let’s look at how designers Maddy Thorson (Matt at the time of recording the video) and Noel Berry made the hero of Celeste feel so good to play.

=== Sources and Resources ===

More info on my run and jump graphs | GMTK Patreon

Full Maddy and Noel interview | GMTK Patreon (Paid content)

Celeste Player Code | GitHub

Celeste’s stamina mechanic. explained | Reddit

Why Celeste’s dash feels great | Rock Paper Shotgun

TowerFall Physics | Maddy Thorson

Celeste Developer Commentary Livestream | Maddy Thorson

Level Design Workshop: Designing Celeste | GDC

Celeste's Movement | Mix and Jam

=== Chapters ===

00:00 - Intro
01:28 - The Run
03:08 - The Jump
04:46 - Other Factors
05:14 - How Celeste was Coded
06:21 - The Climb
07:00 - The Dash
07:44 - Platforming as Problem Solving
08:40 - Art and Animation
09:27 - Player Forgiveness
11:50 - Speedrunning Celeste
13:20 - Level Design
15:23 - Conclusion
16:28 - Patreon Credits

=== Games Shown ===

Super Meat Boy (2010)
LittleBigPlanet (2008)
The Swindle (2015)
Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back (2017)
The End Is Nigh (2017)
Celeste (2018)
New Super Mario Bros. U (2012)
Mega Man 11 (2018)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
Shovel Knight (2014)
Unravel (2016)
Sonic Mania (2017)
Nuclear Throne (2015)
Super Mario Sunshine (2002)
Inside (2016)
N++ (2015)

=== Credits ===

2D Platformer Character Controller - Scripting Gravity | Unity

Celeste All B-Sides Speedrun in 26:46 | TGH

Looney Tunes © Warner Bros

=== Subtitles ===

[LucianoThePig]

Celeste is maybe the most fair game I've ever played. You die after one hit, and you die frequently, but you respawn almost instantly, there's no harsh plenary to dying and checkpoints are frequent.

[junkeyz]

Fun fact: Madeline's hair uses procedural animation, meaning it's animated via code as the player moves, hence why it's so smooth

[Platitudinous]

The empty room thing is critical! It's like how Mario 64 was designed with fun and expressive 3D movement first and its iconic worlds afterward.

[ajavisk]

I have never once felt angry while dying in Celeste. The respawn time being super fast + the music not stopping when you die. Dying in Super Mario Maker makes me angry because of that stupid "oh no", the music stopping completely, and the sound effect for death all make it frustring. In Celeste you don't even feel like you died

[bradykoba]

“Why does Celeste feel so good to play?” Me on 1.8k deaths on chapter 9 slowly contemplating the reason of why life exists and if it’s all worth ir

[GameScoreFanfare]

Mark, I honestly think this is one of the best videos you've made to date. You've approached the topic from every angle and yet kept it so tight and flowing beautifully. Your graphics are on point as always, only ever bringing clarity to what you say. Particularly in the section about jumps with the graphs and examples underneath, and the outlines showing the height of the jump. And also I have been really appreciating the amount of effort you're putting into your audio design recently, but you totally upped the ante in this vid. The low-pass filter on the music when you transition to the interview so you can hear it better, the little in-key piano notes that accentuate your titles, how you use the end of chapter jingle at the end of a section before moving onto a new point. Honestly it's just superb work, you're an absolute inspiration and a boon for the entire video essay community. Thank you for putting in the amount of effort you do.

[pong]

"I pulled apart the games's code"
*shows exclusively the hair physics*

[NoodleIncidental]

When comparing Madeline's jump height and curve to Meat Boy's and Mario's, I think it's better to think of her jump as half of her aerial mobility, with the dash being the other half. The jump arcs for Mario and Meat Boy are higher because that's the only tool they have to gain height and/or cover distance, and they work just as well for their respective games.

[Angelic]

One of the best things in Celeste is that every death feels like your fault. The game is so responsive that it's hard to blame the controls or the level design

[homemadefilms]

One of my favorite moments was on the last level of farewell, where the game literally checks in on you and basically says “Are you ok?”
It was very encouraging

[fakeronjan]

What a masterpiece of a video about a masterpiece of a game. I love deconstructions like this. I'll never forget the final climb in Celeste. The final few checkpoints when your heart is pounding and you're almost there - no game in years has made me feel that way.

[dawsonglawe]

Biggest flex in video games was when that bird freezes time as you're about to fall to your death just to say "Oh yeah by the way, you can do this."

[GMTK]

Exhaustively researched, professionally edited videos like this, appearing in your sub box every other week, is something that’s only possible thanks to the generosity of my Patreon backers.


In return, supporters get early access to new episodes, behind the scenes content, editing tutorials, video recommendations, full interview videos, written articles, Discord access, and more!

[PushedToInsanity]

Quality video. Especially with the clips from the developers

[SeniorLuther]

I have never played a game that felt so satisfying and rewarding. I didn't even feel discouraged after dying. It respawns so fast that all you can do is take note of your mistakes and adjust. Once you finally get past a difficult section it's hard not to smile and feel good.

[Shlooomth]

I found Celeste to be a surprisingly emotionally deep game. I saw a lot of mechanics as metaphors that complimented the game's story themes. I thoroughly love this game.

[zigzagas]

yo. Is it only me who is almost brought to tears every time the chapter ends and the music starts with a nice story picture? Honestly, its the music that is the most powerful at that moment.

[mathiasjensen]

I remember reading about Cyote time in Ralph Kosters "Theory of Fun", and that book is from 2003, so the term has been around a while :)

[Ani]

I've just finished the A side of the first 7 chapters and instantly came back to re-watch this video with more context - and I'm enjoying seeing some half-formed thoughts I had while playing the game being so elegantly put by Mark. Great video! :D

[DarylTalksGames]

About time we got a proper GMTK on Celeste, such a spectacular game and the video is tremendously done as always :)