About Cheat Engine

Cheat Engine is a tool designed to help you modify single-player games (without an internet connection) so you can make them harder or easier depending on your preference—for example, if 100 HP feels too easy, try playing with a max of 1 HP. It also includes other useful tools for debugging games and even normal applications, and helps you protect your system by letting you inspect memory modifications by backdoors and contains some ways to unhide them from conventional means.

It comes with a memory scanner to quickly scan for variables used within a game and allow you to change them. It also includes a debugger, disassembler, assembler, speedhack, trainer maker, direct 3D manipulation tools, system inspection tools, and more—useful for normal programmers and software analysts too.

Besides these tools, it comes with extensive scripting support so experienced developers can create their own applications with ease and share them with others.

If you need help with Cheat Engine, you can contact the developer via the forum. Note: It will most likely not work on online games, so don’t bother asking about that.

Cheat Engine’s source code is visible for everyone; everyone is welcome to compile their own version and experiment. For licensing or publishing your own build, contact the author for information.

About DBVM

DBVM is a virtual machine that runs your operating system and expands the instruction set to allow usermode application access to kernelmode. It allows programs to redirect the flow of system events to different locations and change their results (for example, redirecting an interrupt to a different interrupt handler without editing the interrupt table).

Cheat Engine can use these added instructions to make game modification and debugging easier, especially on Vista 64. To use it, boot with DBVM (which then boots your OS, usually Windows), and Cheat Engine will automatically detect that DBVM is loaded and use the added functionality.

Safety: DBVM can be used by malicious software. It therefore requires a 160-bit key to use the instructions. One of the instructions is to change the default key so other programs cannot use it without the proper key.

An easy way to check if your system supports DBVM is to right-click the CE logo to show the about screen; it will tell you if your system is capable and, if DBVM is loaded, which revision you are running.

History and Development

Cheat Engine has been in development for many years. It started as a tool for finding and changing values in games and has grown to include a debugger, disassembler, Lua scripting, Mono/.NET support, and optional DBVM integration. The project is maintained by Dark Byte and contributors. The source code is published for transparency and education; many people learn reverse engineering and assembly by reading and modifying it.

New versions are released periodically. Patrons on Patreon often get early access to Windows builds; Mac and public releases follow. The forum is used for bug reports and feature requests.

Common Use Cases

• Adjusting difficulty — Make a game easier (more health, more ammo) or harder (limit resources, one-hit death) in single-player.
• Speeding up progress — Use speedhack or edit gold/experience to reduce grinding in offline games.
• Learning and teaching — Understand memory layout, assembly, and debugging. The built-in tutorial and wiki are used in classrooms and self-study.
• Creating and sharing trainers — Build .CT files or standalone trainers for games and share them on the forum.
• Testing your own game — Developers attach CE to their game to find and fix bugs or balance issues.
• Security and analysis — Inspect how applications behave in memory (in a legal context).

Legal and Ethical Use

Cheat Engine is for private and educational use. You must not violate the EULA or terms of service of any game or application you attach to. Using CE to gain an unfair advantage in online games, to bypass paywalls, or to crack software is not allowed and may be illegal. The author does not support or condone such use. When in doubt, use CE only on software you own or have permission to analyze, and only in ways that do not harm others or break agreements.

Why the Name “Cheat Engine”?

The name reflects the tool’s origins as a way to find and change values in games—e.g. health, ammo, money—so players could “cheat” in single-player. Over time it grew into a full debugging and memory-inspection platform. Today it is used as much for learning, development, and analysis as for game modification. The “engine” part suggests it is a general-purpose framework (scanner, debugger, scripts) that can be applied to many kinds of software, not just games.

Who Maintains Cheat Engine?

Cheat Engine was created and is led by Dark Byte. Development is supported by the community: bug reports and feature requests on discussion and tutorials on the forum, and financial support via Patreon. The source code is open so that anyone can study it, compile their own build, or contribute. For licensing and redistribution of custom builds, the author should be contacted. New releases are announced on the forum; Patreon supporters often receive early access to Windows builds before public release.

Platforms and Versions

The primary platform is Windows (32-bit and 64-bit). A Mac version is available (e.g. 7.5.2) and may have limitations or bugs. For Linux and Android, CEServer allows a Windows CE client to attach to a process running on those systems over the network—useful for advanced users and developers. There is no official mobile CE app; use only official or trusted sources when downloading. See the Downloads page for current builds and the Version History for release notes.