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Any Roguelike/Roguelite suggestions?

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.

102 comments

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • My absolute favourite roguelite is Noita.

    Beware though, it's quite different to other roguelites in that the world it creates is suprisingly expansive. You can get lost in it, mentally. There are quests that can take you dozens of hours to complete, all on the same run, and even if you become so absurdly overpowered that nothing can threaten you directly, till you can fly inside the sun, you can still get turned into a sheep and die in a single hit.

    Also the wand-building is complex, it's like a programming language. People have built wands that can teleport you to parallel worlds, and the developers did not intend for that to be possible. And in a way I've never seen magic be done before, you can screw up and kill yourself with your wands, just like a discworld wizard. It's so easy to do, it's a rite of passage for any new player.

    Some people don't like spoilers on this game so here you go, but honestly getting just a little spoiled made me get properly into it to understand what the hell people were talking about.

    I... stopped playing after that one, I'll be honest. But I will return.

    And rather than simply being repetitive, the way the world loops creates an ennui that's kind of haunting to me. The whole game is littered with versions of people trying to achieve immortality, and if you manage to reach a point where you actually can't die, you feel like you've soft-locked yourself, because dying is how you get to the end-screen. You can just end the run from the menu, but it feels fake somehow.

    10/10 would try to kill god and confront my mortality again.

    • People have built wands that can teleport you to parallel worlds, and the developers did not intend for that to be possible.

      Alright, this has convinced me to give Noita a shot.

      • I mean, I don't know how much they anticipated. There are a lot of projectile path modifications that are clearly meant for tinkering, but the idea that they knew their players would do this is hard to tease out. It's a simulation game built very much on "Things are what they are," and they know this has deep implications.

        Like when I was turned into a sheep, I wasn't "noita (sheep)", I was just "sheep". The noita I had been playing as was effectively stored in a state of nonexistence until the transmogrification wore off, then the sheep was replaced with the noita. So transforming yourself - or simply causing yourself to temporarily cease to exist - can be a way to eliminate side effects of certain things.

        If there is one thing that it might be worth spoiling yourself on, if you're struggling to finish a run, is in the next spoiler.

        Other than that, I would look up how to design good wands. This can be a good thing to learn by doing for a while, but there are deep interactions that you could soend a thousand runs not learning. I think the shared science is a big part of what makes this game great.

    • Thank you for the in-depth explanation! I've wishlisted it and will pick it up when it goes on sale. The art is absolutely beautiful, I can see how it could get haunting and lonely.

  • I don't know if you are into Mystery Dungeon games, but I loved both of Void Terrarium games. Both on switch.

  • Dead cells and rogue legacy 1/2 were a lot of fun. Check out nethack if you want something more casual for mobile or in a terminal, it's a classic. Switch specific I'd say check out dead cells or Isaac. If you want something casual without a big story or learning a bunch of RPG systems you might want to check out donut county, goose game, or golf story.

  • Two of my favorites are Vagante and Streets of Rogue. Vagante is a great challenge with all sorts of build variety and interesting choices to make along the way. Streets of Rogue is comedy and chaos. Both are a great time either single player or in co-op, either local or online.

  • I said Noita is my favourite roguelite, but actually Heat Signature is probably tied with it. It has a completely different philosophy of soft failure.

    If your character dies in space, they're dead, but they can also be captured, then another character can rescue them. And if a mission is going sideways, you can huck a wrench through a window and fling yourself into space, as long as you're confident you can pick yourself up with your space pod before you pass out.

    It's very fast-paced with quick runs. Each character that comes along has different traits, and you can have 4 different people on the go at once. Each character has their individual quest - which can be rescuing another character - and when that's done you can retire them or keep them going.

    It's very open to how you want to play.

    Oh! Also, if you're trying to do your character's big final mission and it goes wrong, usually you can bail and try again. I lost quite a few characters before I realised that.

  • This isn’t exactly a rogue like but there are some similar aspects and I find that it satisfies in the same way. The game is Backpack Battles. Available on Steam. There’s a free demo available too with full mechanics but limited character options.

    This is my default game more for when I have a few minutes to relax and nothing more pressing to do

    • In this same vein, Backpack Hero is quite good, too! If you like one, maybe check out the other.

102 comments