All articles tagged with #roguelike
Ubisoft-published action roguelike Morbid Metal has released on Steam in Early Access from Screen Juice, offering a 10-hour campaign with three playable characters, roguelike elements, and procedurally generated levels for high replayability; there is no confirmed console version yet, but the devs plan a Year One Early Access roadmap and to incorporate community feedback, fueling hopes for a PS5 port.
Beyond Words fuses Scrabble-style word building with round-based roguelike runs and upgrade shops, delivering a highly replayable, addictive experience; it nails the mechanics and pacing, but it leans heavily on Balatro's blueprint, making it feel derivative despite solid execution.
Purple Ray Studio has announced Koshmar: The Last Reverie, a fast-paced single-player action-adventure set in a dream/nightmare realm inspired by central Europe and Victorian aesthetics. Players control Violet, a teenager who traverses lucid dreams, fights Nightmare Rifts with strategic combat and equippable items, solves puzzles, and makes choices that affect her sanity and the story. The third-person roguelike/RPG blends dark, stylized visuals with world-building and mood-driven mechanics, and is slated for unspecified consoles and PC via Steam in 2027.
A reporter rounds up 13 standout games seen at PAX East, from Grave Seasons’ horror twist on farming sims to Kiln’s pottery-powered brawler, Rain98’s time-displaced visual novel, a Cyberpunk Trading Card Game, an arcade-exclusive Throwback! Jai-Alai Heroes, The Secret of Crystal Mountain’s Zelda-inspired puzzles, Canvas City’s skatepunk tactics, Fishbowl’s grief-driven life sim, Gnaw’s dinosaur-infused Metroidvania, Of the Devil’s cyberpunk courtroom mystery, Reclaim!’s Ojibwe language adventure, Poly Fighter’s evolving fighting-game roguelike, and Pokémon Champions—each pushing genres in fresh directions and worth watching as upcoming releases.
Saros, Housemarque's upcoming PS5 roguelike, has been made notably easier than Returnal in response to player feedback, adding day-one autosaves, multiple save slots, permanent upgrades, revival mechanics, and Carcosan modifiers to tailor the challenge, with each run designed to last about 30 minutes and the game still aiming to deliver a challenging experience.
Hades 2 arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox Game Pass on April 14 after launching on Switch/Switch 2 and PC; PS4 and Xbox One are skipped, with Melinoë leading a roguelike sequel.
Devolver Digital is publishing Doinksoft’s Dark Scrolls, a retro-inspired dungeon-scroller for Nintendo Switch that blends roguelike and shmup action. Players choose from nine characters with unique skills, explore procedurally generated rooms with branching paths and bosses, and can play solo or in local/online co-op with shop upgrades and mid-level revives, all wrapped in authentic old-school visuals and music with modern controls; a release is planned for some point this year.
Slay the Spire 2 adds intriguing new characters (like the Necrobinder with Osty and the Regent with Stars) and fresh mechanics, but early impressions suggest it’s too similar to the original—offering new flavors yet replaying familiar deck-building loops, with plenty of unlockables to chase but not yet delivering a transformative sequel.
Slay the Spire II launches in early access with online co-op for up to four players, preserving the deck-building roguelike core while introducing simultaneous turns and shared map decisions. A Verge reviewer teams up with his wife for a memorable victory, highlighting cooperative planning, campfire healing, and doodle-friendly map choices, though noting the need for each player to own a copy and the absence of couch co-op.
Saros, Housemarque’s PS5 roguelike, leans deeper into narrative by blending gameplay with interviews to flesh out Arjun Devraj and a cast unraveling on Carcosa; the game is slated to launch for PS5 on April 30, 2026.
Kadokawa, Kadokawa Game Linkage, and ABC Animation announce SHINONOME ABYSS: The Maiden Exorcist, a strategy roguelike horror action game from WODAN, launching March 26 on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. Players guide shrine maiden Yono through a mansion haunted by yokai and Mononoke, using limited items and traps across three modes (Harai, Misogi, Gyō) and an expanded roster of traps, enemies, and a new alternate personality mechanic, building on the previous Shinonome title.
Emerald Rush is Donkey Kong Bananza's roguelike, multi-difficulty mode that reshapes DK's moves into key tools, adds a resource-management loop across seven difficulties and many layers, and offers 50+ hours of content with new gear and events. Despite backlash over the $20 price on launch, it delivers substantial replay value and stands as one of Nintendo's stronger DLCs, even if it doesn't eclipse Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed or Octo Expansion.
Engadget’s roundup highlights a diverse slate of upcoming indie games, headlined by Slay the Spire 2 and Scott Pilgrim EX, with previews of gameplay styles, mechanics, and platforms, signaling strong interest for roguelike fans, beat ’em ups, and other indie-genre enthusiasts.
Blue Prince on Switch 2 is a deeply rewarding puzzle roguelike where you explore a shifting Mount Holly Estate to uncover the Room 46 mystery. Its daily step system, optional notebook-driven deductions, and permanent upgrades create a cerebral loop that rewards careful observation and planning. While it runs at 30fps with occasional dips and lacks cross-save, the game’s inventive mechanics, atmospheric visuals and music, and the sense of clever achievement earn it a high 9/10 in this review.
Slay the Spire 2 has launched in Steam Early Access, bringing new and returning characters with unique cards, a four-player co-op mode, and ongoing content updates including more modes and balance tweaks; the game will cost more once Early Access ends (estimated 1–2 years), with in-game feedback supported to guide development.