Support NeoGAF

[DunDunDunpachi]

Binding of Isaac was 2011. Spelunky "remake" and FTL were 2012. Risk of Rain was 2013. There are a lot of notable roguelike and roguelites out there. Procedural generation kind of bridged the gap between "arcade randomness" and RPG mechanics. The design philosophy sometimes doesn't work well with a game, but in some cases the developer figures out a way to make the randomness interesting, thrilling, and fair. The core idea is that the player loses some measure of their progress when they die. The cruelest roguelikes are a one-life affair where players lose all of their progress between attempts. Some roguelites allow players to gradually unlock new weapons or new shortcuts to help complete the game, like in Enter the Gungeon.

A few roguelikes / lites that I'd like to suggest are among the best from the past 10 years...

Flinthook


This one is so tough, but it's a fair tough. Flinthook rewards high player skill. You can zip through a boss room dodging every bullet like a pro, or you can eat lead several times while you sloppily clear a room of low-rank enemies.

Caves of Qud


Stubbornly old-school and hardcore. This is a really polished traditional roguelike that makes no apologies for what it is.

Crypt of the Necrodancer


I've always been fond of quickplay roguelikes such as DOOM RL and Desktop Dungeons. Crypt of the Necrodancer shouldn't work, but it does. Keeping the rhythm over a long period of time and expertly dodging all enemy attacks (they're predictable) becomes a feat of endurance, and I think it truly does both the roguelike and the rhythm genres justice.

ADOM


Still one of the best in the genre, but now with a tileset that's easier on the eyes!

 

[TexMex]

List starts and ends with Dead Cells.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

List starts and ends with Dead Cells.

To be honest I haven't really been captured by it. What's the thing that got you hooked on it?

 

[drotahorror]

I got some good ones to add, don't have time right this second but I'll do a proper post with vids and info.

Edit

Children of Morta


Really dig this game, the combat is smooth and all the classes play differently and most importantly, fun. It's a bit more linear than your average rogue-lite/like. You can progress through stages, and after you beat a stage and unlock another, you can go back and play any of them when you want to. A big surprise for me.

SYNTHETIK


Almost like the old Crusader games, definitely an old school vibe tactical-shooter roguelite. Pretty hard and you can make the game easier or harder which will increase your XP and credits gained throughout a run. Hundreds of weapons, tons of combinations a playthrough could allow. If you bought the Spyro/Crash humble monthly last month, give it a shot, cuz this was included with it. The combat is fast but you can play slowly as well. It feels so good.

Hero Siege


This game is still getting big updates (2014 game) and it's cheap af too. Definitely a guilty pleasure of mine, very fun to pick up and play, yet no one ever believes me. Give it a shot, it's 69 cents on steam.

Everspace


Arcade space shooter in space with roguelite elements? Sure. A part 2 is coming out next year.


Monolith


A shmup rogue-like with tons of gameplay and a neat artstyle. Really dig this one.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Flinthook is phenomenal.

These are my personal favorite roguelikes of the past decade:

 

[Kagey K]

I enjoyed Ziggurat as a good FPS roguelike.

It feels kind of like Quake/Doom with a Rouge twist.

Edit also Slay the Spire is one of the best from this year, and should get some GOTY nominations.

 

[bronk]

My two absolute favorites were Spelunky and Rogue Legacy

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead was another good one, extremely difficult and bleak. Felt like a successor to Gear Head RPG


Don't Starve doesn't get mentioned much anymore but is a great survival roguelike and totally nailed the proper tone

 

[Katsura]

Dead Cells - King of roguelites in my opinion. Smooth, responsive, skill based combat. Lots of upgrades to hunt for, unlocking new shortcuts and areas through traversal skills. 3 distinct play styles depending on your build with lots of room for variation within each style. I've put somewhere around 300 hours into this

Slay the spire and Monster Slayers - kinda stretching the definition a bit here but both are card games with roguelite elements. If you're into TCG at all, these are amazing

Hand of Fate 2 - I didn't play the first one so i can't tell you how it compares. HoF2 is a strange mix of cards to move around a map, skill checks and combat. The combat plays much like Assassin's Creed combat. Lots of fun

Sproggiwood - A bit too short and easy but lots of fun nonetheless

Rogue Empire - More of a classic roguelike. Tons of content, different classes etc. A large overworld map connects to the various dungeons

Noita - A new contender that's still in early access and probably will be for a while. A great and highly customisable magic system and every pixel is simulated in the game's physics meaning you can do some crazy stuff such as set half the level on fire. Very unforgiving but still lots of fun though it's still lacking a lot of polish

Games already mentioned in this thread that are among the absolute best
Into the breach
FTL
Crypt of the Necrodancer

 

[Tesseract]

time to re-post a tesseract classic from a bygone era

amusingly, there's still a few keys left from my giveaway (not sure if modbot is still functioning)

Spoiler: archive

STEAM | October II 2014 - PC Gaming: Getting a D in Yoga class

how does the 4x risk of storm thing work? only one shows up on my humble bundle page There's a little gifts section beneath your main key section, before the direct download one

www.neogaf.com

teleglitch: die more edition was steam gaf's official unofficial 2013 game of the year!

prepare thyself for grizzly nightmare things seeping out of pipes, hungering for guts and bone. get jacked on stimulants and canned meat, pray to god you die a painless death.

please avoid the spatial anomalies, they'll spaghettify you. as cheesecake once said, let teleglitch's brutal difficulty take you to places long forgotten. you piece of shit.

ModBot said:
Instructions for participants:
I am giving away 25 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below that corresponds to the game you want. (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering). Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.

ModBot Basics:
- No need to thank me. Please don't post thank you messages in thread or in PM.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two.

Rules for this Giveaway:
- This is a free for all! You can enter for multiple games on the list below. Send an individual PM for each game you'd like to win.



Teleglitch: Die More Edition #24 -- MB-455088C0561084B5 - Taken by poopninjamvc3mk
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #8 -- MB-6FEC63A2EBD1F0EF - Taken by -Deimos
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #9 -- MB-1346103241DCDDC5 - Taken by Atraveller
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #2 -- MB-5FF43B7F2695EC1B - Taken by Hemi-PoweredDrone
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #3 -- MB-E0612772115135F9 - Taken by legacyzero
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #4 -- MB-CA0D294E7230D09B - Taken by Fox318
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #22 -- MB-2089D35FF176CCB9 - Taken by Alduin
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #21 -- MB-24352A2C67FCC44D - Taken by A Fish Aficionado
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #20 -- MB-78EE2DCB1326780A - Taken by shira
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #25 -- MB-A404E71B50F2A387 - Taken by salazar547
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #12 -- MB-762D2677EED8FFF7
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #13 -- MB-BD343A2A7329FF5B - Taken by bronson
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #10 -- MB-4A7643CF9016DB07 - Taken by Teppic
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #11 -- MB-7C9C843E780955B1 - Taken by Vardhan
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #16 -- MB-8CC33C1F4FA078D6 - Taken by Subject16
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #17 -- MB-8960C039BD0958A8
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #14 -- MB-5DD9EBDF24CC6411 - Taken by Buzzbrad
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #15 -- MB-25DE2C27F67A7F7B
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #23 -- MB-CA49DA39E604A533
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #18 -- MB-FE4F2C0A11ACB773 - Taken by Freezard
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #19 -- MB-3F57B25A0547CBA0 - Taken by bloke
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #5 -- MB-EC308E29E22BE21A - Taken by Oldschoolgamer
Teleglitch: Die More Edition -- MB-E97AFE0538217E42 - Taken by efyu_lemonardo
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #6 -- MB-65BA761EFA6DE16F
Teleglitch: Die More Edition #7 -- MB-D502268FB28252D6 - Taken by Remk

 

[Cato]

Go to the source.

NetHack

 

[Saruhashi]

Many of my favorites are already mentioned but I would like to nominate:

20XX - if you like MegaMan I'd say this is a must have. I had a lot of fun with this one.

Cadence of Hyrule - I think it's quite a bit easier than the usual games in this genre and it has an awesome Zelda soundtrack.

Streets of Rogue - Tons of different characters and ways to play. It's insanely fun (my opinion of course).

Neuro Voider - It's quite difficult, I think so anyway, but the soundtrack is fucking tremendous.

Black Paradox - This one is a side scrolling shoot em up that I really enjoy picking up for a quick game.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I usually don't stick with roguelike/lite games despiting checking a lot of them, but I have enjoyed Dead Cells. A little bit too difficult at times for my level of skill, but I still enjoyed replaying the game over and over again.

 

[GymWolf]

I don't know, binding of isaac maybe, not really a fun of the genre before this year with the wonderfull Hades.

 

[Sophist]

I mostly played FPS roguelite these last years. i would cite

• Barony
• Heavy Bullets
• Immortal Redneck
• Ziggurat
• STRAFE: Millennium Edition

I have heard that Prey Mooncrash is great but haven't played it yet.

 

[Damien Crowley]

There is only one King... and the rest are jesters at his court!

 

[Belmonte]

Nice thread!

A roguelike I'm very found of is Nippon Ichi's Z.H.P.: Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman, for the PSP.



There is an OP monster wrecking havock in the city but the legendary hero dies in a stupid way and his solution is to give his powers to a random dude in the street. The game is this dude trying to be stronger to have enough power to defeat Darkdeath Evilman which destroys him everytime he tries to beat the monster.

The gameplay is great. Lots of equipments, which you can see in your character, weapons, base building, body modifications...there is a lot to say. Give the trailer a look! It is as fun as the game itself.

Very charismatic, like the best Nippon Ichi games. The tokusatsu theme is very well made. In fact, it is probably the best game which used the theme I ever played. Ridiculously underrated.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Nice thread!

A roguelike I'm very found of is Nippon Ichi's Z.H.P.: Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman, for the PSP.



There is an OP monster wrecking havock in the city but the legendary hero dies in a stupid way and his solution is to give his powers to a random dude in the street. The game is this dude trying to be stronger to have enough power to defeat Darkdeath Evilman which destroys him everytime he tries to beat the monster.

The gameplay is great. Lots of equipments, which you can see in your character, weapons, base building, body modifications...there is a lot to say. Give the trailer a look! It is as fun as the game itself.

Very charismatic, like the best Nippon Ichi games. The tokusatsu theme is very well made. In fact, it is probably the best game which used the theme I ever played. Ridiculously underrated.

Nice callout. I really enjoyed my time with this one, too. It totally "gets" the random wackiness of the roguelike genre. I love how it even has an energy meter that you need to eat food to replenish (very old-school Rogue and Nethack, there).

 

[Belmonte]

Nice callout. I really enjoyed my time with this one, too. It totally "gets" the random wackiness of the roguelike genre. I love how it even has an energy meter that you need to eat food to replenish (very old-school Rogue and Nethack, there).

 

[kraspkibble]

List starts and ends with Dead Cells.

i have generally disliked roguelike games but Dead Cells is like crack. so damn good.

 

[Graciaus]

Tales of maj'eyal is the best rougelike that no one talks about or has heard of. Randomly generated turn based dungeon crawling. 10+ races and 30+ classes all with unique skills. Multiple difficulties and thousands of achievements. 3 big dlcs and another upcoming. I've spent 300 hours and barely made a dent.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Oh, how could I forget one of my favorite action roguelikes of all time?

Diablo III is a really good one. They transformed it from a fun-but-shallow mess to a deep-yet-accessible workhorse. I feel like I finally have my sequel to M2's Gauntlet IV, or a new BG: Dark Alliance, or a new Gauntlet Legends.

 

[Belmonte]

Two new Roguelikes I didn't play yet but seems very interesting are Jupiter Hell (from Doom Roguelike creators) and Void Bastards (from System Shock 2 and Bioshock development director).

 

[Airola]

I liked Castle of No Escape a lot.


DungeonUp was really good too!

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Belmonte I love Doom RL and I'm definitely gonna love Jupiter Hell.

 

[drotahorror]

updated my post up above

I got some good ones to add, don't have time right this second but I'll do a proper post with vids and info.

Edit

Children of Morta


Really dig this game, the combat is smooth and all the classes play differently and most importantly, fun. It's a bit more linear than your average rogue-lite/like. You can progress through stages, and after you beat a stage and unlock another, you can go back and play any of them when you want to. A big surprise for me.

SYNTHETIK


Almost like the old Crusader games, definitely an old school vibe tactical-shooter roguelite. Pretty hard and you can make the game easier or harder which will increase your XP and credits gained throughout a run. Hundreds of weapons, tons of combinations a playthrough could allow. If you bought the Spyro/Crash humble monthly last month, give it a shot, cuz this was included with it. The combat is fast but you can play slowly as well. It feels so good.

Hero Siege


This game is still getting big updates (2014 game) and it's cheap af too. Definitely a guilty pleasure of mine, very fun to pick up and play, yet no one ever believes me. Give it a shot, it's 69 cents on steam.

Everspace


Arcade space shooter in space with roguelite elements? Sure. A part 2 is coming out next year.

Monolith


A shmup rogue-like with tons of gameplay and a neat artstyle. Really dig this one.

 

[Strife In a Teacup]

The big 3:

1) Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup: http://crawl.develz.org/

2) Tales of Maj'Eyal: https://te4.org/

3) Caves of Qud

Upcoming: Dwarf Fortress steam edition:

Honorable mention to ADOM(Ancient Domains of Mystery) I tried to get into it but it's just not quite my style of roguelike that I enjoy, but I definitely respect it:

As far as some newer roguelikes I've played recently that I've enjoyed, I'll throw in Streets of Rogue:

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

Just here to namedrop Has-Been Heroes

which I enjoyed immensely on the Switch. I'd love to talk more in depth about it but my current posting setup is frustrating to say the least.

I'll just quickly highlight the pros of it on Switch and encourage anyone who has even the slightest interest to check out the Steam reviews of it, especially those with more than 50 hours of playtime:

Decent use of HD rumble, plays well with a controller setup and in handheld, runs at 60fps with dips when there's simply too much crap on the screen.

Some notable negatives: unlocking items and particularly heroes is a huge timesink. Worst of all, you're not told how to do it and I've done a full run (3 hours more or less) before only to not unlock a hero at the end because I wasn't told what to do there. Also, would not recommend playing it on the commute; it's easy for me to play it and then realize an hour has passed me by even though it didn't feel that long in game.

 

[Croatoan]

Escape from Tarkov. PC only, and still in beta.

 

[Katsura]

Just here to namedrop Has-Been Heroes

which I enjoyed immensely on the Switch. I'd love to talk more in depth about it but my current posting setup is frustrating to say the least.

I'll just quickly highlight the pros of it on Switch and encourage anyone who has even the slightest interest to check out the Steam reviews of it, especially those with more than 50 hours of playtime:

Decent use of HD rumble, plays well with a controller setup and in handheld, runs at 60fps with dips when there's simply too much crap on the screen.

Some notable negatives: unlocking items and particularly heroes is a huge timesink. Worst of all, you're not told how to do it and I've done a full run (3 hours more or less) before only to not unlock a hero at the end because I wasn't told what to do there. Also, would not recommend playing it on the commute; it's easy for me to play it and then realize an hour has passed me by even though it didn't feel that long in game.

Now i feel embarrassed. How could i have forgotten to put that in my post. Great call. This game is amazing. I think i'm at 150 hours in this one

 

[mcz117chief]

DoomRL and FTL are my two favorites.

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

Now i feel embarrassed. How could i have forgotten to put that in my post. Great call. This game is amazing. I think i'm at 150 hours in this one

Nothing to be embarassed about, it probably means you've been playing plenty of great games!

Seriously though, even Frozenbyte themselves seem to have 'forgotten' about it. I've not seen it discounted on the eshop ever since I got it at 50% off, I think that was back in Oct 2017.

Personally I think this is the best game Frozenbyte has released thus far; for some context I've tried the demos for Trine 1 and 2, 99 Parchments and Boreal Blade.

 

[Katsura]

Nothing to be embarassed about, it probably means you've been playing plenty of great games!

Seriously though, even Frozenbyte themselves seem to have 'forgotten' about it. I've not seen it discounted on the eshop ever since I got it at 50% off, I think that was back in Oct 2017.

Personally I think this is the best game Frozenbyte has released thus far; for some context I've tried the demos for Trine 1 and 2, 99 Parchments and Boreal Blade.

I agree completely. For a while, it was pretty much the only game i played on the Switch. It's one of the most underrated games ever

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

I agree completely. For a while, it was pretty much the only game i played on the Switch. It's one of the most underrated games ever

I skimmed through the Steam reviews a bit earlier before writing my post. I remember roughly a year ago or so when I went to check out the Steam reviews, my impression was that the negative reviews were mostly written by people who did not understand how to play the game. I don't mean that the game is flawless or that "it takes 20 hours to get good" but rather, the negatives these people were listing stemmed from not understanding how to go about playing it. Perhaps it might also be because it plays worse on mouse & keyboard (I never tried that).

I secretly wish that Frozenbyte would update it one more time but that would be greedy of me. Instead I'll just hope they would make a sequel that takes it to even greater heights!

Oh and this is a bit late but cheers from one HBH stan to another haha, it's nice to see someone else who enjoyed their time with it.

 

[Threeshotgamer]

Moonlighter and Wizard of Legend are the two I've been playing lately. Also occasionally Enter the Gungeon

 

[anthraticus]

Tales of maj'eyal is the best rougelike that no one talks about or has heard of.

Huh ? Anytime I look in roguelike threads, ect.....I ALWAYS see this one listed.

Anyway, I'll toss in Infra Arcana for a good roguelike with horror elements.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Doesn't look like the Siralim franchise has been mentioned yet, so I'll toss that into the ring o roguelikes:



The concept and gameplay are pretty simple (my 8 year old is able to play it competently). You collect hundreds of monsters, summon them, and add them to your team of six. Movement on the map is traditional roguelike (each player move is a global "turn") and Dragon Quest-like battles take place when you bump into an enemy. Since you're the ruler of your realm, you build up your kingdom and continue to unlock new features as you progress. There's a genuine sense of progression as you gain access to more powerful things like breeding and spell modifications.

Normally I'd write it off as yet another retro-indie RPG (there are soooo many) but this game has a crazy amount of depth and customization, so it scratches the Magic the Gathering deckbuilding itch, the roguelike dungeon-diving itch, the kindgom-building itch, and the classic RPG battle itch all at once. I'd put it in the same tier as Disgaea, a game where the absurd amount of content more than compensates for the mediocre presentation. Mechanic builds upon mechanic and by the time you're 100 hours into the game, you realize that you're only scratching the surface.

 

[Davey Cakes]

I downright LOVED Monolith, Rogue Legacy, and Hammerwatch. Three games that all have a different approach to the formula.

 

[pramod]

Wow no love for Darkest Dungeon? I thought that would be #1 in the list.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

My favorite would be Tangledeep



It feels like a lost SNES game. The visuals are great, and the soundtrack is out of control good. It's also more forgiving than other roguelikes and has a little bit of progression that carries over between runs, which I guess could be good or bad depending on your perspective... but I've found it to be by far the most enjoyable game I've played in the genre.

 

[Tenaciousmo]

I feel like Mothergunship is a Shooter / Roguelite / Bullet Hell. I love the game, I will shill for it at any possible time. Yall need to try it.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

My favorite would be Tangledeep



It feels like a lost SNES game. The visuals are great, and the soundtrack is out of control good. It's also more forgiving than other roguelikes and has a little bit of progression that carries over between runs, which I guess could be good or bad depending on your perspective... but I've found it to be by far the most enjoyable game I've played in the genre.

That game looks amazing Added to my list.

I feel like Mothergunship is a Shooter / Roguelite / Bullet Hell. I love the game, I will shill for it at any possible time. Yall need to try it.

I played the demo and found it pretty fun. Does the full game actually ramp things up to hectic levels?

 

[Fbh]

I'm not into the genre, so the only 2 I've really liked have been:

- Binding of Isaac: I think the fucked up world and setting is fun, the individual runs are fairly short and the wide variety of power ups and bosses keep it varied. Just the massive amount of power combinations you can get really stay true to the whole concept of every run feeling unique.

- Tokyo Jungle: Fun and unique gameplay, not to mention local coop is a blast, nothing like stressing through a though area while your friend is like "fuck...I need to reproduce!!!". You are also constantly unlocking new animals after almost every run which keeps thing fun and varied.

 

[Tenaciousmo]

I played the demo and found it pretty fun. Does the full game actually ramp things up to hectic levels?

I don't think it gets half as bullet-Hell-ish as you, the resident bullet hell specialist, wants it to be. Towards the later levels [ACTUAL SPOILER] and the extra Motherships at the end it gets quite swarmy and many missiles are coming at you at all times.
For me I think the fun of the game resides in building BFGs that clears rooms in one shot but drain all your ammo.
I do not know how the demo goes, what level you're in, and such.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I don't think it gets half as bullet-Hell-ish as you, the resident bullet hell specialist, wants it to be. Towards the later levels [ACTUAL SPOILER] and the extra Motherships at the end it gets quite swarmy and many missiles are coming at you at all times.
For me I think the fun of the game resides in building BFGs that clears rooms in one shot but drain all your ammo.
I do not know how the demo goes, what level you're in, and such.

Well I don't know if I'd like it as too bullet-hellish anyway, I'm more referring to the overall speed and chaos of the combat. Are there larger rooms with larger groups of enemies? The demo had some "bullet hell" cannons shooting patterns but I didn't encounter any rooms that genuinely felt frantic.

So I'm wondering if that overall chaos level ramps up and you get deeper into the game.

 

[stranno]

Not an AAA game by any means but i enjoyed Bunker Punks a lot.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/256716899/movie480.webm

As well as Convoy, a great mix of Faster Than Light + Mad Max.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/2035928/movie480.webm

 

[Tenaciousmo]

Well I don't know if I'd like it as too bullet-hellish anyway, I'm more referring to the overall speed and chaos of the combat. Are there larger rooms with larger groups of enemies? The demo had some "bullet hell" cannons shooting patterns but I didn't encounter any rooms that genuinely felt frantic.

So I'm wondering if that overall chaos level ramps up and you get deeper into the game.

there are. ranging from bounce castles filed with danger roombas, lava pits with bothersome drones, and the equivalent of the Santísima Trinidad except with its cannon looking inward.

And as a bonus you're delivering pizza.not really, just something you say to get by.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Gungeon was my goty when it released, it is amazing.
Most recently it has been Noita, even in EA it is still top tier.

 

[Spukc]

Binding of isaac & enter the gungeon.

Nothing compares to em.

 

[Strife In a Teacup]

New one coming out on Steam Early Access 2/6/2020 called Stoneshard that looks pretty interesting: