Good roguelikes aren’t designed to be difficult or unforgiving. They usually are, but that’s a consequence of the things that make them interesting: the interaction between different systems, items, upgrades, weapons, and what-have-you, and the way learning the nuances of all those interactions gives you the tools to carve out …
It’s hard to find a concise description that does Loop Hero justice. It’s a mash-up of a whole bunch of different genres—roguelike, RPG, strategy, city-builder, tower defence, deck-building game, auto-battler—but the ways all these different things come together make it so much more than the sum of those parts. To …
There’s a lot going on in Project Starship X. Even by shoot-’em-up standards, it’s a game of sensory overload, full of bright colours and flashing lights, overwhelming attack patterns, and eccentric character designs. In contrast to the precision and mastery that a finely-crafted bullet hell demands, this is a game …
I can’t tell if I love Cultist Simulator or loathe it. In some respects, it’s a remarkable game: a wholly unique mix of card game, text adventure, and resource management. Its fragmented narratives unfold in a mesmerising way through the cards played, inviting you into a grim, fascinating world of …
There’s a lot more to a good roguelike than just permanent death and randomised dungeons. What makes the best of the genre work so well is the way they encourage experimentation with different weapons, different items, different builds—driven in part by necessity and in part by a game loop that …
Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is a game you’ll either love or hate. In classic roguelike fashion, the whims of luck can be cruel, unforgiving, and downright unfair. One bad toss of the dice is all it takes to bring a dungeon delve …
Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is now available to pre-order on the Nintendo Switch eShop, ahead of its release on December 2. It’s also coming to Steam on the same date (though there’s no pre-purchase for it yet), and it’ll also be getting …
Masayuki Furuya has a remarkable ability to use grim, horrific settings to tell the most heartfelt and hopeful stories. Games like Hotaru no Nikki: The Firefly Diary and A Rose in the Twilight are unforgiving games that explore difficult themes like depression, but their cute character designs always sit in …
It’s easy to overlook just how influential Chunsoft’s Mystery Dungeon series really is. Beginning life as a Dragon Quest spinoff heavily inspired by Rogue—yes, that Rogue—the series has gone on to see collaborations with everything from Final Fantasy to TwinBee, not to mention plenty of original works. With that sort …
In a very welcome surprise release, Exit the Gungeon—a sequel to Dodge Roll’s acclaimed Enter the Gungeon—is now available for Nintendo Switch and PC (via Steam). Publisher Devolver Digital describes Exit the Gungeon as a “bullet hell dungeon climber”. Where Enter the Gungeon was a top-down dungeon crawler that saw …
