Celeste is a precision platformer by Maddy Makes Games, built by Matt Thorson and Noel Berry and released on 25 January 2018. Madeline climbs a mountain with three tools: a jump, a wall grab limited by stamina, and a single air dash that only recharges when she touches ground or a crystal. Every screen is a self-contained problem, deaths restart the screen instantly, and the game counts your deaths without ever punishing them. An Assist Mode ships in the options menu and lets you change speed, stamina, dash count and invincibility, and Chapter 9, Farewell, was added free in September 2019.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough. If you're just starting, check our beginner's guide first.
Essential Tips
1. Tap the grab button to reposition rather than holding it, because stamina only refills when Madeline touches the ground and holding while you think is the most common cause of falls
Tap the grab button to reposition rather than holding it, because stamina only refills when Madeline touches the ground and holding while you think is the most common cause of falls.
2. Delay your dash until the last possible moment, since the dash also freezes your fall and an early dash usually lands you short
Delay your dash until the last possible moment, since the dash also freezes your fall and an early dash usually lands you short.
3. A strawberry does not count until Madeline lands safely on solid ground, so grabbing one and then dying immediately loses it
A strawberry does not count until Madeline lands safely on solid ground, so grabbing one and then dying immediately loses it.
4. Winged strawberries fly away the instant you touch the ground, so plan the whole route in the air before you go for one
Winged strawberries fly away the instant you touch the ground, so plan the whole route in the air before you go for one.
5. Seeded strawberries need every seed in the room collected first, and the seeds follow you, so a death resets the whole chain
Seeded strawberries need every seed in the room collected first, and the seeds follow you, so a death resets the whole chain.
6. Wall jumps cost no stamina at all, so climbing a shaft with jumps rather than grabs will get you far higher on the same bar
Wall jumps cost no stamina at all, so climbing a shaft with jumps rather than grabs will get you far higher on the same bar.
7. Assist Mode options are individual toggles, so turning on Infinite Stamina alone leaves every other rule intact
Assist Mode options are individual toggles, so turning on Infinite Stamina alone leaves every other rule intact.
8. Deaths are instant restarts with no penalty and no lives, which means repeated attempts are cheaper than stopping to study a screen
Deaths are instant restarts with no penalty and no lives, which means repeated attempts are cheaper than stopping to study a screen.
9. The cassette tape in each chapter unlocks that chapter's B-Side, and crystal hearts are what open the later chapters, so collect hearts if you want to reach the end
The cassette tape in each chapter unlocks that chapter's B-Side, and crystal hearts are what open the later chapters, so collect hearts if you want to reach the end.
10. Learn the hyper, a crouched jump out of a horizontal dash, before attempting B-Sides, because several rooms are built assuming you know it
Learn the hyper, a crouched jump out of a horizontal dash, before attempting B-Sides, because several rooms are built assuming you know it.
Advanced Strategies
Role Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive. See our builds guide for full breakdowns.
For Story climber (A-Tier):
- Focus on One air dash with eight directions combinations for maximum output.
- Core gear: Dash
- Stat priority: Offensive stats first
For Strawberry completionist (A-Tier):
- Targets all 175 ordinary strawberries across the eight chapters. Winged strawberries escape the moment Madeline touches the ground, and seeded strawberries need every seed in the room collected first, so both demand a route rather than improvisation.
- Core gear: Chapter select for replays, a route plan per chapter, patience with winged variants
- Stat priority: Route knowledge first, then air control, then dash conservation
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how Celeste's systems interact is where the real optimization lives. Our combat guide covers this in detail.
One air dash with eight directions + Climbing on a stamina meter: Madeline has a single dash by default, aimed in any of eight directions, and it refills when she lands, grabs a refill crystal or touches certain surfaces. Combined with Climbing on a stamina meter, holding the grab button sticks madeline to a wall and drains a stamina bar that recovers only when she is on the ground.
Assist Mode toggles in the options + Strawberries, hearts and cassettes: Assist Mode is a menu, not a difficulty setting, and each option is separate. When paired with Strawberries, hearts and cassettes, there are 175 ordinary strawberries across the eight main chapters, and they only count once madeline lands safely on solid ground rather than the moment she touches them.
Momentum tech: hypers, supers and wavedashes scaling: Underneath the simple controls sits a set of movement tricks the game never teaches. A super is a jump out of a horizontal dash for extra distance, a hyper is the crouched version that trades height for a long low leap, and a wavedash is a diagonal-down dash into a jump that fires you along the ground. The Farewell update added the demo dash, a crouched dash input that makes several of these easier to trigger, and none of them are needed to finish the story.
Weapons Efficiency
| Weapon | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Dash | Crossing spike gaps and reaching ledges that a jump alone falls short of. | One air dash in eight directions, refilled by landing or by touching a refill crystal. |
| Wall climb | Vertical shafts and repositioning between wall jumps. | Holding grab sticks Madeline to a wall and drains stamina, which only recovers on the ground. |
| Wall jump | Climbing tall rooms without burning the stamina bar. | Jumping away from a wall does not need the grab button and does not cost stamina, which makes it the cheapest way to climb. |
| Dream Block | Traversing solid walls and setting up long chained dashes. | Introduced in Chapter 2, these dark blocks let Madeline dash straight through them and eject her at the far side in the direction she entered. |
| Feather | Long horizontal flights through spike corridors, especially in Chapter 4 and later. | Grabbing a feather turns Madeline into a steerable star for a few seconds, letting her fly through gaps that no dash reaches. |
Location Efficiency
Forsaken City (Chapter 1): The opening chapter and the game's teaching ground, built around spinners, refill crystals and the basic dash. It is also where most players first find a strawberry that requires backtracking, which sets the pattern for every chapter after it.
Old Site (Chapter 2): Introduces dream blocks, the dark surfaces you dash straight through. The chapter is shorter than the first but leans harder on chaining dashes without a ground touch in between.
Celestial Resort (Chapter 3): A derelict hotel built around dust bunnies that hurt on contact and doors that need clearing, plus a supporting character who sends you between wings of the building. It is the first chapter with real navigation rather than a straight line upward.
Golden Ridge (Chapter 4): Opens up wind as a constant force pushing Madeline around, which changes the distance every jump and dash covers. Feathers appear here too, and the combination of wind and flight is what makes this the first chapter that reliably stops people.
Mirror Temple (Chapter 5): The longest chapter in the main game, split across multiple wings with keys to find and a section where visibility is deliberately restricted. Its B-Side is widely considered one of the hardest in the game.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- Holding the grab button while planning a route, which empties the stamina bar and drops Madeline before she has moved.
- Dashing the moment a gap appears rather than at the last frame, which wastes the dash and the fall cancel that comes with it.
- Treating Assist Mode as cheating and grinding a chapter for hours, when a single toggle would have taught the same screen in minutes.
- Chasing strawberries on a first pass through a chapter instead of learning the layout, which turns every collectible into a blind attempt.
- Ignoring crystal hearts because they look optional, then finding the later chapters locked behind a heart count.
Pro Quick Tips
- Tap the grab button to reposition rather than holding it, because stamina only refills when Madeline touches the ground and holding while you think is the most common cause of falls.
- Delay your dash until the last possible moment, since the dash also freezes your fall and an early dash usually lands you short.
- A strawberry does not count until Madeline lands safely on solid ground, so grabbing one and then dying immediately loses it.
- Start with Strawberry completionist, switch to Story climber when ready
- Invest in Dash above everything else
- Clear areas in order: Forsaken City → Old Site → Celestial Resort → Golden Ridge → Mirror Temple. See our maps guide
- One air dash with eight directions + Climbing on a stamina meter together are stronger than either alone
More Celeste Guides
- Celeste Celeste Overview
- Celeste Best Builds
- Celeste Tier List
- Celeste Walkthrough
- Celeste Beginner's Guide
- Celeste Weapons Guide
- Celeste Combat Guide
- Celeste Boss Guide
- Celeste Maps & Locations
- Celeste Crafting Guide
- Celeste Classes & Characters
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- Monster Hunter Wilds Tips & Tricks: action game with similar mechanics
