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The best roguelike games on console 2024

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or an optimistic newcomer, these are best roguelike games around on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

Zagreus poses in an ornate tunic with a long sword in Hades

What are the best roguelike games? After many years of living in the shadow of more popular genres, the best roguelike games are finally getting the praise they deserve, with studios taking the very best elements of the genre and adding them to their games.

Roguelikes are some of the most creative games around, so it’s not exactly surprising that you’ll see a couple on our best games list. They often tap into several other genres simultaneously, so if you’re looking for something that meets your hack-and-slash, twin-stick shooters, deck-builders, or even soulslike needs, you won’t be disappointed. Considering their generally high skill ceiling, and their ability to frustrate and even madden, you might want to keep one of the best PS5 controllers, best Switch controllers, or best Xbox controllers handy…

These are the best roguelike games:

Best roguelike games: Zagreus holds a red sword on his shoulders while he stands in front of a temple in Hades

1. Hades

Roguelikes were a more niche subset of games before Hades blasted them into the mainstream in 2020, picking up several Game of the Year awards in the process. Playing as the son of Hades, you hack and slash your way through the Underworld to escape and find your mother, befriending and fighting icons of Greek mythology along the way.

It’s not the most challenging roguelike out there, but with fun gameplay, and an incredible story with compelling characters, it’s a must-play, and a great introduction to the genre, especially if you’re eyeing up the Hades 2 release date. We love Hades so much, in fact, it’s even nailed a spot on our overall best games list.

Hades is available on all major platforms.

Best roguelike games: a warriror with a sword stands in front of a dungeon in Dead Cells

2. Dead Cells

A roguelike with the exploration of a Metroidvania and the combat of a soulslike, Dead Cells is one of the most challenging roguelikes around and one of the best Metroidvania games you can play. The combat is fluid and fast-paced, with punishing enemies, and you’ll need to memorize attack patterns to defeat them. And with a difficulty increase each time you clear a run, you’re never in for an easy ride.

At times it can be brutally punishing, but that just makes it all the more satisfying when you win. And with the developers constantly adding new DLC, it’s a game you’ll easily sink hours into.

Dead Cells is available on all major platforms.

Best roguelike games: a character wearing an animal mask and big claws in Slay the Spire

3. Slay the Spire

Slay the Spire is the quintessential roguelike deck-builder. Controlling one of four characters with unique abilities, players proceed through diverging paths and taking on enemies as they climb the spire toward a final boss. Players will collect cards along the way, adding cards to their deck, and will need to craft a strategy if they want to stand a chance of reaching the top.

With each win, players unlock new ‘Ascension’ levels up to 20, making the game harder each time, and ensuring the game is almost endlessly replayable. We’ve put many, many hours into Slay the Spire here at The Loadout, and the diversity of its characters, high skill ceiling, and charming soundtrack undoubtedly make it one of the best roguelike games.

Slay the Spire is available on all major platforms.

Best roguelike games: a character stands in the middle of a huge circle of demons in Vampire Survivors

4. Vampire Survivors

One of the breakout hits of 2022, Vampire Survivors is deceptively simple at first, but underneath the surface has a deep system of items, power-ups, characters, and more. Requiring only a stick or WASD keys, players acquire auto-attacking weapons to take on ever-increasing numbers of enemies, descending upon you from all directions.

Chaotic, challenging, 2D fun all for only a few dollars, you owe it to yourself to give Vampire Survivors a try – it’s one of the best survival games, after all. Vampire Survivors is available on PC and Xbox Series X|S – the latter also via Xbox Game Pass.

Best Roguelike games: A dungeon with several dead characters in the Bining of Isaac rebirth

5. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

The Binding of Isaac was one of the first roguelikes to gain widespread popularity, and with Rebirth, its 2014 remake, it only got better.

With maps inspired by the original Legend of Zelda, players take Isaac through levels consisting of interconnected rooms, fighting monsters and bosses in each one. With multiple DLC and unlockable characters, there’s plenty of content to keep runs fresh and interesting.

A legend of the genre, its relatively simple gameplay is backed up by new items and incredibly challenging combat. It’s not as flashy as some more modern titles but is a must-play for fans of the genre.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is available on all major platforms.

Best Roguelike games: A player with a sword tales on a mighty creature in Risk of Rain 2

6. Risk of Rain 2

Risk of Rain 2 is a third-person shooter where players take control of a handful of characters attempting to escape a hostile alien world. Its unique core mechanic is a timer, as over time, more enemies and stronger enemies will spawn, forcing you to continually find more items and advance through the stages. Unlike many roguelikes, it also has an excellent multiplayer mode, letting you take the game on with friends.

With fun characters, interesting items, and literally limitless scaling, Risk of Rain 2 is a game you can play for hours at a time and never get bored.

Risk of Rain 2 is available on all major platforms.

Best Roguelike games: A plague doctor is illuminated by a ray of light in Darkest Dungeon

7. Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon is unique, in that it has players controlling not one character, but an expedition of multiple characters as they venture through dungeons filled with unfriendly creatures. With a simple turn-based combat system, its complexity lies in the Affliction system wherein players must manage characters’ stress levels, or risk negative effects or even death.

Sporting 17 characters, each with strengths and weaknesses, Darkest Dungeon requires careful planning, and its complex gameplay systems make it as engrossing as it is challenging.

Darkest Dungeon is available on PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox.

Best roguelike games: A character fights ina dungeon in Rogue Legacy 2

8. Rogue Legacy 2

Rogue Legacy 2 takes what made the original so brilliant and manages to improve upon it. Each run, players take on a different randomly generated character, with new abilities, fighting through a series of levels towards a final boss. Every boss remains dead after being killed, so players will always make progress, and with permanent buyable upgrades, struggling players can eventually power up enough to progress.

With fair but challenging combat, a varied and useful progression system, and interesting levels with platforming and puzzles, there’s something for everyone in Rogue Legacy 2.

Rogue Legacy 2 is available on PC, Switch, and Xbox Series X|S.

Best roguelike games: two characters fight enemies in the dungeon in Enter the Gungeon

9. Enter the Gungeon

Don’t let the cutesy visuals fool you – Enter the Gungeon is an incredibly challenging bullet-hell twin-stick shooter. Gungeon pits the player against a varied cast of enemies with nothing but the guns you find and a dodge roll to avoid the sea of bullets. Weapons are comedically over the top and always fun to use, so whether it’s a Mega Man-style blaster or a gun that fires exploding bananas, you know you’re in for a good time.

Silly and challenging in equal measures, Gungeon is beloved by roguelike fans for good reason – it’s just fun.

Enter the Gungeon is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Best roguelike games: A skeleton rises above the dungeon with a staff and crown in Loop Hero

10. Loop Hero

Loop Hero may be the most unique game on our list. Blending deck-building, city management, and adventure RPG elements, players control the game’s hero, following a path, fighting monsters, and collecting cards that can be used to rebuild his destroyed world and providing bonuses to the hero. Combat is automatic, so the game is all about the items players equip, and the boosts they can gain from upgrading their camp.

Loop Hero is a game about fighting monsters, gathering resources, and building a character over time to defeat a formidable final boss, and is well worth checking out for an interesting take on the roguelike genre.

Loop Hero is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox.

Best Rougelike games: a creepy miner holding a pickaxe stares at you and your cards in Inscryption

11. Inscryption

Inscryption became one of 2021’s surprise hits, with Vancouver-based solo developer Daniel Mullins striking gold with the creepy, horror-themed deck-building element of the game in particular. The other aspects of Inscryption, from its story to its escape room-style puzzles, are also excellent, but fans quickly took to the internet to share their thirst for more tabletop throwdown – a thirst that would see Mullins introduce a dedicated Roguelike mode known as ‘Kaycee’s Mod’ some six months later.

While it might sound like a traditional PC mod, Kaycee’s Mod is an unlockable mode that can be delved into once you’ve cleared Inscryption’s main story for the first time. So yes, it is on PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox, and yes it is one of the best deck-builders – alongside one of the best roguelike games – you can enjoy right now.

Best roguelike games: a character wearing a yellow and white spacesuit looking at spectral beings in Returnal

12. Returnal

Returnal is a roguelike predicated on self-awareness, as protagonist Selene struggles to discover why she’s become ensnared in an infinite rebirth cycle after crashing on the alient world of Atropos.

As one of the best PS5 exclusives (though PC players can get in on the action too), Returnal mixes stunning visuals with the break-neck gameplay developer Housemarque has become synonymous with, and neatly ties them together in a story that is just as brutal as its gameplay loop. Prepare to die – and revive – a lot, but there are few shooters in the genre that feel as good.

Returnal’s notched up a number of gongs, including the award for best action game at the 2021 Game Awards, and a 2022 BAFTA Games Award for best game. Needless to say, we’re not the only critics who can vouch for its quality.

Best roguelike games: First-person POV of a character firing guns at enemies in Gunfire Reborn

13. Gunfire Reborn

If you believe you’re a fan of multiple genres, then Gunfire Reborn’s mix of FPS, roguelike, and RPG gameplay may be for you. In this roguelike, you play as one of the various and unique anthropomorphic classes, each with its own skills.

You play through a set of procedurally-generated levels, picking up a range of diverse weapons, many of which have a chaotic nature as things get progressively difficult. Expect to die frequently, but fortunately, your death won’t be for naught. Every run you play allows you to progress each class’ skills which will help in future playthroughs.

Don’t worry about facing waves of enemies all on your own, as Gunfire Reborn is also one of the best co-op games, allowing you to play with up to three friends, allowing you to build the perfect team.

Best roguelike games: Agent 47 side profile with a suppressed pistol in Hitman World of Assassination key art

14. Hitman: World of Assassination

Considering Hitman largely focuses on single-player, sandbox-style levels, you may be wondering what Hitman: World of Assassination is doing on this list. Well, the collection’s excellent Freelancer mode is a roguelike offering from the franchise, and it’s certainly exciting.

Somewhat following on from the epilogue of Hitman 3, you play as a now freelance Agent 47, being hired for jobs across the globe. IO Interactive has reworked all of the campaign locations to fit the mode, giving you an endless amount of replayable content for Hitman fans to enjoy.

As you continue to take down various targets in different syndicates, you’ll be able to customize and add to your safehouse, giving you a sense of consistent progression. However, unlike the main campaign, gear left in Freelancer missions will be lost forever, meaning you’ll have to purchase it from Suppliers during missions.

If you haven’t played the recent Hitman games, we’d recommend playing through the Hitman: World of Assassination campaign, which includes all of the story content of the three games into one bundle, with at least 40 hours of content to enjoy straight away. With the endless replayability of Hitman’s sandbox environments, as well as the roguelike Freelancer mode, you’ll have hundreds of hours of enjoyment.

Best Roguelike games: Kratos with his big bushy beard and red markings

15. God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla

God of War Ragnarok is already one of the best PS5 exclusives and its free epilogue DLC, Valhalla, injects the story-driven adventure with plenty of replayability thanks to its roguelike stylings.

The mode can be accessed at any time, though we’d naturally recommend you save this until you’ve finished Ragnarok itself – it is an epilogue, after all. As an expansion of Ragnarok’s narrative, Valhalla builds on Kratos’s journey – past and present – while pitting him against randomized encounters across many rooms.

Throughout a run, you accrue different currencies that can be used to upgrade Kratos and his equipment. Dying will cause the run to end, alleviating you of most of them, though certain currencies remain that can be used for permanent buffs. Sporting plenty of bosses and other challenging enemies to defeat, Valhalla is a wonderful roguelike experience.

For more on Ragnarok’s base game, check out our God of War Ragnarok review.

And there are the best roguelikes around in 2024. Give any of these a go and we guarantee you’ll be saying ‘just one more run’ in no time. If there isn’t anything on here to your taste, then be sure to check out the best PS5 games, best Xbox games, or best Switch games depending on which platform you’re on. Have fun!