Key Takeaways
- Roguelike and roguelite games excel in combat with random layouts, offering unique brawling experiences that rival non-roguelike games.
- Games like Noita provide fluid, satisfying combat experiences with diverse weapons, offering an incredible kind of satisfaction.
- Vampire Survivors and Risk of Rain 2 offer stress-relieving, fun combat experiences that test your skill and luck in dispatching waves of enemies.
One thing the roguelike and roguelite genres have (deservedly) become known for is their focus on combat, intricate fights, and randomly generated layouts, leading to unique situations for brawls. It's a fun trope, and plenty of roguelike games use their random nature to build awesome combat.
Related
The 10 Best PS5 Roguelikes
Roguelike fans are spoiled for choice on PlayStation 5. Here are the ten best that everyone who has the system should try.
This leaves you with some awesome games that will have you tearing through enemies with a variety of cool swords, wands, and guns, and have you dodging around shots and slashes like nobody's business. These feel better than some combat-focused non-roguelike experiences, at times.
We've been a bit generous with the definition of a roguelike/roguelite! Just a bit. We promise.
10 Terraria
Surprisingly Fluid, For "2D Minecraft"
Action
Adventure
Sandbox
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 79/100 Critics Recommend: 76%
- Released
- May 16, 2011
- Developer(s)
- Re-Logic
- Publisher(s)
- 505 Games
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Proprietary
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Cartoon Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol
- How Long To Beat
- 100 Hours
If you've never played it, or only played it for a few hours and got lost and gave up, then Terraria's placement on this list might seem odd. However, it's one of the most fluid, fun-feeling games to fight bosses in, especially when playing modded.
There are four classes with many different weapons, and it feels great to dodge and weave out of attacks while keeping your aim focused on the enemy. Its worlds are more permanent than the average roguelike, but it can still be played as one, and it's a great time.
9 Noita
Infinite Possibilities, Hundreds Of Weapons.
Platformer
Roguelike
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 79/100 Critics Recommend: 72%
- Released
- October 15, 2020
- Developer(s)
- Nolla Games
- Publisher(s)
- Nolla Games
- How Long To Beat
- 24 Hours
If you want a game that was so dedicated to the idea of incredibly in-depth randomized interactions, to the point where they had to make their own engine so that every pixel in the game could be a material, then you should check out Noita, a game with thousands of weapons.
The combat in this game is somewhat similar to Terraria, but brings a different kind of satisfaction, namely in discovering new combos and getting new wands that all have a variety of effects. It's really fun to dispatch enemies with bombs and acid or turn them into gold, your choice.
8 Vampire Survivors
Tearing Through Waves Of Enemies
Roguelike
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 88/100 Critics Recommend: 97%
- Released
- December 17, 2021
- Developer(s)
- Luca Galante
- Publisher(s)
- Luca Galante
- Multiplayer
- Local Co-Op
- How Long To Beat
- 6 Hours
If you've ever wanted to relieve stress with the video game equivalent of breaking every glass you own, Vampire Survivors is a good choice. It's a very satisfying bullet heaven roguelike where you mow down wave after wave of oncoming enemies, slashing or shooting through them.
Related
Roguelite FPS Unyielder Debuting New 1v1 Boss Battling Demo at BitSummit
Developer True World Studios will be showing off some of Unyielder's intense boss battles at BitSummit 2024.
You can grab a bunch of items, level up your array of various weapons, and try out a bunch of different upgrade paths as you continue with your rampage. It's not the most in-depth combat in a game, but it's inherently satisfying with how much carnage you can cause.
7 Going Under
An Underrated Action Game
Action
Beat 'Em Up
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 81/100 Critics Recommend: 82%
- Released
- September 24, 2020
- Developer(s)
- Aggro Crab
- Publisher(s)
- Team17
- How Long To Beat
- 10 Hours
For a game with incredibly creative combat scenarios, you should give Going Under a shot. It'll have you wielding chairs, giant baseball bats, big mallets, and pickaxes to take down a bunch of creepy enemies as you crawl your way up a failed startup as an unpaid intern.
It's uniquely colorful, hilarious, and just an awesome time in general, and it's a shame I hardly see anyone talking about it. If you're a fan of action games and dungeon crawlers and want them to blend together in fantastic roguelike fashion, try this game out.
6 Slay The Spire
In-Depth Card Combats
Roguelike
Deckbuilding
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 89/100 Critics Recommend: 100%
- Released
- January 23, 2019
- Developer(s)
- Mega Crit
- Publisher(s)
- Humble Bundle
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Tobacco Reference
- How Long To Beat
- 12 Hours
If you're looking for a turn-based RPG with really satisfying combat in a roguelike setting where you have to use a deck of cards to make your moveset, Slay the Spire is absolutely for you. Turn-based combat can only be so exciting, but I'd say Slay the Spire gets close to that limit.
It's very fun to build a deck with a specific idea in mind, making sure to account for every enemy and obstacle that you can face along the way while you're climbing the tower, and eventually execute that plan in hopefully perfect fashion. It's perfect if you love strategy and card games.
5 Crypt Of The Necrodancer
Fighting To The Beat
Roguelike
Rhythm
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 87/100 Critics Recommend: 96%
- Released
- April 23, 2015
- Developer(s)
- Brace Yourself Games
- Publisher(s)
- Brace Yourself Games
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Fantasy Violence, Blood
A rhythm game making its way onto this list above several cult classic roguelikes may be baffling if you've never played a Necrodancer game before, but if you have, this should be no surprise. It's a dungeon-crawling game where you attack to the beat, and it's hard to beat the satisfaction it brings.
It feels awesome to get a combo going, seeing the dungeon's dance floor light up more and more the better you're doing, and grabbing extra items and upgrades as you learn every enemy's pattern and kite around and dispatch them expertly. It's awesome, if a bit frustrating for people with a bad sense of rhythm.
4 30XX
Jump 'N Shoot
Platformer
Roguelike
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 85/100 Critics Recommend: 96%
- Released
- February 17, 2021
- Developer(s)
- Batterystaple Games
- Publisher(s)
- Batterystaple Games
- How Long To Beat
- 2 Hours
If you've played Mega Man X, you're probably aware of how fun those games are to control, and how satisfying it is to either shoot down enemies or slash them to bits with a laser sword. 30XX brings that style back in full swing and in the form of an awesome roguelike.
It's great if you're looking for a platformer where you jump around enemies, shooting them as you slide down walls, get unique weapons and upgrades, and eventually become an unstoppable machine of destruction. It's a great time, and I'd recommend it.
3 Risk Of Rain 2
Shooting To Win
Third-Person Shooter
Roguelike
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 86/100 Critics Recommend: 96%
- Released
- September 11, 2020
- Developer(s)
- Hopoo Games
- Publisher(s)
- Gearbox Publishing
While it's got somewhat simple combat on the surface and in the early game, Risk of Rain 2 evolves into its own beast the longer you play it, with a dedication to fluid movements with each character that meshes into incredibly fun playstyles reminiscent of a fighting game.
Related
Popular Rogue-lite Hades heads to iOS This Month
The charming Zagreus takes his action expertise to iOS platforms via Netflix.
While most of the combat can be boiled down to shooting, moving in a circle around the enemy, and jumping, it varies so incredibly often and tests your reaction time, movement skill, and luck, as you try to quickly dodge the attacks of a brass contraption while trying not to die to a grandparent. It's awesome.
2 Hades
Slashing Your Way Up
Action RPG
Roguelite
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 94/100 Critics Recommend: 99%
- Released
- September 17, 2020
- Developer(s)
- Supergiant Games
- Publisher(s)
- Supergiant Games
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Alcohol Reference, Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 23 Hours
In terms of dodging and weaving between waves of attacks from bosses with complex patterns and coming out on top purely due to skill against all odds, Hades is up there. It's almost unmatched in how great it feels to move around and dodge attacks, and it's super satisfying.
It feels wonderful to kite around enemies and objects, sliding into a point on the floor where you can take advantage despite being pelted with a ton of arrows and fireballs at all angles. The bosses feel electric, and the whole game is a masterpiece, but the roguelite elements do make it less satisfying the longer you play.
1 Dead Cells
Dodging And Weaving
Roguelike
Systems
-
- Top Critic Rating: 89/100 Critics Recommend: 95%
- Released
- August 7, 2018
- Developer(s)
- Motion Twin
- Publisher(s)
- Motion Twin
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 15 Hours
If you want a game that kinda almost feels like 2D Dark Souls, and is similarly unforgiving in its world where you're expected to block enemies' attacks, roll around them, and make good decisions as you scavenge a massive maze-like world for weaponry, Dead Cells is perfect.
It's super satisfying, has a bunch of different weapons with upsides and downsides that make you heavily consider each one, and then you feel super rewarded when your decisions lead to more damage. It's great, tough, and definitely recommended.
Next
10 Best Roguelikes On Nintendo Switch
The Switch is home to some of the best indies out there, and by extension, some of the best roguelikes, and this list shows off the best of the best.
