Roguelikes: god, there's a lot of 'em, and thank god for that. The line between roguelike and roguelite is razor-thin, and within that nebulous gray area, you'll find more genre mash-ups than once thought possible. The best roguelikes might be action games, shooters, card games, strategy games, deck-builders, rhythm games, platformers, Metroidvanias in disguise, brawlers, dungeon-crawlers, or some seemingly absurd mix of these and other design principles.
Whatever you personally consider the peak of the genre, odds are good that it and a bunch of similar games are currently on sale on Steam. Dozens of our favorite roguelikes are extra cheap right now, but the sale ends tomorrow, Tuesday, November 28, at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BT. Now's the time to buy if you're looking for a new, functionally endless, procedurally generated adventure to get lost in. Here are some recommendations to get you started.
- The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - $10.04: One of the gold-standard action roguelikes, with years of content updates.
- Rogue Legacy 2 - $14.99: The even-better sequel to a superb action-platformer (which is also on sale).
- Enter the Gungeon - $4.49: A bullet hell dungeon-crawler that's still held up as a measure of the entire genre. (Now with a less Rogue-y sequel Exit the Gungeon, also on sale.)
- Dead Cells - $14.99: A sprinkle of Metroidvania really brings this side-scrolling action game to life, especially with the DLCs folded in.
- FTL: Faster Than Light - $2.49: The cheapest and most ethical way to suffocate your enemies in the vacuum of space.
- Into The Breach - $7.49: If pest control was more like chess and XCOM. ChessCOM, we'll call it.
- Darkest Dungeon - $4.99: A turn-based Gothic roguelike so tightly designed that you can't help coming back even after getting annihilated for the zillionth time. (With a more ambitious sequel that's also on sale.)
- Spelunky - $3.74: A feat of platforming design capable of generating infinite personal stories. Its more imaginative sequel is arguably even better.
- Prey's Mooncrash DLC - $4.99: Remember that time Arkane released a whole roguelike mode for Prey and it totally slapped? We do, and the whole dang bundle is very cheap.
- Hades - $12.49: Somehow packed one of the best narratives of 2020 into an untouchable brawler dripping with style.
- Dicey Dungeons - $7.49: A fiendishly clever, endearingly weird dungeon experience.
- Slay the Spire - $8.49: This is not a deck-builder. This is the deck-builder, the modern reference point for almost the entire genre.
- Monster Train - $7.49: One of the best and most unique deck-builders to ever borrow from the deck-builder.
- Dungeon of the Endless - $3.35: A rare and off-beat tower defense dungeon-crawler with some ingenious mechanics.
- Crypt of the Necrodancer - $2.99: A criminally cheap price for a rhythm brawler with an inimitable soundtrack.
- Wizard of Legend - $4.79: Classic isometric combat with an inventive spell system and stellar co-op.
- Streets of Rogue - $4.99: Like a lo-fi, pixel art, extra punchy Deus Ex with less sprawling and more brawling.
- Moonlighter - $3.99: Part dungeon-crawler, part shop management sim, all fun.
- Risk of Rain 2 - $12.49: The ultimate form of one of the best shooters, co-op games, and roguelikes of all time, with one of the most compelling gameplay loops ever crafted. (And while it's not on sale, the new remake of the original Risk of Rain positively whips.)
- Children of Morta - $5.49: A story-driven action RPG that hides excellent combat and upgrade systems.
- Neon Abyss - $6.79: a fairly new action-platformer with a comically large arsenal of weapons.
- Noita - $9.99: Destroy the world on a molecular level in this realistically simulated yet magical feast.
You know, just to get you started. For something a little different, I'd also recommend DotAGE for a rare roguelike city-builder, Downwell for a dirt-cheap platforming table-flip that's never been fully replicated (though some have tried admirably), Halls of Torment as one of the best Vampire Survivors-likes, and Inscryption for a deck-building experience that can only be described as decidedly different. Oh, and Caves of Qud, because it's Caves of Qud, one of the best modern sci-fantasy stories and a damn fine roguelike to boot.
The Steam Autumn Sale also features plenty of our favorite Metroidvanias and a harder-to-find goldmine of JRPGs.
