When people think of video games, what often comes to mind are the classics such as “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft.” These are games where users spend large sums of money on what is essentially the same game over and over again. Although I plead guilty to emptying my wallet whenever a new Halo game comes out, I do enjoy relishing in the smaller titles on the market.

Like any entertainment industry, there will always be underdogs which will most likely never see the light of mainstream media. Given their battle for success, the unknown games manage to breed incredible, creative and often downright gorgeous pieces of playable art.

Unfortunately, many indie game companies get swept under the rug by larger names. Despite the odds, one developer by the name of Studio MDHR has appeared to have cracked the code. In the advent of trying times, a game called “Cuphead” was dropped and hit the market in a frenzy of excitement.

In a nutshell, “Cuphead” is about two brothers who happen to be sentient cups. They accidentally end up in The Devil’s casino, and they gamble their souls away due to the main character, Cuphead’s cocky gambling style. The game consists of Cuphead running through a cartoon world, capturing the souls of debtors to the devil.

It is hard to take a story seriously once you get a feel for “Cuphead’s” light-hearted atmosphere. The entire game was animated to look like a 1930’s cartoon, and it is incredibly unique. While killing bosses with the looks of early Mickey Mouse, the game takes on a whole new perspective. It is fun to be in the game and enjoy every detail of your surroundings. The silly animations, diverse bosses and upbeat ragtime music creates a game which appeals to a whole new audience: an audience that can appreciate sheer attention to detail. Even if you despise “Cuphead,” credit is deserved to the men and women who painstakingly hand-drew every frame of the game. Every. Single. Frame. For the first few minutes, I just had fun choosing a level to play. “Cuphead” satisfyingly teeters between cute and rugged. Atmosphere is something I always appreciate in video games and this game nails every point.

As far as gameplay goes, when anyone engages in the first level, they will quickly realize it is not just a little piece of eye candy. To put it simply, the game is hard. It is really hard. There is nothing like opening the first level of an extremely light hearted game and being instantly torn apart by an onslaught of colorful projectiles. With a little patience and persistence, you will beat the first level and realize that beating the game will come much further down the road.

While adventuring on and slowly picking my way through bosses, I had a difficult time. I had died more times than I could count, which really kills motivation. I had quite a few grievances in “Cuphead” but I never felt it was fair to be mad at the game. All it takes to play are decent reflexes and a surprising amount of patience. Trust me; there is nothing more satisfying than learning the meticulous moves and timing of a boss to eventually be presented with the glorious “knockout” animation. That is when you know it was all worth it.

The bottom line is you will hate this game. You will quit out of sheer frustration just to come back and try again. You will also love this game, laugh at it, cheer at it, cry with it. Either I am just really bad at games or playing it was quite a large feat. “Cuphead” was a beautifully made nightmare and I do not regret a moment of playing it.