I’ve sunk probably a thousand hours into Slay the Spire, have beaten Hades, and just finished Cult of the Lamb. Looking for something else to scratch that itch- preferably on switch. Any suggestions?
Update: Y’all convinced me. I bought Binding of Isaac and am excited to start. I also tried out Dead Cells via Netflix, but feel like I’d prefer it with a controller compared to mobile. Gonna start with Isaac, and wait for a sale on Dead Cells. Thank you for all the recommendations! I’m saving this thread for future reference.
Just as a bit of a counter to all the Isaac love (and, don’t get me wrong, I love Isaac):
BoI is probably the best roguelite… from the early 2010s. The gameplay is ridiculously solid but the upgrade design and drop system has too much in common with the roguelikes of old where you would often lose a run because the purple potion was instant death on this run.
There are just so many upgrades and synergies that you might become completely unkillable on floor 2 of one run and then have your entire build ruined on floor 5 of a different run. I STRONGLY encourage playing with the wiki or https://tboi.com/ open on a second device/display to avoid these run ruining pickups because you happened to forget what THAT weird egg looking thing did with a different weird looking egg thing.
On PC there are mods that integrate this into the game (and I think you can use it with achievements after your first matricide?). And I think Edmund has said he wants to add that to the base game sooner than later?
But contrast that with games like Hades where basically every single upgrade is a pure upgrade and you have good item descriptions before you pick anything up (so it is mostly a case of deciding what damage types you want to spec for). Or Dead Cells where you can easily swap out a weapon if you decide you didn’t like it. But in Isaac? You are basically chugging mystery potions on every floor.
I don’t know if you are into Mystery Dungeon games, but I loved both of Void Terrarium games. Both on switch.
Came here to suggest The Binding of Isaac, but it looks like people already convinced you. Hope you love it! I’ve achieved 100% completion at around 870 hours, and one of my acquaintances is currently at 4.1k hours played of that. It’s an incredible amount of fun
Star traders frontiers if you want a more management spacy concept
I don’t have a lot of experience with roguelike games. Before I even knew about the genre I played quite a bit of Spelunkey. As someone who loves Super Mario Bros I thought that game was great. I recently found Vagante and am having a lot of fun with it. It gives off Spelunkey vibes, but is more traditional fantasy.
Dead Cells is 50% off on GOG right now.
If you enjoyed Hades, you might like the new Ninja Turtles game, Splintered Fate. It’s definitely a bit more than “inspired by” Hades. Doesn’t quite hit the same, but it’s still a good time.
If you can still download the legacy version of Dwarf Fortress from Bay12Games website, Adventure Mode is the best rouge like I’ve ever played. It’s not yet in the Steam version, though.
For a more action-oriented rogue like, I find Returnal to be fun as hell. Roguelike bullet hell 3rd person shooter, with a pretty intriguing story line if you manage to actually get all of it (finding story bits is as random as everything else).
Edit: Er… They’re on PC, though. DF could run on pretty much anything; returnal might need a decent gaming rig (or a PlayStation).
I was never able to get into Dwarf Fortress, but that’s awesome that there’s a rogue like mode coming out!
I actually own Returnal on PS5 but never gave it much of a thought. It sounds like it’s worth trying though!
Since you love Slay The Spire, you should try Balatro •<|:)€ ♤♡◇♧!
It’s the titular “Poker Rogue-lite” that’s taken the world by storm, and it certainly knows how to up the ante!
I sunk 25 hours into Balatro the first weekend I had it on PC. Also bought the mobile version when it came out, and have put an embarrassing amount of time into it.
This is an ad 👆
Lmfao, someone hasn’t beaten Red Stake. In all seriousness, do you really think LocalThunk would stoop that low? To using Lemmy bot ads to promote his game? Get real.
Dead Cells?
Emphasis, perhaps, on the “lite” part of Roguelite. But it does have that Roguelike run structure where the levels and the items you find therein are randomized. But with side scrolling platforming gameplay with a very distinct set of fast double-jump-dodge-roll-parry-combo mechanics that I think can best be summed up as ninja gameplay. And you will get killed… a lot. There is a permanent progression system of a sort in the form of unlocking more weapons and items (and later, to re lock items you don’t like), but your core stats remain the same. This is one of those games where the real progression is on your own personal quest to git gud.
I think it’s pretty unique in that it has no dud weapons or items whatsoever. Everything – literally everything – has the potential to be viable and can be absolutely deadly when wielded in the right hands. Even the joke items.
It also has not one, but two weapons which involve beating the shit out of your enemies with frying pans. What’s not to love?
There is indeed a Switch version.
Ants Took My Eyeball - Pixel graphics, awesome soundtrack, ridiculous premise. One my favorite roguelites ever. Similar to Dead Cells and Noita.
In the style of Slay The Spire : Griftlands, Monster Train, Wildfrost, Accross The Obelisk, Dicey Dungeons (kinda)
More action oriented : Risk of Rain Returns, Risk of Rain 2 (both games are awesome and quite different), Rogue Legacy 1 & 2, Gunfire Reborn, Spelunky 1 & 2
Unique : Balatro, Noita, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Cultist Simulator, Ballionaire, Luck Be A Landlord
Feel free to search about any of these games or ask some questions about them.
Binding of Isaac is some OG classic stuff if you haven’t played that one, and Neon Abyss is a fun side-scrolling game on a similar vibe. Rogue Legacy 1 (very OG) and 2 and Dead Cells are also side scrolling , with a dash of Metroidvania.
If you like Slay the Spire, Astrea is the same thing but with dice, and Monster Train also scratches the same itch.
Like most others said. Dead Cells and Binding of Isaac are the top dogs. No matter what else I play I always circle back to one of those two eventually and get sucked in again. But some other lesser known ones that are good are:
Cursed to Golf - 2d golfing roguelike, no combat or anything. There’s a bunch of different cards to make the ball do different stuff. From a rocket ball you control after hitting to an ice ball that’ll freeze water hazards to a drill so you can tunnel through walls.
Oblivion Override - 2d with fast combat and a lot of perks and weapons that change things up. Perks from different “trees” have synergies that are a lot of fun.
Rogue Prince of Persia - 2d parkour style combat made by the folks that did most of Dead Cells post launch updates, still in early access but still fun.
Soundfall - not a true roguelike, top down rhythm shooter with random loot.
BlazBlue Entropy Effect - 2d with a boatload of different classes, different elemental perks that synergize and each class has different perks to add new melee combos
Curse of the Dead Gods - isometric with slower parry based combat, has some mechanics with light and dark that some folks don’t like. If there isn’t a light source nearby you can’t see traps and take extra damage but you can pull a torch out to light braziers or enemies on fire to illuminate the area.
Ravenswatch - same people that made Curse of the Dead Gods. Isometric with different classes and online co-op.
Voidigo - top down shooter with unique art and sound design. Lot of weapons and four or five different characters with unique abilities.
Have a Nice Death - 2d melee with nice movement, mechanics don’t seem as deep as others but still fun.
Dandy Ace - isometric with ranged combat. Magician that throws cards around, good selection of abilities.
Patch Quest - top down, hard to explain this one, might wanna watch a video to see how it plays.
Devil Slayer Raksasi - top down with a lot of elemental effects. Haven’t spent much time with it though.
Well this got a bit longer than I meant but they’re all solid, not sure if they’re all on Switch though.
One more, not a roguelike at all but Switch exclusive and a surprisingly awesome game. Golf Story, check it out.
Raksasi is not so much about elemental effects as it is about spacing and good core action. It’s also a fantastic game with a lot of value.
Shows how much time I spent with that one. I just remembered enjoying it but started running into enemies that had all kinds of status effects and not liking getting blinded and slowed constantly. Need to get back to it eventually.
If you’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment from Slay the Spire, be sure to try out Monster Train.