Roguelike Games I've Played
Roguelike games are categorized by a primary gameplay loop of a repetitious gameplay loop where you improve or grow over time. I've played 19 games in this genre so far.
Each game is scored on my 4-point rating system.
⬅️ You can also go back to all genres
Returnal
Incredibly atmospheric. Great gameplay and exploration. Spooky enemy design. I think what I missed the most was being able to experiment with guns. Because runs are so long, it feels like you have to optimize for "absolute best" rather than other games, like Hades, where you can play more. Good gun diversity and I liked the powerups, but I didn't feel like I saw enough of them. Weirdly I don't know how well it was served by being a rogue like. Picking up guns and mods and playing more like a linear adventure game would have gotten a similar experience, but without some of the repetition. But, the story was presented interestingly and there's a lot to do, so I enjoyed it overall.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
Fun to run around and do co-op space adventures. Light game, but enjoyable in groups. Cool power-ups, too.
Monster Train
Fun. Cool twist on Slay the Spire. I enjoyed having a main champion that I always got to use. I think it suffers from a similar issue where if I want to play a certain archetype, it’s hard to. It’s difficulty is also very differently curved, which I don’t hate. I like being able to combine factions, too.
Hades
Such a fun game. Great gameplay and art direction. Hugely dynamic text is impressive, as is the totally dynamic storytelling. The builds are varied and fun. There's a lot of agency. I think it does get a little repetitive, but there's a lot of levers to pull. I could have maybe done with more enemy variety though. Endgame difficulty levels definitely add longevity.
Dead Cells
Beat the final boss for the first time on my 5th game with a poison kit where everything did double damage. Got all runes on June 13. Done for now, but will definitely revisit periodically. Really liked the sense of progression and exploration. There wasn't always a lot to explore and find, but traversing the world felt fluid and fun. Very cool concept.
Slay the Spire
Really really fun. Each of the characters feels unique. The art is fine (and improving). The mechanics are fun and I find the game itself quite challenging. Excited to see where they take it next. I didn't mark it as "beat" because I didn't finish with each of the 3 characters.
Morphblade
Cute little game about adapting a battlefield to your needs. Clearly a gamejam-style game and it's not something I'll probably come back to a lot, but it's a cool concept and I enjoyed the time I spent with it.
Vampire Survivors
Fun, if simplistic. There's a lot to dive in and find, but I felt like I had covered most of what there was. Because you get such a big percentage of the weapons each run, it feels a little same-y after a while. Also the moment-to-moment gameplay isn't super engaging. I like the concept though!
Dicey Dungeons
Cute game, simple enough to get into, but I think not complex enough to hold my attention for too long. Upgrading wasn't satisfying enough to give a meaningful sense of progression vs games like StS or Monster Train. Cute enough to revist occasionally, but not something I need to spend a ton of time with.
Wizard of Legend
Cute game, nice style. Environments are samey and there's not much to explore for. Spells feel cool and impactful, though you only start with two, so it's hard to experiment too much.
Balatro
Fun concept (build your own luck) but the gameplay just felt bland. Chancing into the perfect set of jokers between rounds is fun, but the actual gameplay is a mix of "Play", "Discard", and a bunch of luck. Other deckbuilders have more interactivity where you get to choose targets and ordering, but making poker hands (even if some of them are super high scoring) got old fast. I had a couple of super long runs where everything came into place, but I also had a bunch of duds where I didn't get anywhere. I feel like the "bad" runs in other roguelikes are still fun, but the ones in Balatro were just drags.
Defend the Rook
Had an interesting premise (tactics + tower defense) but fell short for me. Towers felt underpowered and unrewarding to use. Hero upgrades were ok, but the pool is pretty small so it all felt repetitive after a few runs. Metaprogression was also fairly uninteresting. Cool idea that didn't stick the landing.
Bad North
Nice art and presentation, ok execution. Losing units feels really bad and there's not quite enough micro control to be able to feel like you can save them effectively.
Pawnbarian
I liked the premise, but didn't love the execution. There's a lot of information visually, and the upgrades aren't really compelling enough to give it a lot of replay value. It's also not clear how the damage profile changes in a response to killing a unit, which makes it hard to effectively plan attacks. Neat concept though!
Enter the Gungeon
Really just not for me. There's not a lot of in-game info, no story, and the guns don't feel _that_ varied. There's also not really any progression. Controls felt tight and graphics were well done, but it's not something I vibed with.
One Step From Eden
Definitely a neat concept, but truly brutal learning curve. Battles are fast, but there's too much to watch on the screen and too many status conditions to reason about in real time for me to enjoy it. Definitly a neat premise, but not something I'd enjoy playing a lot in practice.
