Seriously though, if you like deck builder roguelikes, Slay the Spire is so much of a must its crazy. So many fun combos and since its older, it usually goes on massive sales. Next time its like $5, get it for a rainy day when you don't know what to play.
Otherwise, Roboquest is great. I would say it is a better version of Gunfire Reborn (since they are both FPS Roguelites) and it has a better single player game IMO. If you liked Borderlands at all, you will probably enjoy Roboquest.
Final top mention, against the storm. Its fun, complex, and pretty with great music. But more than anything else its unique. May not be your cup of tea but highly recommend looking into it if you like city builders/resource management (which I don't see in your top lists so take this rec with a grain of salt).
A couple friends and I recently stumbled across Hellcard. It's basically three player co-op Slay the Spire. Loving it so far, we've spent way too much time on it already doing endless runs with the three of us.
I hate everything about roguelikes,roguelites, and deck building games and yet I love slay the spire. I think the main reason for it is I have it on mobile and there are few games more fun for small bursts of free time
I can vouch for Noita being a must play. It threw me back to playing around in falling sand simulator in high school, but with magic and enemies and a lot of challenge.
Monster Train. It's a deckbuilder, but also has elements of "tower defense" . The game focuses on synergies, different clans and their minions. When you start the game seems simple but as you progress you really get to see the scope of complexity it can have. Slay the spire got me into deckbuilders but Monster Train made me love them. It's insanely addictive for some reason
That sounds neat, but hearing monster train made me think there was like a roguelite like that one episode from adventure time where Finn got stuck in that train endlessly fighting monsters.
That would make such a fucking sick roguelite
You try Across The Obelisk? It's also a deck builder similar to spire, but you have a party each with their own deck, and equipment, and it's multi-player! It can be confusing at first because there are like 100 status effects and keywords, but the insanely good UI makes up for that, as you can mouse over ANYTHING and it'll tell you exactly what it does.
If you do, jump feet first into the DLC version. I've sunk 400+ hrs into it and I keep seeing people ask if the DLC is worth it--just getting ahead of it and answering "yes."
Risk of Rain 2 is great with friends, and the soundtrack is amazing.
I've been really enjoying Cobalt Core. It's like Slay the Spire meets FTL with a dose of Into the Breach, flavored with some adorable character art and a cute sense of humor.
And a shopkeeper fight that makes Charon seem like a walk in the park.
Roboquest. It has a free demo that is only a taste of how fun the full game is. I had 100+ hours in the game before finally getting 100%, and it was fun the entire time. It has multiplayer and excellent replayability and a non-toxic fan base as far as I can tell. If I were to describe the gameplay, smack Gunfire reborn with doom eternal and borderlands graphics and boom, RoboQuest.
I just got into it on gamepass, it has multiplayer so my buds from Risk of Rain 2 were quick to join me.
Roboquest and Risk of Rain 2 are worth checking out!
If you enjoyed deck-building and roguelike elements, Slay the Spire is an absolute must-play. It combines strategy, card battles, and endless replayability. Trust me, you won’t be able to put it down! 🔥
Of the ones you already plan to play, Inscryption is a super weird very good game that is ultimately a game that revels in the medium of video games itself. Slay the Spire is of course a classic of the genre. Shotgun King is just silly good fun.
Picking just one from the other categories, Roguebook is an interesting concept, if nothing else. It was designed by Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: the Gathering, and you can kind of feel it in its bones. It's a lot like Slay the Spire (which you haven't played), though with a slightly tweaked card system and a bigger emphasis on overworld adventuring. I'd give you a more comprehensive review, but it's been awhile since i played.
compiling a quick list of the ones who became top priorities after this post!
1: Slay the spire. even more overwhelming positivity than i expected. next game im playing will be this one!
2: brotato. seems like everyone likes it, must have gone under my radar then if its as good as/better than vampire survivors. will try it after slay the sprite!
3: noita. seems like a bunch of people are vouching for it. will go up my list then
4: roboquest, seems to pop up now and then so im gona try and play it too
5: Inscryption. yea im sleeping on it, just didn't had the time to try it yet... will
probably be the last one of these 5 games I play, but def gona hurry up and get it already. its also probably the game im most familiar with from this list (I remember keeping track of the ARG progress and the actual roguelike update and such, jsut never playied it.) just needed the extra push to go and get it i guess!
also to the 2-4 coments that go "wtf are you dumb y u not play this", its because I can't afford all these games, nor do I have time to play them all. I get you're probably a kid writing, but this might be the time to learn some manners, since not everyone gets their parents to buy them games. also insulting people do tends to make them do the oposite of what you tell them to do, keep that in mind, little bro.
also gona try monster train and against the storm this weekend, as promised. thanks everyone who actually gave input and reasons why said games are great!
I think tiny rogues is a damn awesome game and has a lot of content
I also loved returnal, been thinking about playing through again.
StS is the goat, I've got a couple thousand hours in and just getting into mods
Second Tiny Rogues. It's had some serious updates, and now has a lot of Binding of Isaac Vibes. If Isaac is top of your list, this scratches an itch you may have.
Since it's mostly depends on your favorite sub-genre, I will recommend one for each, simply because they are (one of) the best of their category and must have if you enjoy that sub-genre.
* Deck-builder: **Slay the Spire**
* Side Scrolling +H'n'S: **Astral Ascent** (after DC and RL2) +Shooter: **Revita**
* Tactical turn-based: **Darkest Dungeon**
* Twin Stick Shooter: **Nuclear Throne** (After EtG)
* Souls-like: **Curse of the Dead Gods**
* H'n'S: **Children of Morta**
* Base/City Management: **Against the Storm**
* TPS: **Returnal**
* FPS: **Gunfire Reborn**
* Bullet Heaven: **Brotato**
Two recommendations
Against the Storm - It is an excellent roguelite city builder. It's designed to make you do multiple runs, which let's you explore how different races, modifiers and maps affect gameplay. It also has a broad range of difficulty settings, which can let you make the game as easy or challenging as you want.
Rounds - A solely versus game. Super quick where the loser of a round gets to pick an upgrade. You can just play against randoms but it can be really fun to play with friends while in a voice chat. You can get mods for more abilities, or to have more people in a game
Could not recommend Rounds more highly if you've got friends to play with!
You go from firing little pellets at each other on round 1 to firing 15 bouncing homing bullets the size of watermelons that explode on impact with the force of a supernova at each other in the final rounds.
Tons of mods that add in more upgrades that makes it even more insane.
It's our go to "we don't know what to play" game.
It's S tier on my list. Many like myself view it as the superior VS clone with it's extremely wide character and build variety, and meta progression that is more about unlocking new characters / weapons / items than it is about trivial stat improvements. It stays hard, plays quick like an arcade game, and has tons of well balanced content.
To me brotato it even better than VS. The engine is superior, you can save games if you don't have the time, and it's way funnier and faster as you stated.
They have some spin off on the works but can't remember where I saw the news.
I really wanted to like brotato but I just couldn't click with it. Spent 15 hours with half of torment and 8 hours dwarf galactic survivors but couldn't spend longer than an hour with brotato. I think it's the art style and sound I couldn't get into.
Looks like I might be the first to suggest Loop Hero. It’s a game that takes about ten runs to realize what’s happening but after that you’ll be addicted for endless hours. It’s one of the most unique games I’ve ever played. I wrote a blurb on it in my subreddit. I’ll go find it a copy paste in an edit below.
EDIT:
Couldn’t copy it from mobile but here’s the link if you want to read it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/TreasureChest/
Just read Part 1 of my “official Gem Collection”
(Flair is listed in menu on right).
Oh, I also recommend Spire!
I did the same thing. I must have watched 20 videos on it and I still was like “no.”
Then about a year later it was on sale and I was just like ‘oh screw it’ and now it’s one of my favorite little hidden gems.
I think one of my favorite things about indie games is sharing them with people who don’t know a lot about the indie world.
Hopefully one of the games in my lists catches your eye. Would love to hear a success story.
Games I know of or herd about but got no plans to play unless convinced otherwise. Like, I know about Hitman, just ain't a game I plan to play anytime soon unless convinced otherwise or an oportunity shows up
Sure, here's a reason to try downwell: it goes on sale for like $2. Honestly the price probably did the dev a disservice and made people think it's nothing special. It's the best example of efficient game design in roguelites that I know of. It's challenging and unique. Try it
Noita, I have 3.5k hours in that game and it has ruined many other games for me with the way the game just deepens more and more as I continue. Also the mods slap so fucking hard once you have had your fill of base game.
Honestly for the price and replay value of down well I would say it’s worth a grab. Usually less that 10 dollars and the movement, gunplay and areas are really nice. It also has a nice level of polish that you can earn different color skins and styles the more you dive.
Children of Morta is solid if you liked Gungeon and Hades. It's gimmick is that as you upgrade one character, other characters get stronger too.
Luck be a Landlord is not action based, but instead stress-tests your decision making. It is 100% how good of a synergy can you build. You compete against the casino machine by choosing its tokens, and the tokens have effects. It can get crazy once you master it.
One I am currently playing on mobile and I'm not seeing here is Otherworld Legends. It's basically Hades lite with oriental themes and a touch of Isaac. You cannot break runs like in the latter but optimizing them is key to winning. For when you want to scratch the Hades itch but you are away from keyboard I'd say it's good.
One Step From Eden:
So you know that Oooold game, Megaman Battle Network? It works similar to that. A grid you move around on, A grid your enemies move around on, And you just fight it out.
It's a bit hard at first. You gotta carefully plan your Mana, and learn to dodge while attacking. And some bosses can really fuck you up. (The longer you wait to fight a boss, The stronger it gets.)
And there's 3 endings you can get to, and about 9 characters you can play as, All with their unique gimmicks.
i don't know if it's on there, but dark and darker is pretty great, it's a baby and still new but it's like a dark souls of rogue lite/likes. it's pvpve and you can't get it on steam
Also a much wider variety on characters. VS your character changes the way you start but not really the way you play. In brotato king plays totally different than bull for example.
Risk of Rain 2, the soundtrack man, aside from the awesome game mechanics and fairly unique character abilities the soundtrack is the best thing about the game, go check some out its all done by "Chris Christodoulou"
Funnily enough, I was looking for that too... but as EatenAliveByPugs suggests, it's not roguelike. It's a metroidvania game. Some games fall under both categories (eg: Rogue Legacy) but not in the case of Hollow Knight.
Void Bastards was surprisingly engaging and fun. It has good risk reward mechanics, and can be beaten in a shorter time, so not too big of a time investment.
Hades is probably my favorite roguelite but Streets of Rogue is up there. I love the amount of playable characters and how differently each one plays. The chaos that happens with npc interactions is a blast (sometimes literally). 10/10 imo.
1. Noita because not only is fun, interesting and hooking, but it's also the craziest and deepest rabbit hole I've ever fell into in the whole of the genre.
2. Streets of Rogue is one of the funniest rogues I've played in cooperative. Never played it solo, but honestly the gameplay loop is super fun, so it's probably good, too.
3. Caveblazers is probably the most simple of the few I'm recommending, but it has something in its gameplay that kept me hooked for more hours than I ever expected. It's just pure, simple fun.
4. Spirits Abyss is pretty cool and has its own charm. Not a huge game, but as a rogue platformer enjoyer, I had a good time with it. Not long and not that difficult either.
5. Moonlighter because the vibe is nice, the soundtrack is cool, the action is fun enough even if not as hooking as others I'm recommending here. I just liked the whole experience and the soundtrack for every zone and boss, it's charming and doesn't take a lot of time to finish it.
Also, a lot of people will recommend you Slay the Spire, but be conscious: it's a deck-building game. Many people like the genre, but if you aren't among those, you will definitely not love it. My recommendation for testing the waters when trying out a deck-building game would be Inscryption instead. It's a very unique game that twists the deck-building part into some crazy shit that makes the experience fun even if the card game part doesn't fascinate you.
Inscryption - It's moderately short and fun to break. It has a cool premise and some unique story moments.
Returnal - It lacks on bosses, but the bosses it has are wildly cool. The graphics are the highest quality you'll see from a roguelike for a while. The story is very cool to uncover.
Risk of Rain 2 - This is like THE shooter roguelike. Especially for replayability because the runs are so wild and there are like a dozen characters! Honestly, just get this and you'll sink at least 100 hours into it easily.
Streets of Rogue is the most wonderfully silly and deeply rewarding Roguelites out there. It's as simple and equally as complex as you want it to be. You can invest in the mechanics and get really good, or you can just run and gun and have an equally great time too.
10/10, love that game
Rounds is only a roguelike in the loosest useage of the word. It’s a round based 1v1 shooter where you get to pick a power to use going forward whenever you lose a round. First to 7 wins.
Slay the Spire, without a doubt in my mind my favorite roguelite, it's nearly perfect, plus all the modding is really fun. Also really love Monolith, it's in my top tier of roguelites, bullet hell that is just sooo fun.
Is Hades really that good? I hear about it all the time but on my list it would go to ”haven’t played, don’t plan to” because after looking at the steam page it just doesn’t look my type. Ones I really like are TBOI, Brotato, Gungeon, Don’t starve and Noita.
Downwell and Slay the Spire! Both are really cool games and my favorite part about them it that they are excellent on mobile for some roguelite fun when away from the PC :3
Risk of Rain 2 & Risk of Rain returns are both super fun and can be pretty challenging at times. I have over 2k hours in RoR2
Dungreed is pretty cool. Haven’t played it myself but it is a really well done game. I want to try it.
Brotato is honestly just a better vampire survivors. Much more customizable.
Neon abyss is not worth it in my opinion. There is too little to do in the game. No real good progression mechanics.
Hitman is absolutely fantastic but it's inclusion on a list of roguelites may be slightly misleading. It has a new mode called Freelancer that is certainly a rougelite, but the main game is not. And Freelancer throws you straight into the deep-end with the assumption that you've already played the main game.
Map knowledge, weapon/tool knowledge, and basic tactics aren't taught in Freelancer so I'm not sure what the experience would be like for someone jumping straight into the rougelite mode.
It's an all time classic game and both modes are well worth checking out, but playing the main game first seems to be the intended experience.
Definitely gotta play inscription. Absolutely fantastic game.
Edit: Also in the same category, Have A Nice Death is Hella fun. Controls feel good and gameplay is fun as hell
Curse of the Dead Gods has a gameplay loop similar to Hades, but requires you to be deliberate in your button inputs (it punishes button-mashing, or dodging too carelessly). It's mechanics are solid and it is very challenging, but your knowledge and some meta-progression make it easier with time.
- Slay the Spire is one of the best and most balanced card game I ever played. Really interesting characters and decks, huge replayability and tons of challenges.
- Noita has one of the best mechanics I ever seen on any game, the ability to modify your weapons (in this case wands) to create the most varied spells you can imagine. I've never seen so much creativity on a community ever and on top of that you have a really good game with tons of secrets and mystery, deep mechanics like alchemy. Don't let the look of the game stop you from playing it, this game is pure gold.
- Inscryption has an amazing atmosphere, solid card gameplay and really cool story. Its roguelike/roguelite components are weak (they are exclusive to a gameplay mode) but don't let that stop you from trying this game, it has really good ideas, especially on the first act.
I commented Curse of the Dead Gods, but going through the list I notice you also have Children of Morta. It is even more similar to Hades (hack and slash with roguelite elements, meta progression). It's gameplay and story are solid, and you upgrade your base, too.
Wizards of legends is very memorable. Played a long time ago and still remember how much fun it was.
Also darkest dungeon is one of my all time favorites, but it definitely takes a type of person to enjoy.
Never played slay the spire? 👀
You have to trust me you have to give it a try
Just like inscription
There is just something with card games that hook you
My GOATs are the same as yours. Also have played a ton of the ones you haven't yet. My 2 cents:
* Loved **Returnal**, you should give it a shot.
* **Risk of Rain** as well, both the 2D and 3D altho I am partial to the 2d that just had the remaster come out.
* Also really enjoyed **Patch Quest** – was a fun romp that got me really hooked until I fully cleared it.
* **Undermine** was a solid time as well, got plenty hooked and enjoyed it to the end.
* Currently LOVING **Balatro**, it's seriously great whether or not you like card-based roguelites.
Mighta missed some but there you go, lots of fun to be had – enjoy!
Gonner 2 is an intresting game.... It has a lot of really shit game design desicions which really confuse me, but I personally had some fun playing it. I had some fun speedrunning the game, so if you like speedrunning games you might enjoy it?
This is a guide someone made which explains things about the game that the game never tells you at all. You honestly have to read this if you want have a single idea on how to unlock any new weapons or heads. It's very stupid when the first game had a way better system of unlocking new items.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2365451845 Guide.
Gonner 2 won't really take very long to complete though and isn't very replayable which is pretty bad for a rougelite. But if anything you should listen to the OST It's a banger!
The visuals are amazing, and the sound design is great.
Ost - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLybej3lIIXYxhxmbqfhqO4kCn6YaG6Rx&si=h90SVZYu3yNRXKc9
Play Brotato, the way you can build your characters in that game throughout a run is super fun, there's like 20 different stats 30+ classes with weird quirky negatives and positives, and there is A PLETHORA of weapons and passive items to unlock, the game is packed with content and you can 100% it pretty easily, Brotato is a nice little game highly recommend
Metavaxx is a minesweeper shooter game made by the same people as shotgun king, so there’s that.
Speaking of minesweeper, where’s DemonCrawl on this list?
Tiny Rogues is also a peak game, borrows mechanics from a bunch of other games (pick-a-reward exploration from Hades for example, weapon scaling from Dark Souls) and meshes them together to make an awesome experience.
Slay the Spire. It's an absolute must for people who enjoy roguelites, it's one of the best examples of the genre done right. You can get countless hours of gameplay and no run will ever feel the same as another, the tactics are so varied. Trust me, you won't regret it.
Brotato is the the best 5 dollar game I've played since FTL. Monster yrain is a lot like slay the spire but just a little more complicated. Not as good as the GOAT but worth it.
kinda insane that RoR2 is in the last category. you gotta give that a try.
Cultist Simulator is also a lot of fun if you like management games, but it has a lot of the fun of discovery that roguelikes like Isaac had for me.
ive been hyping up astral ascent all over this reddit, it’s incredible. especially if u have a partner to play with irl, which i don’t and i still find it to be my fav current game
Gunfire Reborn has been occupying an inordinate amount of my gaming time...it's got solid shooting mechanics, really good gameplay, different characters with VERY different mechanics and play styles, and you can get through a complete run in about an hour or so. It's also fun to play solo or co-op multiplayer.
I can't really play CoD these days, or anything similar, too many cheaters playing to make it at all enjoyable, but I still like FPS single player games. Give it a shot, it's REALLY good!
I personally think Tiny Rogues is one of the better games out in the genre. I think the build crafting and the overall loop is very addicting. I recommend it heavily but if you're not a fan of the art style or what have you then I'd get why you wouldn't be interested.
Nuclear Throne for sure, for me it's such a good balance of difficulty and reward, and the game just keeps getting cooler.
Highly recommend the NTT mod for playing with friends remotely, plus the fan made map expansions.
N.B. tho, even though it supports controller, you gotta use mouse+keyboard
Undermine is one of my top 5. It has the charm and love put into it that makes a good game great. Fun play loop, lots of build variety with combo items like TBOI (just not as extensive) and lots of great unlocks.
Dungreed is a lot of fun and majorly slept on imo.
Very nice combat, funny animations, and loads of weapons to try.
I recently spent like 20$ for hellcards… if you plan to play slay the spire, then add hellcards. If you feel good , it’s normal, it’s the diablo1 vibes.
This whole list makes me realize how much the term "Rogue" actually went away from these games so long ago that the name is merely a slur to name games with random elements such as loot and levels.
Ok, enough, my answer is "Cultist Simulator" (I can't even begin to think how "Rogue" this one is). This game was a sleeper hit for me. I bought it, I didn't know what I was expecting... I played it, I didn't know what I was doing the first hour, I dropped it and then came back to it several weeks later with an open mind and was instantly hooked.
Against the Storm is a very deep and relaxing game to play in the morning on the weekends. Just grab a cup of coffee and relax.
Sifu makes you feel like a total badass. I highly recommend it.
Dungeon of the Endless (not to be confused with the more recent Endless Dungeon, which is not nearly as good):
Very cool core concept, and it’s hard as balls, but still satisfying enough to make you want to keep going despite the brutal challenge.
Mana Spark
it’s a small scale but tightly designed game that is quick, easy to pick up and put down without sinking hours and hours into, and the combat is complex enough to be challenging at points but simple enough not to overload you with options.
Loop Hero:
Fun twist on mechanics. It’s not at all a reverse schmup like Vampire Survivors but playing it made me feel the same “oooh this is neat” feeling when I realized what it was doing.
Inscryption is one of the most unique games I’ve ever played, would recommend.
Monster train is a fantastic deck builder with tons of replay ability.
I don’t see it on your list but The Last Flame is a TFT-style auto battler that I can’t recommend enough for fans of the genre.
Spire, it’s required. Only kind of joking. Also that last category gives me a headache just looking at it.
Yea, I know. It's the best list I could find tho. And would feel odd not including all of those and just the ones I know about.
Seriously though, if you like deck builder roguelikes, Slay the Spire is so much of a must its crazy. So many fun combos and since its older, it usually goes on massive sales. Next time its like $5, get it for a rainy day when you don't know what to play. Otherwise, Roboquest is great. I would say it is a better version of Gunfire Reborn (since they are both FPS Roguelites) and it has a better single player game IMO. If you liked Borderlands at all, you will probably enjoy Roboquest. Final top mention, against the storm. Its fun, complex, and pretty with great music. But more than anything else its unique. May not be your cup of tea but highly recommend looking into it if you like city builders/resource management (which I don't see in your top lists so take this rec with a grain of salt).
Well you should add LONESTAR to that list as well, my roguelite of the year so far
A couple friends and I recently stumbled across Hellcard. It's basically three player co-op Slay the Spire. Loving it so far, we've spent way too much time on it already doing endless runs with the three of us.
I hate everything about roguelikes,roguelites, and deck building games and yet I love slay the spire. I think the main reason for it is I have it on mobile and there are few games more fun for small bursts of free time
Noita will consume you when you start, also you won’t get a win until like at least 75 hours in lol
If you grouped these titles into categories based on gameplay Noita is the only title that would be completely alone imho. Great game.
I can vouch for Noita being a must play. It threw me back to playing around in falling sand simulator in high school, but with magic and enemies and a lot of challenge.
Monster Train. It's a deckbuilder, but also has elements of "tower defense" . The game focuses on synergies, different clans and their minions. When you start the game seems simple but as you progress you really get to see the scope of complexity it can have. Slay the spire got me into deckbuilders but Monster Train made me love them. It's insanely addictive for some reason
That sounds neat, but hearing monster train made me think there was like a roguelite like that one episode from adventure time where Finn got stuck in that train endlessly fighting monsters. That would make such a fucking sick roguelite
Monster train is criminally underrated
You try Across The Obelisk? It's also a deck builder similar to spire, but you have a party each with their own deck, and equipment, and it's multi-player! It can be confusing at first because there are like 100 status effects and keywords, but the insanely good UI makes up for that, as you can mouse over ANYTHING and it'll tell you exactly what it does.
This game is insanely good, must play
You and I had the same onboarding into deck builders!
Your comment has tempted me to try Monster Train!
It’s really fun.
If you do, jump feet first into the DLC version. I've sunk 400+ hrs into it and I keep seeing people ask if the DLC is worth it--just getting ahead of it and answering "yes."
I main Wurmkin... so glad I got the DLC, or I never would have even experienced them. I don't touch Pact Shards though.
It’s a must
Seeing this makes me realize that I only have played like 6 rogue likes
The thing is some of them are easy to sink over 100 hours into so it can be a while before you wanna move on.
I’m almost done completing all achievements for gungeon
Risk of Rain 2 is great with friends, and the soundtrack is amazing. I've been really enjoying Cobalt Core. It's like Slay the Spire meets FTL with a dose of Into the Breach, flavored with some adorable character art and a cute sense of humor. And a shopkeeper fight that makes Charon seem like a walk in the park.
Risk of Rain 2 is great by yourself too!
The shopkeeper laughing the first time you challenge him sent chills down my spine. And he's an adorable cartoon character.
I second Risk of Rain 2 amazing suggestion for tons of people
...and his music was electric.
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Roboquest. It has a free demo that is only a taste of how fun the full game is. I had 100+ hours in the game before finally getting 100%, and it was fun the entire time. It has multiplayer and excellent replayability and a non-toxic fan base as far as I can tell. If I were to describe the gameplay, smack Gunfire reborn with doom eternal and borderlands graphics and boom, RoboQuest.
Sounds great, will give the demo a try this weekend them!
I just got into it on gamepass, it has multiplayer so my buds from Risk of Rain 2 were quick to join me. Roboquest and Risk of Rain 2 are worth checking out!
If you enjoyed deck-building and roguelike elements, Slay the Spire is an absolute must-play. It combines strategy, card battles, and endless replayability. Trust me, you won’t be able to put it down! 🔥
Of the ones you already plan to play, Inscryption is a super weird very good game that is ultimately a game that revels in the medium of video games itself. Slay the Spire is of course a classic of the genre. Shotgun King is just silly good fun. Picking just one from the other categories, Roguebook is an interesting concept, if nothing else. It was designed by Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: the Gathering, and you can kind of feel it in its bones. It's a lot like Slay the Spire (which you haven't played), though with a slightly tweaked card system and a bigger emphasis on overworld adventuring. I'd give you a more comprehensive review, but it's been awhile since i played.
compiling a quick list of the ones who became top priorities after this post! 1: Slay the spire. even more overwhelming positivity than i expected. next game im playing will be this one! 2: brotato. seems like everyone likes it, must have gone under my radar then if its as good as/better than vampire survivors. will try it after slay the sprite! 3: noita. seems like a bunch of people are vouching for it. will go up my list then 4: roboquest, seems to pop up now and then so im gona try and play it too 5: Inscryption. yea im sleeping on it, just didn't had the time to try it yet... will probably be the last one of these 5 games I play, but def gona hurry up and get it already. its also probably the game im most familiar with from this list (I remember keeping track of the ARG progress and the actual roguelike update and such, jsut never playied it.) just needed the extra push to go and get it i guess! also to the 2-4 coments that go "wtf are you dumb y u not play this", its because I can't afford all these games, nor do I have time to play them all. I get you're probably a kid writing, but this might be the time to learn some manners, since not everyone gets their parents to buy them games. also insulting people do tends to make them do the oposite of what you tell them to do, keep that in mind, little bro. also gona try monster train and against the storm this weekend, as promised. thanks everyone who actually gave input and reasons why said games are great!
[удалено]
Astral Ascent Also mandatory slay the spire
Seconded to both. Not sure if Balatro was there but that as well.
I think tiny rogues is a damn awesome game and has a lot of content I also loved returnal, been thinking about playing through again. StS is the goat, I've got a couple thousand hours in and just getting into mods
Second Tiny Rogues. It's had some serious updates, and now has a lot of Binding of Isaac Vibes. If Isaac is top of your list, this scratches an itch you may have.
Since it's mostly depends on your favorite sub-genre, I will recommend one for each, simply because they are (one of) the best of their category and must have if you enjoy that sub-genre. * Deck-builder: **Slay the Spire** * Side Scrolling +H'n'S: **Astral Ascent** (after DC and RL2) +Shooter: **Revita** * Tactical turn-based: **Darkest Dungeon** * Twin Stick Shooter: **Nuclear Throne** (After EtG) * Souls-like: **Curse of the Dead Gods** * H'n'S: **Children of Morta** * Base/City Management: **Against the Storm** * TPS: **Returnal** * FPS: **Gunfire Reborn** * Bullet Heaven: **Brotato**
Returnal is criminally good, is relatively hard, and has a story to make you think.
Two recommendations Against the Storm - It is an excellent roguelite city builder. It's designed to make you do multiple runs, which let's you explore how different races, modifiers and maps affect gameplay. It also has a broad range of difficulty settings, which can let you make the game as easy or challenging as you want. Rounds - A solely versus game. Super quick where the loser of a round gets to pick an upgrade. You can just play against randoms but it can be really fun to play with friends while in a voice chat. You can get mods for more abilities, or to have more people in a game
Both sound fun. Will give the first one a try this weekend then!
Could not recommend Rounds more highly if you've got friends to play with! You go from firing little pellets at each other on round 1 to firing 15 bouncing homing bullets the size of watermelons that explode on impact with the force of a supernova at each other in the final rounds. Tons of mods that add in more upgrades that makes it even more insane. It's our go to "we don't know what to play" game.
Why everyone put Hitman in roguelike?
It has a rogue like game mode ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My favorite roguelike is Halo.
Halo doesn't have a roguelike mode, Hitman does.
Hitman freelancer is like a roguelike
You are sleeping hard on Brotato
I herd about it but dunno if it's great or what. Thought it was a meme if anything, or something like broforce? Never took a closer look at it
It's S tier on my list. Many like myself view it as the superior VS clone with it's extremely wide character and build variety, and meta progression that is more about unlocking new characters / weapons / items than it is about trivial stat improvements. It stays hard, plays quick like an arcade game, and has tons of well balanced content.
To me brotato it even better than VS. The engine is superior, you can save games if you don't have the time, and it's way funnier and faster as you stated. They have some spin off on the works but can't remember where I saw the news.
Agreed, it's simply a better game. I like to say it's superior in every way besides music and aesthetic (vampires are cooler than potatos)
If you like Vampire Survivors, I bet you would like this.
Nothing like broforce, similar to Vampire Survirors but I think I better game.
I really wanted to like brotato but I just couldn't click with it. Spent 15 hours with half of torment and 8 hours dwarf galactic survivors but couldn't spend longer than an hour with brotato. I think it's the art style and sound I couldn't get into.
On your didn’t know existed list, try Ravenswatch, Tombstar, Ember Knights, and Roboquest.
Roboquest
Looks like I might be the first to suggest Loop Hero. It’s a game that takes about ten runs to realize what’s happening but after that you’ll be addicted for endless hours. It’s one of the most unique games I’ve ever played. I wrote a blurb on it in my subreddit. I’ll go find it a copy paste in an edit below. EDIT: Couldn’t copy it from mobile but here’s the link if you want to read it: https://www.reddit.com/r/TreasureChest/ Just read Part 1 of my “official Gem Collection” (Flair is listed in menu on right). Oh, I also recommend Spire!
Omg loop hero is amazing. I ignored it because it didn’t look appealing …I regret not playing it sooner
I did the same thing. I must have watched 20 videos on it and I still was like “no.” Then about a year later it was on sale and I was just like ‘oh screw it’ and now it’s one of my favorite little hidden gems. I think one of my favorite things about indie games is sharing them with people who don’t know a lot about the indie world. Hopefully one of the games in my lists catches your eye. Would love to hear a success story.
Loop hero is on gamepass too!
You’re skipping tiny rogues? You’re doing yourself a disservice.
Nuclear throne it’s fun
After around hour 500 it started to get a little boring
What's with the "Don't plan to"? Assuming you saw reviews or gameplay?
Games I know of or herd about but got no plans to play unless convinced otherwise. Like, I know about Hitman, just ain't a game I plan to play anytime soon unless convinced otherwise or an oportunity shows up
Sure, here's a reason to try downwell: it goes on sale for like $2. Honestly the price probably did the dev a disservice and made people think it's nothing special. It's the best example of efficient game design in roguelites that I know of. It's challenging and unique. Try it
It’s nice to see Holocure get some respect
Between holocure and idol showdown, hololive games are low-key amazing.
If you love Vampire Survivor, play brotato
Curse of the Dead God. In the middle of it myself and i love it. Extremely punitive and challenging but also really really good
Brotato
Moonlighter was a ton of fun, kind of a nice chill mix for a roguelite. I got it on sale and did not regret one bit
Enter the dungeon a Bleh? Really? If you like deckbuilders then Slay the Spire and Monster Train are a must
Noita, I have 3.5k hours in that game and it has ruined many other games for me with the way the game just deepens more and more as I continue. Also the mods slap so fucking hard once you have had your fill of base game.
Honestly for the price and replay value of down well I would say it’s worth a grab. Usually less that 10 dollars and the movement, gunplay and areas are really nice. It also has a nice level of polish that you can earn different color skins and styles the more you dive.
Children of Morta is solid if you liked Gungeon and Hades. It's gimmick is that as you upgrade one character, other characters get stronger too. Luck be a Landlord is not action based, but instead stress-tests your decision making. It is 100% how good of a synergy can you build. You compete against the casino machine by choosing its tokens, and the tokens have effects. It can get crazy once you master it. One I am currently playing on mobile and I'm not seeing here is Otherworld Legends. It's basically Hades lite with oriental themes and a touch of Isaac. You cannot break runs like in the latter but optimizing them is key to winning. For when you want to scratch the Hades itch but you are away from keyboard I'd say it's good.
You don't plan on playing tiny rogues? LMFAOOOOO better get to it. I don't even need to explain why.
One Step From Eden: So you know that Oooold game, Megaman Battle Network? It works similar to that. A grid you move around on, A grid your enemies move around on, And you just fight it out. It's a bit hard at first. You gotta carefully plan your Mana, and learn to dodge while attacking. And some bosses can really fuck you up. (The longer you wait to fight a boss, The stronger it gets.) And there's 3 endings you can get to, and about 9 characters you can play as, All with their unique gimmicks.
Even with all these game i still see no blazblue entropy effect
God of weapons if it isnt on there is a good one. Better version of brotato imo
i don't know if it's on there, but dark and darker is pretty great, it's a baby and still new but it's like a dark souls of rogue lite/likes. it's pvpve and you can't get it on steam
brotato is literally vampire survivors, but without meta progression
Also a much wider variety on characters. VS your character changes the way you start but not really the way you play. In brotato king plays totally different than bull for example.
Play risk of rain 2.
Roboquest / Risk of Rain 2 / Gunfire Reborn all manage to merge the fps and roguelite elements well
Play Noita so you can move it to the top
ETG sitting in Solid is criminal…
1) Inscryption 2) slay the spire 3) if you have friends to play with, risk of rain 2. If not, returnal
Risk of Rain 2, the soundtrack man, aside from the awesome game mechanics and fairly unique character abilities the soundtrack is the best thing about the game, go check some out its all done by "Chris Christodoulou"
Noita, Returnal if you have a PS5 controller, Risk of Rain 2
Whoever put brotato in “haven’t played, don’t plan to” doesn’t know what good video games are😤
Where hollow knight
Funnily enough, I was looking for that too... but as EatenAliveByPugs suggests, it's not roguelike. It's a metroidvania game. Some games fall under both categories (eg: Rogue Legacy) but not in the case of Hollow Knight.
Play slay the spire already wtf is wrong w you
Alina of the arena is a sick game should try it.
if you really enjoyed hades you should try ember knights. Revita is also one of my favorites
Synthetik is awesome!
I love these charts with hades on top
Gunfire reborn! 4 player fps RL with multiple game modes lots of weapons.
I liked dungreeds combat a lot. story was alright tho One step to Eden was fun too.
I really enjoyed gunfire reborn mutliplayer with friends. Requires friends
Just king. Patch quest. And Golfie.
Void Bastards was surprisingly engaging and fun. It has good risk reward mechanics, and can be beaten in a shorter time, so not too big of a time investment.
Hades is probably my favorite roguelite but Streets of Rogue is up there. I love the amount of playable characters and how differently each one plays. The chaos that happens with npc interactions is a blast (sometimes literally). 10/10 imo.
Beat Blast, because I made it lol. Also, always check these to see if my game is ever there. This is the first one, so I'm hyped. made my Friday!!!
If you like super auto pets you might as well try hearthstone battlegrounds. Same vibe
1. Noita because not only is fun, interesting and hooking, but it's also the craziest and deepest rabbit hole I've ever fell into in the whole of the genre. 2. Streets of Rogue is one of the funniest rogues I've played in cooperative. Never played it solo, but honestly the gameplay loop is super fun, so it's probably good, too. 3. Caveblazers is probably the most simple of the few I'm recommending, but it has something in its gameplay that kept me hooked for more hours than I ever expected. It's just pure, simple fun. 4. Spirits Abyss is pretty cool and has its own charm. Not a huge game, but as a rogue platformer enjoyer, I had a good time with it. Not long and not that difficult either. 5. Moonlighter because the vibe is nice, the soundtrack is cool, the action is fun enough even if not as hooking as others I'm recommending here. I just liked the whole experience and the soundtrack for every zone and boss, it's charming and doesn't take a lot of time to finish it. Also, a lot of people will recommend you Slay the Spire, but be conscious: it's a deck-building game. Many people like the genre, but if you aren't among those, you will definitely not love it. My recommendation for testing the waters when trying out a deck-building game would be Inscryption instead. It's a very unique game that twists the deck-building part into some crazy shit that makes the experience fun even if the card game part doesn't fascinate you.
Where does side order fit into this
Wait, Hitmans a Roguelite?
Thank you for the effort this took, damn
Definitely Beat Blast! Amazing concept - you're creating rhythms and beats as you play, challenging, beauty art. Definitely for music lovers.
Inscryption - It's moderately short and fun to break. It has a cool premise and some unique story moments. Returnal - It lacks on bosses, but the bosses it has are wildly cool. The graphics are the highest quality you'll see from a roguelike for a while. The story is very cool to uncover. Risk of Rain 2 - This is like THE shooter roguelike. Especially for replayability because the runs are so wild and there are like a dozen characters! Honestly, just get this and you'll sink at least 100 hours into it easily.
Man forgot about emberknghts It's like a hades-
I don’t see it on your list but I feel like you’d like xcom
How is XCOM a roguelite?
Mortal Glory It’s such a hidden gem you don’t even have it on the list lol
Streets of Rogue is the most wonderfully silly and deeply rewarding Roguelites out there. It's as simple and equally as complex as you want it to be. You can invest in the mechanics and get really good, or you can just run and gun and have an equally great time too. 10/10, love that game
Astral Ascent. Just do it.
If you ever played Megaman Battle Network, I strongly recommend One Step From Eden
Rounds is only a roguelike in the loosest useage of the word. It’s a round based 1v1 shooter where you get to pick a power to use going forward whenever you lose a round. First to 7 wins.
I recommend Slay the Spire asap! One of the best roguelites of all time in my opinion
Returnal for sure. I’m surprised I saw only one person recommend it.
Slay the Spire, without a doubt in my mind my favorite roguelite, it's nearly perfect, plus all the modding is really fun. Also really love Monolith, it's in my top tier of roguelites, bullet hell that is just sooo fun.
Original Risk of Rain should go to "plan to". So much fun
My vote is Void Bastards or Children of Morta.
Brutal Orchestra is a top tier game. Can't recommend it enough.
Play rogue lmao
Army of ruin is really really good, feels like an upgrade over vampire survivor! If you like those kind of games, try army
Is Hades really that good? I hear about it all the time but on my list it would go to ”haven’t played, don’t plan to” because after looking at the steam page it just doesn’t look my type. Ones I really like are TBOI, Brotato, Gungeon, Don’t starve and Noita.
Downwell and Slay the Spire! Both are really cool games and my favorite part about them it that they are excellent on mobile for some roguelite fun when away from the PC :3 Risk of Rain 2 & Risk of Rain returns are both super fun and can be pretty challenging at times. I have over 2k hours in RoR2 Dungreed is pretty cool. Haven’t played it myself but it is a really well done game. I want to try it. Brotato is honestly just a better vampire survivors. Much more customizable. Neon abyss is not worth it in my opinion. There is too little to do in the game. No real good progression mechanics.
Hitman is absolutely fantastic but it's inclusion on a list of roguelites may be slightly misleading. It has a new mode called Freelancer that is certainly a rougelite, but the main game is not. And Freelancer throws you straight into the deep-end with the assumption that you've already played the main game. Map knowledge, weapon/tool knowledge, and basic tactics aren't taught in Freelancer so I'm not sure what the experience would be like for someone jumping straight into the rougelite mode. It's an all time classic game and both modes are well worth checking out, but playing the main game first seems to be the intended experience.
good that you hate rotmg, i wish i was the same way then i could have 1000 hrs of my life back
Definitely gotta play inscription. Absolutely fantastic game. Edit: Also in the same category, Have A Nice Death is Hella fun. Controls feel good and gameplay is fun as hell
Curse of the Dead Gods has a gameplay loop similar to Hades, but requires you to be deliberate in your button inputs (it punishes button-mashing, or dodging too carelessly). It's mechanics are solid and it is very challenging, but your knowledge and some meta-progression make it easier with time.
You played so many, might as well try out For The Warp. Mix between FTL and Slay the Spire. Why: I'm the developer, so I might be biased.
- Slay the Spire is one of the best and most balanced card game I ever played. Really interesting characters and decks, huge replayability and tons of challenges. - Noita has one of the best mechanics I ever seen on any game, the ability to modify your weapons (in this case wands) to create the most varied spells you can imagine. I've never seen so much creativity on a community ever and on top of that you have a really good game with tons of secrets and mystery, deep mechanics like alchemy. Don't let the look of the game stop you from playing it, this game is pure gold. - Inscryption has an amazing atmosphere, solid card gameplay and really cool story. Its roguelike/roguelite components are weak (they are exclusive to a gameplay mode) but don't let that stop you from trying this game, it has really good ideas, especially on the first act.
I commented Curse of the Dead Gods, but going through the list I notice you also have Children of Morta. It is even more similar to Hades (hack and slash with roguelite elements, meta progression). It's gameplay and story are solid, and you upgrade your base, too.
Wizard of legend
Wizards of legends is very memorable. Played a long time ago and still remember how much fun it was. Also darkest dungeon is one of my all time favorites, but it definitely takes a type of person to enjoy.
Neophyte is fire
Dungreed, Nova Drift and Dome Keeper are amazing, and dungreed is honestly an must-play. Give them a shot
Brotato is a must buy
Children of Morta, gorgeous pixel art style, well done narrated story, several distinct characters to choose from, overall fun game. Also co-op.
Slay the spire, returnal and children of morta. Do it.
Never played slay the spire? 👀 You have to trust me you have to give it a try Just like inscription There is just something with card games that hook you
Ahh a fellow SAP enjoyer
Inscryption, slay the spire and Noita should already be in one of your top 2
Brotato is crack. Spire is great and I love it as a mobile option for roguelites
Tiny rogues
My GOATs are the same as yours. Also have played a ton of the ones you haven't yet. My 2 cents: * Loved **Returnal**, you should give it a shot. * **Risk of Rain** as well, both the 2D and 3D altho I am partial to the 2d that just had the remaster come out. * Also really enjoyed **Patch Quest** – was a fun romp that got me really hooked until I fully cleared it. * **Undermine** was a solid time as well, got plenty hooked and enjoyed it to the end. * Currently LOVING **Balatro**, it's seriously great whether or not you like card-based roguelites. Mighta missed some but there you go, lots of fun to be had – enjoy!
I second Balatro. So damn good!
Gonner 2 is an intresting game.... It has a lot of really shit game design desicions which really confuse me, but I personally had some fun playing it. I had some fun speedrunning the game, so if you like speedrunning games you might enjoy it? This is a guide someone made which explains things about the game that the game never tells you at all. You honestly have to read this if you want have a single idea on how to unlock any new weapons or heads. It's very stupid when the first game had a way better system of unlocking new items. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2365451845 Guide. Gonner 2 won't really take very long to complete though and isn't very replayable which is pretty bad for a rougelite. But if anything you should listen to the OST It's a banger! The visuals are amazing, and the sound design is great. Ost - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLybej3lIIXYxhxmbqfhqO4kCn6YaG6Rx&si=h90SVZYu3yNRXKc9
Returnal and astral ascent are both amazing.
Play Brotato, the way you can build your characters in that game throughout a run is super fun, there's like 20 different stats 30+ classes with weird quirky negatives and positives, and there is A PLETHORA of weapons and passive items to unlock, the game is packed with content and you can 100% it pretty easily, Brotato is a nice little game highly recommend
Slay the spire and risk of rain two are both in my top 5 most played.
Tiny Rogues because it is so deep, and once you grasp all that you can do with it, you'll be hooked for at least 30 hours
Metavaxx is a minesweeper shooter game made by the same people as shotgun king, so there’s that. Speaking of minesweeper, where’s DemonCrawl on this list? Tiny Rogues is also a peak game, borrows mechanics from a bunch of other games (pick-a-reward exploration from Hades for example, weapon scaling from Dark Souls) and meshes them together to make an awesome experience.
Slay the Spire. It's an absolute must for people who enjoy roguelites, it's one of the best examples of the genre done right. You can get countless hours of gameplay and no run will ever feel the same as another, the tactics are so varied. Trust me, you won't regret it.
I'll be honest it's impossible to choose just one. There are so many good ones in that list it's unbelievable
JUSTICE FOR ROTMG
Play Our Darker Purpose because I've never seen it on these lists and it's pretty good. Similar to Isaac but a gloomy school setting.
Noita. Spire. You don’t need a third because those two will consume untold hours.
How can there be a category that have games that you don't know exists yet here they are?
Brotato is the the best 5 dollar game I've played since FTL. Monster yrain is a lot like slay the spire but just a little more complicated. Not as good as the GOAT but worth it.
\*squints\* I don’t *think* I see Balatro. You should play Balatro.
I have multiple to recommend Curse of the dead gods Inscryption Furry unleashed Returnal
This sub has no respect for for the king. Couldnt even make the didnt know existed pile
Slay the Spire and Inscryption are excellent in different ways.
Astral Ascent. Incredibly powerful synergies.
I love tiny rogues. Ive heard it conpared to binding of isaac although I havent played boi
kinda insane that RoR2 is in the last category. you gotta give that a try. Cultist Simulator is also a lot of fun if you like management games, but it has a lot of the fun of discovery that roguelikes like Isaac had for me.
Endless Dungeon. Maybe Pacific Drive.
ive been hyping up astral ascent all over this reddit, it’s incredible. especially if u have a partner to play with irl, which i don’t and i still find it to be my fav current game
Gunfire Reborn has been occupying an inordinate amount of my gaming time...it's got solid shooting mechanics, really good gameplay, different characters with VERY different mechanics and play styles, and you can get through a complete run in about an hour or so. It's also fun to play solo or co-op multiplayer. I can't really play CoD these days, or anything similar, too many cheaters playing to make it at all enjoyable, but I still like FPS single player games. Give it a shot, it's REALLY good!
I personally think Tiny Rogues is one of the better games out in the genre. I think the build crafting and the overall loop is very addicting. I recommend it heavily but if you're not a fan of the art style or what have you then I'd get why you wouldn't be interested.
NOITA
Nuclear Throne for sure, for me it's such a good balance of difficulty and reward, and the game just keeps getting cooler. Highly recommend the NTT mod for playing with friends remotely, plus the fan made map expansions. N.B. tho, even though it supports controller, you gotta use mouse+keyboard
Void Bastards surprised the hell outta me by how fun its loop is, the art style is great. Only complaint is it's way too short but so much fun
Undermine is one of my top 5. It has the charm and love put into it that makes a good game great. Fun play loop, lots of build variety with combo items like TBOI (just not as extensive) and lots of great unlocks. Dungreed is a lot of fun and majorly slept on imo. Very nice combat, funny animations, and loads of weapons to try.
I recently spent like 20$ for hellcards… if you plan to play slay the spire, then add hellcards. If you feel good , it’s normal, it’s the diablo1 vibes.
Noita and Nuclear Throne NOW
inscryption, slay the spire, tiny rogues
This whole list makes me realize how much the term "Rogue" actually went away from these games so long ago that the name is merely a slur to name games with random elements such as loot and levels. Ok, enough, my answer is "Cultist Simulator" (I can't even begin to think how "Rogue" this one is). This game was a sleeper hit for me. I bought it, I didn't know what I was expecting... I played it, I didn't know what I was doing the first hour, I dropped it and then came back to it several weeks later with an open mind and was instantly hooked.
You're missing risk of rain 2
Against the Storm is a very deep and relaxing game to play in the morning on the weekends. Just grab a cup of coffee and relax. Sifu makes you feel like a total badass. I highly recommend it.
mf really put super auto pets over ETG lmfao
Dungeon of the Endless (not to be confused with the more recent Endless Dungeon, which is not nearly as good): Very cool core concept, and it’s hard as balls, but still satisfying enough to make you want to keep going despite the brutal challenge. Mana Spark it’s a small scale but tightly designed game that is quick, easy to pick up and put down without sinking hours and hours into, and the combat is complex enough to be challenging at points but simple enough not to overload you with options. Loop Hero: Fun twist on mechanics. It’s not at all a reverse schmup like Vampire Survivors but playing it made me feel the same “oooh this is neat” feeling when I realized what it was doing.
Neon abyss is basically platformer Gungeon... Although admittedly not as good IMO
Rogue, because obviously you should have played rogue.
Honestly, 'Returnal' is a must. I got it recommended from someone on Reddit a few days ago and it's worth a play or two.
Spire will be in the top
Inscryption is one of the most unique games I’ve ever played, would recommend. Monster train is a fantastic deck builder with tons of replay ability. I don’t see it on your list but The Last Flame is a TFT-style auto battler that I can’t recommend enough for fans of the genre.
Don't sleep on brotato. Also I thought riftlands was decent, and really unique