6 games to explore

Roguelike Games for Your Next Run

Fast combat, clever decks and changing builds. Find your kind of one more run.

Which should you try first?

Hades and Hades II combine action with an ongoing cast of characters. Dead Cells leans into side-scrolling combat, and Returnal into movement-heavy shooting. For deliberate decisions instead of reflexes, compare the deck-building of Slay the Spire with Balatro’s poker-hand combinations.

About this selection

Starting again can be compelling for very different reasons: mastering a fight, finding a combination or adapting to a surprising set of options. These six run-based games contrast reflexes with planning, so you can find a loop you actually want to repeat.

Roguelikes and roguelites grouped for their repeat-run structure, with different kinds of progression. These are comparisons of play style, not a promise that every fan of one will enjoy the others.

Compare two games before you choose

Keep the kind of play you want. Compare what you will spend time doing and what might put you off.

First game

Second game

Hades

Choose it for: Action with a continuing story between attempts
What you will do: Changing ability combinations shape each escape attempt, while conversations give repeated runs a narrative thread. Start here if learning combat and getting to know the cast should advance together.
Consider first: You repeatedly fight through familiar regions. The ongoing story does not remove the need to enjoy the combat loop.

Explore Hades →

Hades II

Choose it for: A different approach to mythological combat
What you will do: Melinoë’s weapons and sorcery provide another set of combinations to learn across repeated attempts. Choose it for experimenting with action builds alongside a continuing mythological journey.
Consider first: Familiarity with Hades helps set expectations, but this is another game to learn. Do not expect identical combat habits to carry over.

Explore Hades II →

Action with a continuing story between attempts

Hades

Changing ability combinations shape each escape attempt, while conversations give repeated runs a narrative thread. Start here if learning combat and getting to know the cast should advance together.

Consider first: You repeatedly fight through familiar regions. The ongoing story does not remove the need to enjoy the combat loop.

Find games like Hades →

Compare with Hades IIChoose this for Melinoë’s spells and Magick resource, rather than another attempt at Zagreus’s escape.

A different approach to mythological combat

Hades II

Melinoë’s weapons and sorcery provide another set of combinations to learn across repeated attempts. Choose it for experimenting with action builds alongside a continuing mythological journey.

Consider first: Familiarity with Hades helps set expectations, but this is another game to learn. Do not expect identical combat habits to carry over.

Find games like Hades II →

Compare with HadesChoose this to begin with Zagreus’s escape story and weapon-focused combat, before moving to Melinoë’s magic in Hades II.

Build a plan from the cards you are offered

Slay the Spire

Cards, relics and route choices shape a deck over the course of a run. Pick it when adapting to available options is more appealing than carrying out moves with precise timing.

Consider first: A failed run ends the deck you built. Enjoying experimentation matters more than keeping a permanent set of powerful cards.

Find games like Slay the Spire →

Compare with BalatroChoose this for building scoring combinations with poker hands and Jokers, rather than Slay the Spire’s enemy encounters.

Turn familiar card hands into combinations

Balatro

Poker hands provide a starting vocabulary, while Jokers and deck changes alter how you score. Choose it if spotting a combination and making it grow is the main appeal of a run.

Consider first: It uses poker hands but is not a conventional poker match. The challenge is building scoring combinations against rising targets.

Find games like Balatro →

Compare with Slay the SpireChoose this for card-based battles against enemies, rather than Balatro’s scoring targets and poker-hand combinations.

Learn enemies while changing your equipment

Dead Cells

Side-scrolling combat combines movement, weapons and dodging across repeated attempts. Try it when reading an enemy and executing a response matters more than stopping to inspect a turn.

Consider first: Death ends the current run and strips away much of its equipment. Expect progress to include improving your own reactions.

Find games like Dead Cells →

Compare with ReturnalChoose this for third-person movement through projectile-heavy fights, rather than Dead Cells’ side-scrolling combat.

A hostile world built around movement

Returnal

Third-person shooting and repeated expeditions ask you to keep moving while reading threats. Pick it when the atmosphere and the physical execution of a fight should be equally important.

Consider first: Its pressure is quite different from a card-based roguelike. Check whether demanding real-time encounters fit your mood.

Find games like Returnal →

Compare with Dead CellsChoose this for side-scrolling combat and changing weapons, rather than Returnal’s third-person shooting and projectile patterns.