Celeste
Not to be confused with the 2015 original game, its 2021 successor, the titular mountain or the founder of this wiki.
For advice on purchasing a copy of the game, refer to Buying Celeste.
Celeste is a 2018 two-dimensional platforming video game made by Maddy Thorson and friends. It is based on Celeste Classic, a 2015 game of the same name, made in four days by Thorson and Noel Berry for a game jam. The game follows a young trans woman named Madeline who attempts to climb the weird and ominous Celeste Mountain, and has to face her inner demons in her quest towards the summit. Celeste was critically acclaimed for its soundtrack, art style, and plot.
Celeste is available in 10 languages: English, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Korean. This option can be toggled in Settings. Many more fan translations also exist.
Gameplay[edit | edit source]
The player controls Madeline, who can run and jump, grab and climb walls. She can also dash in eight directions mid-air and perform countless techniques. The game is divided into nine chapters (excluding Prologue and Epilogue), each featuring its own mechanics, plot, and gimmicks. Chapters 1-8 also have harder alternate sides. Most chapters contain strawberries - optional collectibles that require skillful platforming or hide behind a secret wall.
The required skill level mostly scales upwards as you progress through the game. However, it can be controlled with the use of Assist and Variant modes. Golden strawberries provide additional difficulty. Celeste also has lots of custom-made maps, ranging from easy to just about impossible, increasing the number of levels from twenty-five to thousands.
History[edit | edit source]
Celeste has been released on various platforms: initially on itch.io and the Steam distribution system for GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows. Console releases were created for the Xbox One lineup, PlayStation 4 series, and Nintendo Switch consoles; since then, the game has been ported to newer-generation consoles, including Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 5. An update in September 2019, 1.3.0.0, introduced Farewell, and later updates fixed minor bugs and added quality-of-life changes. In 2021, Celeste Classic 2 was released, borrowing many aspects of the game. In January 2024, Celeste 64, a small 3D remake of Celeste, was made and released, further expanding on the plot and mechanics.
Community[edit | edit source]
On January 19, 2018, shortly before Celeste's release, a dedicated Discord server was created by Wrecks, and the game's developers joined it soon after.
The game established a large speedrunning and modding community. Over 2000 mods are available for download on GameBanana, the majority of which add new gameplay content. The Strawberry Jam Collab, released in 2023, is among the largest, featuring over 100 maps made by 350+ community members.
The Custom Map Golden Strawberry List and the Celeste's Hardest Maps Clear List, which monitor the players' accomplishments in custom maps, were created, as well as the list of players who completed the last chapter deathless and other challenging run collections.