The 20 best roguelike games on PC & Steam to play in 2024

Roguelikes encompass more than just dungeon crawling, randomly generated levels, and permadeath. They adhere to the “nothing held back” principle, where no one and nothing cuts you any slack. It’s like a taunting troll with a malicious grin, screaming ‘Git gud’ as you start over. Despite the boiling rage, you return stronger, more skilled, and more determined.

If this sounds too stressful to handle, you can go back to the point and click adventure games. However, if you appreciate the challenge and value high replayability, check out our line-up of the best roguelike games in 2024 that will surely find a special place in your Steam library.

What are the best roguelikes on Steam?

Before you point this out, our list of the best roguelike games includes several roguelites. Such titles are not as punishing because some of your equipment and/or abilities often carry over to future runs, as in Hades. Also, they don’t always have a top-down view. Nonetheless, they’re all worth playing. Enjoy the read!

Crypt of the NecroDancer

Don’t be fooled by the retro pixel art; Crypt of the NecroDancer is no ordinary dungeon crawler from an indie developer. This game introduces a unique twist by combining exploration with Dance Dance Revolution mechanics. Maintaining the rhythm is crucial, as failure to do so leads to permanent death.

The gameplay may seem simple, but its addictive nature has garnered it a dedicated fan base, with players boasting over 1,000 hours on their Steam records. If you can’t master the moves, there are training grounds where you can practice in a stress-free environment. Solo or co-op, it’s sure to keep you hooked for a long time.

Darkest Dungeon and Darkest Dungeon 2

Prepare for distress, frustration, and literal heart attacks. Darkest Dungeon has a hell of a learning curve, which requires you to figure out the nuances of the game’s team management system. Once you uncover the ideal team members and skills, you’ll be confronted with the harsh reality of the unforgiving RNG, drawing you back to face the challenge time and again.

The dark and captivating art style and its hauntingly atmospheric audio immerse players in a world of horror befitting the series. The turn-based RPG combat constantly puts you on the edge of your seat, and more often than not, you must find hope in the midst of overwhelming despair. If you conquer the first installment, don’t miss out on Darkest Dungeon II, which refines the formula and introduces intriguing changes to the gameplay.

Don’t Starve and Don’t Starve Together

You may wonder why these two are on the list, but there’s a reason. While their gameplay leans toward open-world sandbox survival, Don’t Starve and Don’t Starve Together have the hallmarks of roguelike games, such as randomly generated worlds, great difficulty, permadeath, and exceptional replayability.

The survival aspect adds an extra layer of challenge that will satisfy hardcore gamers. The stakes go even higher when, apart from monstrous animals and insects trying to kill you (those bloody BEES), you have 14 more causes of death that will ruin your progress. You can always seek help in Don’t Starve Together, where multiplayer lets you share the suffering with a friend and enjoy a few other helpful features.

Enter The Gungeon

If you enjoy bullet hell games, Enter The Gungeon will suit you. It’s a nostalgic throwback to classic arcade games, featuring retro pixel graphics and a catchy soundtrack. It entices you with that familiar, addictive feeling of wanting to try again before calling it a day. However, hours can slip away unnoticed, as the challenge keeps you hooked until 2 am.

Enter The Gungeon is a prime example of a title that’s easy to learn but hard to master. Its objectives are straightforward: venture through dungeons, unlock new rooms with keys, confront bosses, acquire better guns, and survive. The perfect blend of rogue-like elements and shooter mechanics creates a captivating gaming experience. Moreover, the game’s humor, clever references to legendary titles, and pop culture make it even more memorable.

FTL: Faster Than Light

Imagine that Commander Shepard was not the protagonist of the Mass Effect series. Picture this: instead, he was placed into an adventure with a top-down view and RTS mechanics, where you get to manage the crew of a spaceship. That, in a nutshell, is FTL: Faster Than Light. During the playthrough, you have to decide what your subordinates should do. With so much micromanagement to do, there are so many ways you can mess it all up.

You can upgrade or change ships and enroll team members from various races as you progress. Fight real-time battles with an active pause, take care of any issues involving enemy units, and solve onboard problems and conflicts between you and your people. Be the captain they need!

Hades II

Just like Hades that came before it, Hades II is a remarkable title, and one of the best roguelike games around, cramming engaging gameplay, rich storytelling, and innovative mechanics into every inch of its gorgeous world.

Building on the success of its predecessor, the sequel introduces Melinoë, a new protagonist with unique abilities that enhance combat dynamics to another level. The game features tight controls and vibrant visuals, making each run feel fresh and exhilarating.

Experimentation with a variety of weapons and magical abilities is a necessity. This encourages diverse playstyles and strategies throughout a narrative that seamlessly builds itself around your gameplay — maintaining the charm and depth that fans loved in the original.

Inscryption

If many of your overwhelmingly positive Steam reviews include requests for the board game version, you must have created something exceptionally engaging. Inscryption is a must-play for deck-building game enthusiasts. During the game, you’ll be a guest of a Leshy who’s seeking every opportunity to kill you.

To stay alive, all you have to do is keep beating him in a card game. It includes several animal characters that can be used for battle in locations you will visit during the session. You will receive new cards and upgrade the deck you already own. Will you manage to escape Leshy’s hut?

WORLD OF HORROR

You might not initially put World of Horror down as one of the best roguelikes around, but this unique and alluring B&W title undoubtedly deserves its place on this list.

Bringing together a unique 1-bit aesthetic jointly inspired by Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft with engaging gameplay, you’re asked to navigate randomized mysteries filled with cosmic horror, making challenging decisions that impact your character’s survival.

The game’s unforgiving nature enhances immersion, requiring strategic resource management of stamina, reason, and doom. With its abundance of rich narratives to encounter, World of Horror offers a compelling experience for fans of both roguelikes and horror.

Risk of Rain 2

If you would like to play a “pure” roguelike on Steam, Risk of Rain 2 is not the right pick. It fuses the genre with platformers, shooters, roguelites, and some RPG mechanics, providing a one-of-a-kind experience. This crazy mix sounds chaotic and unplayable, but it all works exceptionally well in the end!

This sequel introduces the series to 3D, but the core concept hasn’t changed at all. In co-op mode, you explore an alien planet as one of the Survivors, accompanied by up to three companions. As you progress, you unlock more characters, each with a set of new, helpful abilities.

Rogue Legacy and Rogue Legacy 2

Rogue Legacy and Rogue Legacy 2 won’t allow you much side-scrolling on your first try, and that’s the whole point of these 2D Roguevanias. As the family’s patriarch inevitably perishes on your first attempt to explore the dungeon, his ancestors take over and carry on the legacy. Whenever a new offspring enters the “stage,” the randomized world also begins anew. Do not worry about running out of your brave fighters because you will get plenty.

Each run is different, as the future knights will have different health conditions. This trait system significantly influences the gameplay and is hilarious, adding some humor to the intense action. Thankfully, the gold you gathered is saved after each run, so spending it on valuable upgrades and new classes is advisable before attempting your next infiltration.

Lost Castle 2

Without a doubt, Lost Castle 2 is one of the most engaging roguelike games around, thanks to its combination of action and beat ’em up mechanics, offering diverse character builds and weapon choices.

Its procedurally generated environments ensure fresh gameplay with each run, asking you to strategically choose paths and items, while a meta-progression system lets you unlock permanent upgrades, which adds to its already immense replayability. The game features visually appealing art, refined combat mechanics, and cooperative gameplay elements that encourage teamwork.

Slay The Spire

Mega Crit Games stated: “We fused card games and roguelikes together to make the best single player deckbuilder we could,” and the studio stuck to its word. Slay The Spire is a genius roguelike deckbuilder where you choose between three characters with different approaches to combat. The balance between the genres works perfectly because the merging cancels out each other’s pain points.

In card battles, success does not depend on your agility and muscle memory. You need to be more strategic and theorize how to make the best out of a weak hand. At the same time, you don’t have to spend hours researching the top deck-building techniques. You’re capable of figuring it out through simplified, dynamic gameplay.

Spelunky and Spelunky 2

Spelunky has become a classic example of the genre. It embodies all the principles of rogue-like games multiplied by 100. It walks on the edge between being insanely difficult and straight-up unfair without stumbling. It makes you feel rage and perseverance at the same time, which can only be compared to gambling. And that’s the ultimate goal of one of the best roguelikes on Steam. It persuades you to play, even though moving forward is tough.

The title keeps numerous secrets for you to discover. But, if you get too greedy and impatient for your own good, you will have to restart from the first level empty-handed. This action roguelike from Steam engages you to such an extent that even the most composed players will lose their marbles. Spelunky is so unforgiving and addictive that it could be named “the Dark Souls of roguelike games”. Believe it or not, some say Spelunky 2 is even more challenging. It also introduces more enemies, terrains, and items to use, which means more ways of staying alive.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

First, the hugely successful Super Meat Boy, and then the time came for the famous roguelike RPG, The Binding of Isaac. By releasing this absolute gem, Team Meat demonstrated its unquestionable expertise in the genre. The second title is very loosely based on the biblical story of Isaac. Here, you need to wander through the locations full of enemies to escape your mother, who took the idea of sacrifice a little too seriously.

The items can definitely help you survive, but once you get killed, you need to start over. Thankfully, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth not only added a lot of new content but also implemented the save feature. Naturally, once you’re dead, you still need to try again, but it’s helpful when you have to do something else and exit the title immediately. Finally, some mercy.

Balatro

When Balatro landed on PC in February 2024, it instantly became one of the best roguelike games on Steam. Combining poker mechanics with strategic gameplay, Balatro works by building and upgrading decks while utilizing special Joker cards that add multipliers and other special effects. This mechanic creates a truly enthralling gameplay loop.

Accessible for newcomers and complex enough for seasoned card players, it offers up almost infinite replayability, with randomized card acquisition, scoring challenges, and an increasing roster of crossovers keeping fans hooked for the long term.

Cult of the Lamb

At first glance, Cult of the Lamb looks so adorable that you wouldn’t expect it to be so brutal when you dive into the gameplay. The game puts you in the role of a cult leader, whose job it is, of course, to manage the flock.

However, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to be a merciful savior or a tyrant who isn’t afraid to get rid of dissidents in a ritualistic way. The title’s combination of dungeon crawling and camp management elements is an interesting mix that will keep you glued to the screen for hours.

Returnal

Like other former Sony exclusives, Returnal is an outstanding game. But it’s more than just a visually stunning production with a compelling narrative. It has addictive, challenging gameplay that will test even seasoned roguelike players. Interestingly enough, it’s a first-person shooter, which is quite unusual for the genre.

You’ll help the main protagonist escape a time loop while traversing a hostile planet and fending off aliens. Every time you die, you start over with a new set of items and different enemies waiting for your demise.

Against the Storm

Against the Storm is an innovative roguelite city builder that was met with an overwhelmingly positive reception among gamers. If this sounds like an interesting mixture of genres to you, prepare for lots of fun. You enter this dark fantasy world as the queen’s viceroy, whose task is to manage the Smoldering City. Creating new settlements, getting the resources, and exploring the wilderness are extremely addicting.

How does the roguelite aspect of Against the Storm come into play? Each small settlement is essentially a new run, as you’ll be building them from scratch. After completing your work in one of them, you switch to the next one, but they still play an important role in the gameplay afterwards. The developers pulled it off masterfully, creating a fantastic combination of two distinct genres.

Dead Cells

Securing its place as one of the best roguelikes, Dead Cells captivates players with its seamless blend of action, platforming, and rogue-lite mechanics. With procedurally generated levels and relentless enemy encounters, the stakes are always high. Considering that dangers lurk around every corner, death is inevitable. However, it serves as a good learning opportunity, providing valuable experience.

Moreover, each subsequent playthrough is a tad easier, thanks to unlockable permanent upgrades. Undeniably, it’s a must-play for fans of soulslike games who want to further test their strategic decision-making and quick reflexes.

Tales of Maj’eyal

As you can see, there are many new roguelike games on the market, but the latest entry, Tales of Maj’eyal, was released 12 years ago. Did the time make it rusty and dull? Not at all! It’s still immensely enjoyable, with great turn-based combat and an elaborate character creation.

There are numerous classes and races to choose from in this fantasy world, though some of them are locked at the beginning. To get them, you need to complete different tasks. This system guarantees high replayability, especially since the random encounters are quite challenging. The mechanics of Tales of Maj’eyal are deep yet at the same time, easy to grasp. It’s a great game to sink hundreds of hours into.

And that brings us to the end of our list of the best roguelike games to play on PC. Given the genre’s popularity and ability to blend with other types, we can surely expect even more exciting titles in the future. If you believe we’ve overlooked any noteworthy roguelikes, or if you have a personal favorite among those mentioned, please leave your comments below!