15 Best Roguelike Games to Play in 2026

One questionable item choice, one room you entered too confidently, and there goes a perfectly good run. The best roguelike games make the restart tempting anyway. You learned something, spotted a different combination, or came close enough to convince yourself the next attempt will go better.

This list covers the broader roguelike category, including roguelites with permanent improvements between attempts. You'll find card games, shooters, platformers, and tactical battles. Each gives repeated runs a central role, with changing encounters, items, or decisions keeping the next attempt interesting.

Several picks are available through our full Steam game catalogue. The platform sections below also cover console options and explain the multiplayer differences worth checking before you buy.

1. Slay the Spire

Slay the Spire makes every card reward a small argument with yourself. Take another attack, remove a card that's slowing you down, or skip the reward and keep the deck consistent? Those choices follow you into the next fight.

Enemies show their intentions, giving you time to plan around incoming damage. Relics and character-specific cards create combinations that can turn an ordinary deck into something wonderfully excessive.

The map matters too. An elite fight might provide the relic your run needs, then leave you too injured to survive the boss. This recommendation covers the original game, with its four characters and solo campaign.

Why It Stands Out:

• Card rewards make every deck a series of decisions.

• Enemy intentions support careful planning.

• Relics change how familiar cards work together.

• Branching routes create risks between battles.

• Higher Ascension levels give experienced players tougher runs.

My Verdict: Slay the Spire is my first recommendation for tactical deckbuilding. Choose it if thinking through a difficult turn sounds more satisfying than dodging another projectile.

2. Dead Cells

Dead Cells turns a ruined island into a fast-moving series of fights. Weapons, traps, and skills change your approach, and a well-timed roll can rescue a run that looked finished a second earlier.

Routes branch between areas, giving you choices about the enemies and hazards ahead. Permanent abilities open further paths, so learning the island involves more than memorising one sequence of rooms.

The combat asks you to act quickly without getting careless. Chasing another hit can cost more health than the enemy was worth. Assist Mode provides adjustments if you want a less punishing starting point.

Why It Stands Out:

• Responsive movement connects platforming and combat.

• Weapons and skills support different fighting styles.

• Branching routes give runs different paths.

• Permanent abilities provide access to further areas.

• Assist Mode lets you adjust parts of the challenge.

My Verdict: Dead Cells is my fast-action pick. It suits players who enjoy getting comfortable with a weapon, then testing it against increasingly dangerous rooms.

3. Balatro

Balatro starts with familiar poker hands and a score to beat. Jokers, card changes, and other modifiers soon send those simple rules into combinations a normal card table would never tolerate.

Shopping between rounds becomes just as important as playing the next hand. A tempting Joker needs to fit your existing plan, and spending everything immediately can leave you short of options later.

There's no need to bring poker expertise. You're building a scoring engine against the game's targets, with time to inspect cards before committing. Watching a modest hand turn into an absurd total is the reward.

Why It Stands Out:

• Familiar hand types make the opening rules approachable.

• Jokers create very different scoring strategies.

• Shops add decisions between rounds.

• Deck choices change the conditions of a run.

• Untimed turns let you inspect a combination before playing.

My Verdict: Balatro is my numbers-and-combinations pick. Choose it if you enjoy spotting a small interaction and building an entire run around making it ridiculous.

4. Risk of Rain 2

Risk of Rain 2 drops you onto an alien planet and starts raising the difficulty as time passes. Searching for another chest has a cost, even when the item inside could make the next fight much easier.

Items stack into increasingly dramatic combinations. A character who struggled through the opening minutes can eventually fill the screen with attacks, healing effects, and chain reactions.

Different survivors change the rhythm of combat, and online co-op lets a group share the chaos. Agreeing when to activate the teleporter can be its own challenge once everyone has spotted something else they want to collect.

Why It Stands Out:

• The rising difficulty makes time a resource.

• Stacking items produces dramatic combinations.

• Survivors offer distinct abilities and combat styles.

• Online co-op supports groups of up to four.

• Optional looping lets a successful run continue further.

My Verdict: Risk of Rain 2 is my group-action recommendation. Choose it if your friends enjoy comparing builds and seeing how far a good combination can carry the team.

5. Returnal

Returnal traps Selene on an alien planet where death sends her back to the crash site. Strange signals and unsettling fragments of her life give each attempt a reason to feel wrong before the shooting even starts.

Combat fills 3D spaces with projectile patterns that demand constant movement. Dashing, positioning, and choosing when to commit to an attack matter as much as the weapon you're carrying.

Some equipment and traversal progress survive between cycles, and Suspend Cycle lets you pause an eligible solo run. Online co-op covers the main campaign; the Tower of Sisyphus remains a solo challenge.

Why It Stands Out:

• Third-person combat uses demanding projectile patterns.

• Alien environments support a tense science-fiction story.

• Weapons and temporary pickups vary your combat options.

• Suspend Cycle helps split a solo attempt across sessions.

• Campaign co-op offers a way to face the planet with a partner.

My Verdict: Returnal is my cinematic shooter pick. It suits players who want demanding movement, an unsettling setting, and a mystery threaded through repeated attempts.

6. Enter the Gungeon

Enter the Gungeon builds its dungeon around guns, including plenty that refuse to behave like ordinary guns. Finding another weapon is part practical decision, part curiosity about what the thing will actually do.

Rooms fill with bullet patterns, and rolling through danger takes timing. Flipping a table provides another answer when the screen starts looking unreasonable.

The jokes sit around a demanding action game. Boss knowledge and careful ammunition use matter across a full run. On PC and consoles, a second player can join locally as the Cultist.

Why It Stands Out:

• An inventive weapon collection keeps pickups interesting.

• Bullet patterns reward positioning and practice.

• Dodge rolls provide a direct answer to incoming fire.

• Tables add useful cover to hectic rooms.

• Local co-op gives two players a shared dungeon run.

My Verdict: Gungeon is my bullet-hell recommendation. Choose it if you enjoy learning a dangerous room and finding a weapon strange enough to make the next attempt tempting.

7. Rogue Legacy 2

Rogue Legacy 2 hands the next attempt to another member of the family. Their class and traits change the character you're working with, sometimes turning a straightforward expedition into a rather odd inheritance dispute.

Gold pays for lasting improvements to the family manor and your future heirs. Even a short attempt can contribute something useful if you return with enough money.

Platforming, combat, and permanent traversal abilities connect its different areas. House Rules let you adjust difficulty settings, which helps if you want the family to progress without every boss becoming a week-long argument.

Why It Stands Out:

• Heirs bring different classes and traits.

• Manor improvements carry progress between attempts.

• Classes use distinct weapons and abilities.

• Permanent traversal abilities open further routes.

• House Rules offer difficulty adjustments.

My Verdict: Rogue Legacy 2 is my lasting-progress pick. Choose it if you like the restart loop and want failed attempts to help the next character get further.

8. Noita

Noita lets you build spells inside a world of simulated materials. Fire spreads, liquids flow, and the spell you assembled with such confidence can turn the room into a very personal safety demonstration.

Wand editing gives you room to experiment with spell order and modifiers. A useful combination can solve a fight, break through terrain, or create a problem you weren't prepared to survive.

Its deeper appeal comes from learning how the systems interact. Death ends the run, so the most reliable thing you carry forward is knowledge about what happened and which experiment deserves a safer testing area.

Why It Stands Out:

• Simulated materials react to spells and hazards.

• Wand editing supports unusual spell combinations.

• Destructible terrain creates routes and accidents.

• Hidden areas reward persistent investigation.

• System knowledge makes later attempts more informed.

My Verdict: Noita is my experimentation pick. It suits curious players who can accept that a spectacular spell and a spectacular mistake sometimes share the same button.

9. Cult of the Lamb

Cult of the Lamb splits your time between dungeon crusades and looking after a settlement of followers. You gather resources and fight bosses, then return to food shortages, building jobs, and followers with awkward requests.

Combat runs use changing weapons, curses, and bonuses. The settlement provides continuity between those expeditions, giving the resources you bring home a purpose beyond the next fight.

Local co-op lets the Lamb and Goat share the campaign. Choose it if you want a roguelite with plenty happening at home between attempts, and a cheerful art style covering some very unpleasant decisions.

Why It Stands Out:

• Dungeon runs feed into a persistent settlement.

• Follower needs give downtime its own problems.

• Weapons and curses change combat options.

• Rituals and doctrines let you make decisions about the cult.

• Two-player local co-op supports a shared campaign.

My Verdict: Cult of the Lamb is my management-and-action pick. It suits players who want to finish a dungeon and immediately have another small disaster waiting back at camp.

10. Vampire Survivors

Vampire Survivors handles most attacks automatically, leaving you to move through the crowd and choose what to improve. That simple arrangement becomes much less comfortable once enemies start arriving from every direction.

Weapons, passive items, and evolutions give each run a build to work towards. Gold funds permanent improvements, and different characters encourage you to try another starting approach.

Local and online co-op support up to four players on PC and consoles. The modes are separate, and cross-play support depends on the platform. The main attraction still works perfectly well alone: surviving long enough to watch a modest attack become a screen-filling mess.

Why It Stands Out:

• Automatic attacks keep the basic controls simple.

• Movement and positioning remain important under pressure.

• Weapon evolutions reward planning your item choices.

• Permanent improvements support later attempts.

• Local and online co-op offer separate group-play options.

My Verdict: Vampire Survivors is my accessible starting pick. Choose it if you want simple controls, visible build growth, and the occasional need to ask where your character went.

11. FTL: Faster Than Light

FTL: Faster Than Light puts you in charge of a spaceship trying to stay ahead of a pursuing fleet. Fuel, crew, repairs, and weapon choices all compete for the same limited resources.

Combat runs in real time with a pause button, giving you room to issue orders before everything goes wrong. A boarding party, a fire, and damaged oxygen can make one ordinary encounter feel like three emergencies sharing a corridor.

Different ships and layouts change how you approach the trip. The included Advanced Edition content adds further systems and encounters, giving familiar routes more possibilities without requiring a separate expansion purchase.

Why It Stands Out:

• Ship systems create connected combat problems.

• Pausing gives you time to issue crew orders.

• Limited resources make route choices matter.

• Different ships encourage different survival plans.

• Advanced Edition content comes with the game.

My Verdict: FTL is my crisis-management recommendation. Choose it if keeping a damaged ship alive sounds more exciting than controlling a single hero through another dungeon.

12. Into the Breach

Into the Breach puts a small squad of mechs on compact maps and shows you what the enemy plans to attack. The problem is working out how to stop several bad things from happening with only a few actions.

Pushing a creature away from a building can matter more than killing it. You can redirect attacks, block emerging enemies, and turn the map itself into part of the solution.

Different squads change the tools available across a campaign. Failed timelines give you another attempt, and the free Advanced Edition update adds more squads, enemies, and other options. The mobile version requires Netflix membership.

Why It Stands Out:

• Visible enemy intentions make turns readable.

• Small maps support compact tactical problems.

• Displacement creates alternatives to direct damage.

• Different squads change how you protect buildings.

• Advanced Edition adds further content at no extra cost.

My Verdict: Into the Breach is my tactical-puzzle pick. It suits players who enjoy staring at a bad situation until one carefully ordered turn makes it manageable.

13. Spelunky

Spelunky sends you through changing caves full of treasure, traps, and creatures with very little concern for your plans. One careless jump can trigger a chain reaction that makes the next few seconds much worse.

Bombs and ropes provide ways through the terrain, but carrying a tool doesn't mean you should spend it immediately. Judging what to leave behind is part of surviving long enough to see the next area.

This recommendation covers the commercial remake, separate from the earlier freeware release and Spelunky 2. Local co-op lets friends share an expedition, including responsibility for the accident nobody wants to admit causing.

Why It Stands Out:

• Changing layouts make route reading important.

• Traps and creatures interact in unpredictable ways.

• Bombs and ropes create alternative paths.

• Limited supplies reward careful decisions.

• Local co-op turns dangerous trips into shared disasters.

My Verdict: Spelunky is my risk-and-reward platforming pick. Choose it if you enjoy learning a game's rules and watching them produce an entirely new accident.

14. Gunfire Reborn

Gunfire Reborn mixes first-person shooting with heroes who bring their own abilities to each run. Weapons and scrolls then give you ways to push that starting character towards a particular build.

Choosing rewards involves thinking about what you're already carrying. A good interaction between a hero's abilities and the next weapon can change how you approach the following stage.

Online co-op supports up to four players. This recommendation centres on the Steam version; console and mobile editions have different content histories, so check the version your group uses before planning a shared run.

Why It Stands Out:

• First-person combat gives the run-based format a different feel.

• Heroes bring distinct starting abilities.

• Weapons and scrolls create build decisions.

• Permanent talents support progress between attempts.

• Four-player online co-op suits a regular group.

My Verdict: Gunfire Reborn is my first-person shooter pick. It suits players who want familiar aiming and movement with more reasons to rethink their loadout each run.

15. Monster Train 2

Monster Train 2 turns deckbuilding into a defence across three floors of a train. Playing a useful unit is only part of the decision; it also needs to stand where it can stop enemies before they reach your Pyre.

Clan combinations give a run its starting direction. Unit improvements, spells, equipment, and room cards then add more ways to make that plan work across several fights.

The changing routes ask you to choose which improvements the deck needs next. Choose it if card interactions appeal to you and you want positioning to have a bigger role in the battle itself.

Why It Stands Out:

• Three defensive floors make unit placement matter.

• Clan combinations give decks different starting identities.

• Equipment and room cards add further decisions.

• Route choices influence how your deck develops.

• Challenges provide other ways to test a build.

My Verdict: Monster Train 2 is my unit-based deckbuilding pick. Choose it if you enjoy planning card combinations and arranging the battlefield that makes them work.

Best Roguelike Games on Each Platform

Best Roguelike Games on PC

All 15 games have PC versions. Slay the Spire, Balatro, and Monster Train 2 cover different approaches to deckbuilding. FTL and Into the Breach suit players who want more time to think through a bad situation.

Dead Cells and Rogue Legacy 2 bring platforming into the loop. Returnal, Risk of Rain 2, and Gunfire Reborn offer three different shooting perspectives, and Noita gives curious players plenty of spell combinations to test.

Your next run could start with one of the PC game keys on GameBoost. Slay the Spire and Balatro use European Steam offers in this list, so match the activation region to your account before choosing.

Best Roguelike Games on PlayStation

Returnal, Dead Cells, Balatro, Risk of Rain 2, Rogue Legacy 2, Cult of the Lamb, Vampire Survivors, Gunfire Reborn, and Monster Train 2 have PS5 versions.

PS4 titles such as Slay the Spire, Enter the Gungeon, and Spelunky provide further options through backward compatibility. For shared play, Returnal supports two-player online campaign co-op, and Cult of the Lamb supports two players locally.

Something shorter between big story games can be a useful change of pace. The PlayStation game keys selection gives you more PS4 and PS5 titles to consider.

Best Roguelike Games on Xbox

Risk of Rain 2 and Gunfire Reborn suit online groups. Balatro, Rogue Legacy 2, Cult of the Lamb, Vampire Survivors, and Monster Train 2 provide native Series X/S choices from this selection.

Slay the Spire, Dead Cells, and Enter the Gungeon also have Xbox One releases playable on compatible newer consoles. Returnal, Noita, FTL, and Into the Breach don't have Xbox releases covered by this list.

For a library built around repeat attempts, take a look through the Xbox game keys catalogue and check each offer's console support and region.

Best Roguelike Games on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2

Original Switch has Slay the Spire, Dead Cells, Balatro, Risk of Rain 2, Enter the Gungeon, Rogue Legacy 2, Cult of the Lamb, Vampire Survivors, Into the Breach, Spelunky, and Monster Train 2.

Balatro also has a dedicated Switch 2 release. An original Switch copy and a native Switch 2 version are different listings, so check what an offer provides rather than assuming every game mentioned here has a separate Switch 2 edition.

Balatro and Into the Breach suit slower handheld sessions. Dead Cells and Spelunky offer a more demanding movement challenge, and Cult of the Lamb combines short expeditions with jobs back at the settlement.

Leave room for another portable obsession in the Nintendo game keys selection. Check the required system and activation region before adding a game to your account.

FAQs About the Best Roguelike Games

Final Words

Slay the Spire and Balatro make a strong case for spending an evening thinking about cards. Dead Cells brings faster action, Risk of Rain 2 gives groups a shared disaster to survive, and FTL can make a damaged oxygen system the most urgent problem in your evening.

Choose the kind of mistake you enjoy learning from. A bad deck choice, a greedy detour, a missed dodge, or an experimental wand can all lead to another good attempt. These games give you plenty of reasons to try one more time.

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