The 22 Best Roguelike Games

The Binding of Isaac has you control the titular tween Isaac as he flees his deranged, zealot mother through a seemingly endless basement filled with disturbing monsters and secrets in this gross, chaotic, and addictive roguelike shooter. With over 500 unique items to discover that completely change up your attacks, stats, and abilities in wildly unpredictable ways, the sheer variety of bizarre power-ups you can stack on each run makes every descent into the dungeon one-of-a-kind.

Though its imagery and themes can be disturbing at times, the game keeps things fresh with challenging permadeath runs and tons of game-changing secrets to uncover that will keep you coming back for hundreds of hours. The Binding of Isaac's nearly endless supply of items and secrets paired with the always tense and rewarding roguelike runs easily make it one of the most endlessly replayable indies around.

After experiencing this roguelike to the fullest, you may want to check out the 2019 prequel The Legend of Bum-bo, which offers a fun if not a bit uneven puzzle deckbuilding-based take on the series with familiar characters and items to discover.

When playing Spelunky's perfectly designed yet randomized levels, you'll die. A lot. But with each failed run, you'll get better at mastering the platformer's precise controls and reacting to traps, enemies, and the procedural level generation on the fly. Slowly but surely, you'll improve your skills, learn enemy patterns, and get further with each new attempt thanks to the satisfying 2D combat and platforming.

And when you finally complete a perfect run having mastered Spelunky's loop of punishing permadeath platforming, pulling it all off feels immensely rewarding. The sequel Spelunky 2, released in 2020, improves upon the already near-perfect formula with new areas to explore, enhanced visuals, more items to discover, and the ability to play co-op with a friend. This makes it the definitive way to experience this masterfully designed roguelike platformer.

In the clever genealogical roguelike Rogue Legacy, you explore dangerous, shape-shifting castles as generations of valiant heirs, each with randomized traits and classes that keep runs amusingly fresh. Dying means starting your next run as that knight's descendant, allowing you to gradually accrue gold and experience to unlock new gear and upgrades for future generations.

Alongside the addictive loop of bequeathing abilities and riches, Rogue Legacy shines thanks to its silky smooth 2D combat and platforming. While its randomized castle layouts pose a stiff challenge, vanquishing foes and navigating traps always feels responsive and fair. The well-received sequel Rogue Legacy 2 arrived in 2022, preserving everything that made the original so special while greatly expanding the genealogical roguelike gameplay of the franchise.

In FTL: Faster Than Light, you command a scrappy spaceship crew on a desperate mission across the galaxy, making tough choices and upgrading your ship during dangerous encounters in this engrossing roguelike strategy game. During your voyage, you'll fight ruthless pirates, aid allies, and try to stay one step ahead of a pursuing rebel fleet, with every light year traversed filled with critical decisions. With limited energy and weapons, you'll have to make tactical choices in intense, pausable real-time space battles, and to succeed you'll have to smartly manage your ship's resources and your crew.

With its immersive spaceship atmosphere, tough choices, and perfectly balanced roguelike elements, FTL: Faster Than Light is a sci-fi strategy gem that's compelling, challenging, and extremely hard to put down The excellent soundtrack and sound design make every hyperspace jump, laser blast, and decision feel momentous. The free FTL: Advanced Edition expansion adds new ships, events, and augments to take the engrossing spacefaring roguelike to exciting new depths of space.

From the developers of FTL: Faster Than Light, Into the Breach is an ingenious, grid-based roguelike strategy game where your mech squads defend cities from invading monsters. In tight, turn-based battles, you'll have to carefully position your units to counter the alien Vek's attacks while minimizing collateral damage. With only a few HP for your squad, battles are puzzles where one wrong move can doom a timeline, sending you to another randomly generated Earth. A limited undo button lets you rethink each turn until you find the perfect solution. Though small in scale in comparison to other roguelike games, Into the Breach's focused roguelike battle systems and endlessly replayable time loops make it an absolute must-play for strategy fans seeking a true challenge.

When playing Dead Cells, you'll die again and again exploring its meticulously designed 2D dungeons, but the action platformer's responsive controls and combat make each new run a pleasure. Your ever-changing magic swords, bows, and spells make dispatching the next procedurally generated level of enemies a fluid, frenetic joy. Dead Cells brilliantly integrates roguelike progression into its Castlevania-inspired exploration, allowing you to bank cells to unlock new gear and abilities that persist after death.

Throw in branching level arrangements and secrets galore and each new attempt through Dead Cells' demanding dungeons feels fresh. Taking directly from its inspiration, the recent Return to Castlevania DLC adds new weapons, enemies, and characters licensed from Konami from the Castlevania franchise to freshen up the formula even more.

Venerated indie studio Supergiant Games of Bastion fame goes to hell with Hades, a sensationally fluid roguelike action game that has you fighting your way out of the "Underworld" as Zagreus, the defiant son of Hades, the god of the underworld. Each run tests your mettle against the game's imaginative mythological creatures and characters, while persistent upgrades and story sequences encourage you to keep battling your way toward the surface.

Responsive controls make each isometric sword slash and spell cast immensely satisfying. The seamless integration of the game's heartbreaking narrative with addictive gameplay loops makes Hades a hard-to-put-down standout even among exceptional roguelikes.

A highly anticipated upcoming sequel, Hades 2, will expand the game's mythology and add new weapons and powers. It is set to feature Melinoe – daughter of Hades and princess of the Underworld, as its protagonist, while the villain will be Chronos, the infamous Greek Titan and the father of Zeus and Hades. This is Supergiant Games' first direct sequel and expectations for the title are high based on the huge success of Hades. 

Slay the Spire mashes up deckbuilding roguelikes and turn-based strategy into one wildly addictive indie. Each attempt up the "Spire" lets you recruit unique squads and acquire game-changing cards through tactical battles and choices. Smart enemy design and random events ensure every run throws new challenges your way even with similar cards and classes while the game's addictive run-based progression stays engaging thanks to the seamless blend of card power-ups and strategic positioning. 

Dodge an onslaught of bullets and take down gun-toting enemies in Enter the Gungeon, a fiercely challenging dungeon crawler roguelike shooter overflowing with guns and secrets. Moving and shooting feels excellent thanks to the precise twin-stick controls and the game's endless weapon variety makes each new item you uncover control feel fresh. Tough-as-nails boss fights test your reflexes while unlockable items and secrets give you a reason to dive back in.

Crypt of the NecroDancer turns dungeon crawling into a killer dance party. Moving and attacking to the beat of its stellar soundtrack amps up the challenge of every run. A huge cast of unlockable characters and items makes the rhythm-based exploration varied and addictive. Demanding enemies and boss fights force you to learn tight, rhythmic movements and strategies. Crypt of the NecroDancer's marriage of roguelike and rhythm genres creates an inventive, head-bobbing experience like no other.

Voidigo puts a colorful sci-fi spin on twin-stick shooting fused with roguelike progression. Wield an arsenal of outlandish guns to blast your way through hordes of baddies and hulking bosses across alien planets. Lovable hero designs and varied mission objectives keep runs feeling fresh with plenty of surprises. With tense risk-reward choices, secrets to uncover, and tons of weapons to try out, Voidigo offers rewarding roguelike gameplay with ample personality

Vampire Survivors puts a novel twist on horde survival that cuts out all fluff and focuses purely on hypnotic roguelike gameplay. With simple one-button attacking, the key is clever character and weapon upgrades to mow down more monsters. The game has an addictively deep progression system and its increasing chaos will keep you hitting retry just one more time. Its approachable mechanics also hide surprising depth in optimizing runs to rack up the most kills and unlock new levels.

The recent Legacy of the Moonspell DLC adds a host of new weapons, characters, and a Japanese folklore-inspired stage to the mix. Having appeared on many 2022 Games of the Year lists, Vampire Survivors' addictive core loop makes it an essential roguelike experience.

Cult of the Lamb casts you as a cute lamb building a corrupt cult in this roguelike strategy/management hybrid. Each run challenges you to grow your twisted flock through exploration, conversion, rituals, and sermons while also managing resources back at base. The top-down combat has you wielding various weapons and spells against enemies procedurally scattered across different regions. With its dark humor, deep gameplay loops, and randomly generated worlds to conquer, Cult of the Lamb puts a novel, engaging spin on strategic roguelikes.

Darkest Dungeon pulls no punches with its gothic, eldritch horrors and punishing roguelike progression. As the heir to a noble estate overrun by monsters, you recruit and lead teams of flawed heroes through perilous expeditions where one wrong move can spell doom. The turn-based RPG combat forces you to juggle party positioning, skills, and the stress levels of heroes constantly on the brink. While difficult, the smart tactical combat never feels unfair, compelling you to prepare better for the dungeon's endless threats. Darkest Dungeon's brilliantly woven mechanics deliver an unforgiving yet supremely rewarding roguelike RPG that truly earns the name.

Risk of Rain transforms the typical third-person shooter into a replayable, roguelike thrill ride. As one of several unlockable characters, you battle through hordes of aliens across procedurally generated levels filled with secrets. The frantic action gameplay stays engaging thanks to diverse classes and randomized item drops that synergize in powerful ways. Each new run alternates objectives and maps while scaling up the challenge the longer you last against the ceaseless onslaught.

With its responsive shooting, awesome classes, and seemingly endless item combinations, Risk of Rain offers an endlessly replayable take on frenetic, odds-stacking roguelike action. The acclaimed 2019 sequel Risk of Rain 2, expanded the formula with 3D worlds and multiplayer while retaining the roguelike intensity while a  remake titled Risk of Rain Returns is also slated for 2023, promising to refine the original game with new content and improved graphics. The Risk of Rain games deserves to be mentioned on everyone's personal list of the best roguelike games.

Caves of Qud's incredibly reactive world simulates a post-apocalyptic future filled with talking animals, mutants, and abandoned technology. The relatively basic graphics conceal staggeringly deep systems that lend each playthrough wholly unique gameplay and stories, with a procedural history system based on the one found in the extremely complex Drawf Fortress. Character builds offer immense flexibility thanks to the freeform combination of mutations and skills. Impressively, Qud's emergent possibilities never undermine the tense, rewarding roguelike dungeon crawling at its core and the game stands as one of the most groundbreaking, singular roguelike experiences around.

Nuclear Throne delivers intense twin-stick shooter action in bite-sized roguelike runs. You blast through procedural levels as one of many playable mutants, each with unique abilities and weapons. Combat is incredibly fast-paced, demanding quick reflexes and split-second tactical decisions. Unlocking new mutations and guns keeps each rapid-fire run feeling fresh. Nuclear Throne's quick, chaotic runs provide a compelling test of reflexes and snap decision-making for roguelike fans.

Wizard of Legend conjures up frantic roguelike action as you duel through procedurally generated dungeons as a spellcasting apprentice. Choosing from specialized spell schools, you dash, blast, and deflect attacks in real-time combat made all the more intense by randomized modifiers in each run. Tough bosses test your ability to anticipate attacks and respond with precise spell combinations and positioning. Unlocks persist across runs, allowing you to customize your wizard for greater challenges. With responsive controls and endless spell variety, Wizard of Legend magically merges roguelikes with intense arcane duels. It's the perfect pick for gamers on the lookout for the best roguelike games with elements of medieval fantasy.

Tangledeep's charming 16-bit presentation obscures its incredibly deep and engaging roguelike RPG mechanics. With ten playable jobs to choose from and master, you'll delve into randomly generated labyrinths, strategically using new abilities and growing stronger after each attempt. Addictive turn-based combat and progression loops are made more accessible with helpful difficulty settings and quality-of-life tweaks. Yet don't be fooled by its welcoming exterior—dedicated players will find hidden depths at every turn. Tangledeep strikes a perfect balance between accessibility and challenge for an enchanting, rewarding roguelike adventure.

Streets of Rogue empowers you to cause absolute chaos however you want in its reactive, roguelike city. With loads of wildly diverse character classes, items, and freeform interactions, the immersive urban sandbox invites endless player creativity. Wreak havoc using stealth, combat, hacking, diplomacy, and more to complete randomized missions. The gameplay leads to absurd, unexpected stories every time thanks to the intricate AI ecosystems and simulated systems. Streets of Rogue grants unparalleled freedom to live out your wackiest power fantasies in its anarchic procedural cityscape and deserves to be among this collection of the best roguelike games.

Children of Morta distills roguelike dungeon delving through the lens of an intimate family narrative with purpose. Play as the Bergsons, the cursed protectors of Morta, each wielding unique combat abilities tailored for their procedurally generated quests. While their home grows increasingly corrupted, persistent character growth helps steel the family for the battles ahead. Charming pixel art and emotive storytelling complement the tightly focused hack-and-slash gameplay. Children of Morta proves that roguelikes and rich storytelling can beautifully coexist for a poignant experience.

UnderMine blends fluid combat and strategic resource management across repetitive roguelike runs. Each attempt through procedural mines earns loot to upgrade town services and purchase gear for future dungeon dives and fighting with varied weapons feels great. With many secrets to uncover, UnderMine incentivizes risky gambits and greed that feel rewarded.