Helltaker is a indie rhythm-based puzzle game developed by vanripper (Łukasz Piskorz). It was released on May 11th, 2020, for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, and SteamOS. A Polish localization patch of the game (Helltaker Spolszczenie) was released on May 15th, 2020. Helltaker was ported to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Vita and also became available to download via itch.io in 2021.
Description[]
You woke up one day with a dream. Harem full of demon girls. You've opened the portal in hopes of fulfilling your wildest desires. Hellfire burns through your lungs, death awaits around every corner and everything looks like from a cutesy mobile game. You are in hell.
Features[]
- Traverse hell in search of love.
- Win the hearts of horrible demon girls.
- Kick adorable skeletons around.
- Solve puzzles as efficiently as possible.
- Or just skip puzzles in the menu.
- Try to not get murdered by demon girls.
- Get murdered by demon girls anyway.
Gameplay[]
The player proceeds through a series of puzzle stages with the end goal of reaching a demon girl, answering her question appropriately, and incorporating her into the player's demon harem. Each puzzle stage involves pushing stones and skeleton soldiers around a two-dimensional top-down grid akin to Sokoban while keeping within a set turn limit, while also avoiding spike traps and collecting key items. After reaching the goal, the demon girl for that particular stage will ask a question in which the player must infer the correct answer based on her personality, and an incorrect answer may result in a bad ending such as death, taking the player back to the beginning of the stage.
Plot[]
Narrated by Beelzebub, the plot follows the player character, known only as "The Helltaker", in his descent to hell to acquire a harem of demons. As the game progresses, the harem becomes increasingly dysfunctional, with the Helltaker admitting that all he can offer is "coffee, turn based strategies and chocolate pancakes". The final level, "Epilogue", shows the harem on earth, with one of two endings; the "Regular Ending" in which the Helltaker opens the front door of the house to police outside, and the "Abysstaker Ending" where the Helltaker opens a portal utilising three stone tablets, which have a set of moves inscribed on each of them that the player must start to perform in the middle of the carpet located in the Helltaker's house in the epilogue. The player can collect them in three of the stages during the main game.
Video Walkthrough[]
Webcomics[]
Vanripper has posted comics on his Twitter account that canonically take place before the "Epilogue" as well as some that take place after the "Abysstaker" Ending.
A level pack, called "Examtaker", is a continuation of one of the comic arcs and was released in 2021 to celebrate the game's one year anniversary. It features harder stages.
Art Book[]
Everything in this artbook can be unlocked for free in the game.
- Concept Art - see how the characters evolved during game's developement
- Artist's Notes - discover pointless facts about your favourite demon girl
- Pancake Recipe - learn how to make Helltaker's signature dish
Development[]
Łukasz Piskorz, also known as vanripper, developed the entirety of the game by himself over an estimated one-year period and was the game's artistic director.
