What is a roguelike game?
Roguelike and Roguelite are the sub-genres of Role-Playing Games or RPGs. There’s no specific definition of these sub-genres. For someone, they’re called roguelike because they’re like the 1980s dungeon crawler rogue. Maybe it’s something else for others. Anyway normally in roguelikes, player progression is typically reset upon dying, whereas roguelites will allow players to keep some progress or rewards between runs.
roguelike games
Roguelike fans and roguelike games are increasing day by day. Hades, a roguelite game, became extremely popular and won numerous awards, including some GOTYs in 2020. Sony recently released “Returnal,” a roguelite AAA game, on the PlayStation and PC. So if you have ever played any roguelike games and are now looking for more of these genres, then you are in the right place. There are so many roguelike games, but we picked the top 10 roguelike games of all time.
Here Are Our Top 10 Best Roguelike Games:
Best Roguelike Games,
10. Enter the Gungeon
Developer: Dodge Roll
Release: April 5, 2016
Platform: PC, Playstation, Xbox, Switch
Enter the Gungeon is a bullet hell themed roguelite game based on dungeons. As the name suggests the game’s main weapon is a gun. Even from enemies to its items, everything looks like a bullet or bullet themed. Players have to fight their enemies so that they can kill their past. There is a wide range of guns available in the game and players can unlock new guns after completing various levels.
There are four protagonists and they are the Marine, Convict, Pilot, and Hunter. Players can start the game as any of them and everyone has a unique ability like lock-pick chests, reduced reload time, or an extended dodge. Players have to explore different rooms on various levels for treasures or valuable loots and fight against enemies. Players can hold their guns by either winning over bosses or by buying from the shops. This game is so addictive.
roguelike video games
9. FTL: Faster Than Light
Developers: Subset Games
Release: September 14, 2012
FTL: Faster Than Light is a space-based real-time strategy roguelike game developed by indie developer Subset Games in 2012. In the game, players play as a crew of a single spaceship capable of travelling faster-than-light (FTL), holding critical information, and have to deliver it to allied space travellers. The player passes through the spacecraft over eight sectors, each with different difficulty and events procedurally generated in a roguelike fashion while fighting against Rebels and other hostile forces.
In the meantime, players can upgrade their ships, and recruit new crews. In the final sector, players have to fight against the Rebel flagship in a multi-stage fight. Players have to restart their progress if the ship is destroyed or all the crew members are lost.
is ftl on switch?
Unfortunately FTL: Faster Than Light is not available on Switch but you can play it on PC, Mac and Linux.
8. Into the Breach
Developer: Subset Games
Release: February 27, 2018
Platform: PC, macOS, Switch, Linux
Into the Breach is a turn-based roguelike strategy game, developed by Subset Games. It’s their second game, the first one was FTL: Faster Than Light. Into the Breach is set in the far future where humanity fights back against a group of monsters known as the vek. To tackle them, the player controls the giant mecha soldiers that can be equipped with various weapons, armour, and other equipment.
The game uses a turn-based combat system and the enemies are very congruous and aggressive, they force the player to think about the present and what they can do in the future like a game of chess. It’s one of the most stressful and approachable games out there so it won’t be easy for newcomers. But after a few runs with constant reward, it will be started getting easier.
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7. Risk of Rain 2
Developer: Hopoo Games
Release: March 28, 2019
Platform: PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Stadia
Risk of Rain 2 is a roguelike third-person shooter and a sequel to 2013’s 2D game Risk of Rain. Risk of Rain 2 is an enhanced version with increased difficulty levels and new sets of monsters, and other features from OG. On each level, the goal is to locate a teleporter. Players control a survivor who is forsaken on an alien planet.
The game supports up to four players online co-op and offers up to 10 playable characters, nine of them need to unlock by exploring. To survive they traverse through different environments, kills monsters, and loot chests to collect valuable resource and upgrade their defensive and offensive equipment. As the story ahead, the game becomes more difficult with more powerful and destructive enemies.
6. Dead Cells
Developer: Motion Twin
Release: May 10, 2017
Platform: PC, Android, Nintendo Switch, PS4, iOS, Xbox One, Linux, macOS
Dead Cells is a roguelike video game inspired by Metroidvania-style games.
In the Dead Cells game, the player controls an amorphous, gelatinous creature that controls a corpse in a dungeon. The player collects various items and weapons and valuable treasures and other tools by exploring and killing undead creatures.
Players can gain ‘Cells’, an in-game currency throughout the game, and use them to buy permanent upgrades or unlock other features. This game features the permadeath system, this means if the character dies, he will lose all his processes and start from the beginning. The Binding of Isaac, another popular roguelike game inspired the dev team to create this game.
5. Slay the Spire
Developer: Mega Crit Games
Release: November 14, 2017
Platform: PC, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, iOS, Xbox One
Slay the Spire is also a roguelike game but with a different approach, it’s a deck-building card game. In 2017, this game got huge popularity with more than 75,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews on steam. In Slay, the Spire the player can play as any of the four playable characters. Different characters have different abilities and decks. the players have to explore through the procedural level generation of multi-level floors with limited enemies and items. Win against enemies will be rewarded with new cards. This card will help to build more powerful decks and climb to higher levels.
4. Rogue Legacy
Developer: Cellar Door Games
Release: June 27, 2013
Platform: Windows, Linux, macOS, PS3, PS4, PSVita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS
Rogue Legacy is a 2013 roguelite game. In this game, the player explores a randomly generated dungeon and collects treasures like gold. Where they defeat four different bosses in different places of the dungeon, then defeat the final boss. Characters can jump and slash with their sword, along with other abilities. whenever a character dies, progress restarts as one of the three randomly generated heirs of the previous character. Each character has unique characteristics and abilities, such as IBS, colour blindness, and dwarfism.
3. Spelunky 2
Developers: Mossmouth, Blitworks
Release: September 15, 2020
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Windows
Spelunky 2 is a sequel to the 2008’s 2D game Spelunky. In the game, players play as Ana, the daughter of the explorer from the first game, who visits the Moon in order to find her missing parents. The story of this game is very pleasant. There are so many places to explore as hazard-filled, deadly caves filled with hostile enemies and lava-themed volcanoes.
This is a roguelike game so if Ana dies, everything will start from the beginning of the game and all her items will be lost. This game supports a four-player online multiplayer system. Every run is different from the previous with new discoveries and challenges so players don’t feel bored.
What is a roguelike game?
What is a rogue like game?
What is roguelike game?
What are roguelike game?
2. The Binding of Isaac
Developer: Edmund McMillen, Florian himsl
Release: September 28, 2011
Platform: Linux, Windows, macOS
The Binding of Isaac is a dark-themed game released a decade ago but is still one of the best roguelike games. The gameplay is based on the Biblical story the of Binding of Isaac. Isaac’s mother receives a message from God demanding Isaac’s life as proof of her faith, so he hides in the basement of their home filled with monsters and fights for his survival.
Players control Isaac and eleven other unlockable characters in the game. Isaac plays like a twin-stick shooter with some active and passive power-ups. The players have to navigate through procedurally generated grotesque caverns while fighting with Biblical monsters and even with Isaac’s own mother. This game has some DLCs and expansions. Recently, they released another DLC in 2021 named The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. It’s one of the greatest games of all time.
1. Hades
Developer: Supergiant Games
Release: September 17, 2020
Platforms: Switch, macOS, Windows
Hades is a roguelite action dungeon crawler video game developer by Supergiant Games. It’s a procedural narrative storytelling game. In Hades, the player control Zagreus, the son of Hades, he seeks to escape from his father’s realm to reach Mount Olympus. Zagreus meets other Greek gods like Zeus, Athena, Ares, Nyx, and many more from the Chthonic & Olympian gods, Olympian gods help him throughout his voyage. In each run, Zagreus pass through randomly generated rooms where he fights enemies and earns gifts and treasure.
Hades offers a hack-n-slash combat system, and players can fight with various combinations of their main weapon attack along with dash power and other magic abilities. Hades never feels lengthy or boring because, after every failed attempt, players gain permanent buffs for upcoming runs. Its gameplay, smoothness, background music, dialogues, and NPC reactions are well-polished. if you need any more reason to pick up Hades, this game won more than 15 ‘Game of the Year’ awards from well-known news and media websites like Washington Post, Time, USGamer, IGN, etc, along with hundreds of other awards in 2020.
And, that’s it. Let us know what you think about these best roguelike games and which one you are going to play next. Stay tuned to our website, we are coming up with more articles like this of other genres.
Click here, to read more about the roguelike genre.
