Development

A white man with blue eyes and blonde hair styled in an undercut. He is wearing a
gray T-shirt and jacket, and a hand is resting on his left shoulder.
A white woman with brown eyes and long, brown hair. She is wearing clear glasses
and a yellow sweater while facing slightly to the left.
Noel Berry (left) and Maddy Thorson (right) served as the lead programmer and
director of Celeste, respectively.
Conception

Celeste prototype developed for PICO-8

The original version of Celeste was developed by Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry in
August 2015 for the fantasy video game console PICO-8 during a game jam lasting
four days.[b]. Due to self-imposed restrictions and time limitations, Thorson and
Berry wanted the game to be minimal with additional mechanics to add complexity, to
which they felt idea of a character struggling to climb a mountain was fitting.[29]
The initial prototype was titled "Everest".[30] They decided to approach the
project as a single-player adventure from its initial conception with lessons from
the development of Thorson's previous game, TowerFall (2013), carried over into the
game.[29] After the development of the PICO-8 version, retroactively titled Celeste
Classic,[31] the team wanted to expand the game with additional development time
and fewer restrictions.[29] Celeste Classic was added into Celeste as a hidden
minigame.[28] Celeste was produced by Thorson, and Berry served as the lead
programmer.[32] The development team underwent crunch during the last few months of
development.[33]

Gameplay and accessibility

Thorson and Berry cited multiple games as having influenced the gameplay of
Celeste, including Donkey Kong Country 2 (1995), Metroid (1986), and Kero Blaster
(2014).[29] Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) was singled out by Thorson as the game
Celeste was most inspired by, particularly for its approach to problem-solving,[34]
and the game's level design was noted by Shacknews and Kill Screen to have been
reminiscent of levels created by Thorson in Super Mario Maker (2015).[22][35]
Thorson wanted Madeline's moveset to be minimal while still emulating the feeling
of bouldering, which inspired Madeline's limited stamina when climbing walls,[33]
and the importance of vertical space caused by the theme of climbing a mountain
further shaped the stamina system.[36]

Due to the gameplay requiring more precise control, the developers chose to not use
a pre-existing physics engine, as opting for proprietary physics simulations
allowed them to predetermine outcomes to certain situations, rather than rely on
complex simulations of certain engines.[37] The precise gameplay also influenced
the art style, as the team felt that pixel art could more clearly convey mechanics
such as hitboxes to the player, and was a style that the team was familiar with
creating.[38] As the team adjusted Madeline's attributes, levels were frequently
redesigned to accommodate them.[39]

During the design phase, the team wanted Celeste to feel difficult yet fair to the
player. Levels or mechanics deemed difficult in the "wrong way" were modified or
removed.[29] The team prioritized matching the player's intent over requiring
frame-perfect execution, though challenges later in the game require more
precision.[40] Several mechanics contribute to this, one example being "coyote
time", which allows players to jump for a small moment after leaving the ground,
named after Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote's ability to sometimes become
suspended in midair, only falling once made aware of the situation.[41][29]
Additional mechanics include the ability to buffer the input for a jump before
touching the ground, a mechanic that simulates rounded corners to prevent the
player from colliding with a corner,[42] and one that allows players to jump off of
a wall while slightly in front of it rather than requiring direct contact.[41] The
mechanics were designed to allow Celeste to be either hardcore or forgiving,
depending on the player's preference.[43] The game was further designed to make
more difficult challenges have a more clear solution.[44]

From my perspective as the game's designer, [...] Assist Mode breaks the game. I
spent many hours fine-tuning the difficulty of Celeste, so it's easy for me to feel
precious about my designs. But ultimately, we want to empower the player and give
them a good experience, and sometimes that means letting go.

– Maddy Thorson[45]
Systems like strawberries, B-sides, and Assist mode were designed to allow the
player to customize the difficulty of Celeste.[45] Thorson said that the ability of
Assist Mode to make the game less challenging served as a counterbalance to the
optional content such as strawberries, which make it more challenging.[46] The
implementation of an accessbility option was decided on after observing public
discourse surrounding Cuphead (2017) that originated after many players felt that
the game was too difficult or unforgiving. This mode was initially titled "Cheat
Mode", but Thorson found that the name was too judgemental, and decided on the name
"Assist Mode" as an alternative.[45] She said that the mode was added late into
development,[46] and Berry added that it took only "a couple of day's work" to
develop,[11] though balancing the game as a whole required extensive playtesting.
[29]