Getting into DCSS a lot recently. Still just running Minotaur Berserker with the furthest I’ve made it being the 10th floor aha.
Regardless, really enjoying it and wondering if others have any other recommendations. I tried ToME4 and just felt overwhelmed and wasn’t enjoying myself too much.
Have my eyes of Caves of Qud as well. Love the more “literary” aspect to it (even though I know it’s often nonsense), and the atmosphere/setting. Seems to be highly regarded overall though. Wondering if I should buy it and play alongside DCSS.
COGMIND.
COGMIND COGMIND COGMIND.
Cogmind is legitimately the most underrated “real” roguelike around. Everyone knows about CDDA and Caves of Qud or whatever, I never see anyone talk about Cogmind. It’s such a rabbit hole both gameplay and actually story-wise (because yeah, it actually has a story, despite being a traditional roguelike) that I can’t help but wonder how the hell it’s developer keeps going.
They have a blog where they talk about the game. It’s borderline obsessive.
If I look at any one aspect of it closely I inevitably end up going “wait, what the hell?” because it goes farther than I expected. In-game computer terminals, the way word of your presence travels throughout the caverns you’re in, each tile actually being a 3x3 space which affects how much “cover” you have… playing for quite a few hours before meeting other truly sentient robots and realizing that oh, there’s, like, lore. A lot of it.
COGMIND is, hands-down, the most beautiful Roguelike game I have ever enjoyed. I recommend this game as well! God, I wish it had a mobile port.
borderline obsessive
Okay, I’m sold.
Hades 10outta10
I don’t think anyone should play anything other than Hades.
Until Hades 2 is released, that is.
I’m so in love with this game it’s not even funny. Hated it the first time I played it on Xbox, got it on my steam deck and can’t put it down.
Ancient Domains of Mystery is really really good if you can get into it. It’s available on Steam, but you can get the free version which is identical except for the UI from https://adom.de/
this was my first roguelike, we used to play it in high school in 1996 on the lab computers. nice times.
Caves of Qud is phenomenal and you won’t regret playing it. If you have a phone, I’d highly recommend Shattered Pixel Dungeon. It may be one of the cleanest versions of the genre. It’s also available on PC, but I’ve never played it there.
Similarly, I think Hoplite on the phone may be the most distilled versions of the genre, pared down to the barest essentials and utterly glorious as a result.
I’d recommend: Hades, Dead Cells, The Binding of Isaac, and FTL
I think they’re looking for a roguelike and not a roguelite, but those are great roguelites!
What is the difference? I’m not familiar.
There seems to be some disagreement over the term, but I have always liked the explanation that “true” Roguelikes are “like Rogue”, in that they have randomly-generated maps, permadeath, and nothing saved between runs; meanwhile Roguelites feature a “meta-progression” system that allows the player some kind of persistent progress that carries over between runs, and maybe other QOL features.
I did a small write-up off my understanding here, but that’s coming from someone that’s only dabbled in both and I may have missed some stuff.
Dead Cells is brilliant
I’m currently playing Hades (a top-down, isometric brawler). The gameplay is really fun and with different weapons, skills & upgrades per run, it stays entertaining for a long time. The story is simple but engaging, and after almost every run, there are some characters with new dialogue that tells you more about it.
I was never really a roguelike fan but I loved Hades! The game always makes you feel like you’re making progress without feeling grindy, which I think is an issue that pushed me away from most roguelikes.
As a roguelike fan, I could not find a taste for Hades. A lot of roguelikes I play have a systemic nature to them where you can combine elements together to come up with creative solutions to problems, like making enemies attack each other because you triggered some criteria they allows that to happen. In Hades, all of the power ups just seemed to be a way to make you deal more damage and that was about it. Plus, out of four levels, I really wasn’t a fan of levels 3 and 4.
You’re right, Hades is not a very strategic game. There are some synergies between the power-ups, but mostly I just pick the ones that suit my playstyle. I’d also say that the power-ups in Hades are just there to mix it up a bit (and not really a core part of the gameplay loop).
The ones I played and enjoyed:
- Noita
- The Binding of Isaac
- Hades
- FTL
- Risk of Rain
- Darkest Dungeon
- Dead Cells
- Rouge Legacy
Edit: woups was still editing the list and accidentally hit the post button… Added more
I’d like to add Enter the Gungeon to this list, as it fits thematically. It’s a roguelite with bullet hell aspects. In many respects very similar to The Binding of Isaac. And it has a great art style and humor.
I agree, totally forgot Enter the Gungeon…
EDIT: seems like I found a jeroba bug.
The only one I know is Dead Cells. I could play it all day even though I’m awful haha.
Caves of Qud is AMAZING! You should buy it OP
My go-to is Shattered Pixel Dungeon.
Dwarf Fortress and Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead/Bright Nights are the obvious recommendations I have, though they are more managing/survival games than a classic roguelike.
One that I come back every now and then and don’t see recommended often is Prospector, it’s about exploring space.
Also I try NetHack every three or four years but I can’t make it hold my attention long enough to learn it.
Try out Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. It’s like a 90’s sci-fi that gets hit by every single apocalyptic, world-ending disaster at once.
A personal favourite is UnReal World.
…into the far north we shall take you.
You would really enjoy Caves of Qud. It’s like DCSS but science fantasy in a crazy world instead of pure fantasy. Mechanically they’re fairly equivalent; both offer a lot of deep builds and complicated ways to solve the problem of “how do I survive this next turn?”
