Best Roguelike Games
So, what do we mean by roguelike games? To summarize briefly, roguelike games have permanent death, shortly known as a perma-death. Perma-death means you lose all your progress when you die and you have to start over from scratch and encounter different maps each time. How long your character will live depends on your skill, your choices, and how you use the resources you find. Here are the best games in the rogue-like genre that will make you lose your mind.
Best Roguelike Games You Have to Play
Hades
Mythology lovers, this game is for you! Hades has its place in the hearts of many players with its mythological characters, fighting mechanics and in-game diversity. Zagreus, son of Hades, is our main character in the game.
The story of the game is based on Zagreus trying to reach the earth in order to find his real mother, Persephone. Although Hades does not want his son to go to Olympus, Zagreus will not give up on his quest. Of course, we are not alone in this process as we get help from our god relatives on Mount Olympus. The power-ups we receive from the gods and the relatively small variety of weapons become perfect with different gameplay brought by unique features.
In addition to the fighting mechanics, we find many collectible items as we progress in the game and that contribute to our development, and thanks to these items, when we return to the temple, additional features can be given to Zagreus according to our gameplay style. Having managed to impress the players with its venue designs, music and sound effects, Hades is an indispensable game for players who like to challenge themselves.
DEATHRUN TV
If you are looking for a 2-D rogue-like bullet hell, but you are tired of seeing the same old things the Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon did and you want to spice things up a bit, Deathrun TV is here for you. The game doesn’t have a long storyline to follow, you are a contestant in the world’s most cruel and bloodiest gaming show. Simple as that.
DEATHRUN TV, a fast-paced, hardcore rogue-like, twin-stick shooter is set in the most insane and popular game show in the world. As you vie for glory, you will experience real-time bullet-dodging speed and blistering action… assuming that you survived in this 2D bullet hell. If you can not be sure if DEATHRUN TV is worth playing, we have the answer for you in our review.
Dead Cells
Dead Cells is one of the best examples of the 2D roguelite genre. Roguelite is a subgenre of rogue-like. Both genres almost have the same game design motives but in roguelites at least one progression element persists after each death. So, it is possible to say that roguelite is more about destination and rogue-like is more about your journey getting there.
There is a mechanism in this game that allows us to encounter a differently arranged version of the same map every time you start the game, thus offering non-repetitive gameplay. There is a huge variety of weapons in the game, in which pixel designs are used, and accordingly, we encounter very different gameplay styles.
Offering a fun but also difficult gameplay, Dead Cells has a classic story inspired by medieval epidemics, with a few fantastic elements. Although we have to say, it is not very good on the story side.
20 Minutes Till Dawn
In 20 Minutes Till Dawn, a rogue-lite survival game by flanne, you have to survive the twenty minutes long enemy waves. Synergies are an important factor that 20 Minutes Till Dawn players must consider when choosing upgrades. This guide provides details about the synergies gameplay mechanic. Right now, there are seven playable characters in 20 Minutes Till Dawn, which is a game that looks like Vampire Survivors and Enter the Gungeon’s secret love child. Each character starts with a different level of health and has a unique ability.
You also have the synergies mechanic where synergies are bonuses earned by choosing specific combinations of upgrades. In most cases, you will need two upgrades to create a combination. Once the requirements are met, the synergy may be available as an upgrade option. A 20MTD character can have a powerful effect, but there are also downsides that could make these effects suboptimal for certain builds.
Noita
Noita, a roguelite game that you will love if mages are your go-to class, offers us magic wands and spells rather than melee mechanics. We are a wizard in the game and the best thing the game has to offer in that respect is that we can create our own spells. In the game where there are so many deaths, it may be boring to start all over again after a while, but Noita, like Dead Cells, offers us different maps each time. Noita, which has the potential to stand out from the games of this genre and offer a unique experience, can offer a good alternative for those who are bored with close combat mechanics such as classic swords and arrows and want different mechanics.
The Binding of Isaac
One of the best rogue-like games, The Binding of Isaac, first of all, impresses the player with its story. Escaping from his mother and her wicked wishes, Isaac hides in the basement and enters the mysterious world there. In this basement, you will experience the greatest confrontations of your life. Lost siblings, different enemies, strange treasures, family secrets and much more will appear as you progress through the game.
With completely randomly generated loot, enemies, and multiple endgame possibilities, you'll have a different gameplay experience no matter how many times you've played The Binding of Isaac.
Enter the Gungeon
It is possible to find plenty of combat, loot and action in Gungeon. But the whole adventure is to reach one thing, which is actually the most important treasure in Gungeon; a weapon that can kill your past. After choosing your character or team, you try to complete your struggle for survival, establish dialogues with the characters you encounter on the way, and reach the weapon that can kill the past by progressing through the different and customized floors of the Gungeon.
Gungeon consists of 5 floors in total. Each floor has multiple hidden treasures, unique bosses and a shop where you can buy weapons, items or lives. There are also hidden floors waiting to be discovered, or floors custom-made for the character you play. It is very important to try not to take damage while facing your enemies, because you can be killed in very few moves, especially in the earlier stages of the game. As you progress in the game, the number of enemies you kill and the number of chests you open increases. These also help your character to get stronger and stronger.