this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2025
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I've sunk probably a thousand hours into Slay the Spire, have beaten Hades, and just finished Cult of the Lamb. Looking for something else to scratch that itch- preferably on switch. Any suggestions?

Update: Y'all convinced me. I bought Binding of Isaac and am excited to start. I also tried out Dead Cells via Netflix, but feel like I'd prefer it with a controller compared to mobile. Gonna start with Isaac, and wait for a sale on Dead Cells. Thank you for all the recommendations! I'm saving this thread for future reference.

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[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 14 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

My absolute favourite roguelite is Noita.

Beware though, it's quite different to other roguelites in that the world it creates is suprisingly expansive. You can get lost in it, mentally. There are quests that can take you dozens of hours to complete, all on the same run, and even if you become so absurdly overpowered that nothing can threaten you directly, till you can fly inside the sun, you can still get turned into a sheep and die in a single hit.

Also the wand-building is complex, it's like a programming language. People have built wands that can teleport you to parallel worlds, and the developers did not intend for that to be possible. And in a way I've never seen magic be done before, you can screw up and kill yourself with your wands, just like a discworld wizard. It's so easy to do, it's a rite of passage for any new player.

Some people don't like spoilers on this game so here you go, but honestly getting just a little spoiled made me get properly into it to understand what the hell people were talking about.

Tap for spoilerI was maybe 8 or 9 hours into reaching the hardest boss in the game, up to NG+24 or so, just a couple of hours away from my destination. I was teleporting, had hundreds of thousands of hit points, had immunity to every kind of damage, could tear through the terrain like it wasn't there, had weapons that would evaporate any enemy in the blink of an eye even as they became exponentially more powerful with each NG+ level, and I was being careful. I had even pacified the world so nobody would attack. Then some asshole dropped in from off-screen with a wand of transmogrification, got hit by the chainsaw on my tele wand and retaliated while something exploded nearby throwing fire over us, and I, now a sheep, flopped around impotently for a few seconds on fire then just fucking died.

I... stopped playing after that one, I'll be honest. But I will return.

And rather than simply being repetitive, the way the world loops creates an ennui that's kind of haunting to me. The whole game is littered with versions of people trying to achieve immortality, and if you manage to reach a point where you actually can't die, you feel like you've soft-locked yourself, because dying is how you get to the end-screen. You can just end the run from the menu, but it feels fake somehow.

10/10 would try to kill god and confront my mortality again.

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

People have built wands that can teleport you to parallel worlds, and the developers did not intend for that to be possible.

Alright, this has convinced me to give Noita a shot.

[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 1 points 4 days ago

I mean, I don't know how much they anticipated. There are a lot of projectile path modifications that are clearly meant for tinkering, but the idea that they knew their players would do this is hard to tease out. It's a simulation game built very much on "Things are what they are," and they know this has deep implications.

Like when I was turned into a sheep, I wasn't "noita (sheep)", I was just "sheep". The noita I had been playing as was effectively stored in a state of nonexistence until the transmogrification wore off, then the sheep was replaced with the noita. So transforming yourself - or simply causing yourself to temporarily cease to exist - can be a way to eliminate side effects of certain things.

If there is one thing that it might be worth spoiling yourself on, if you're struggling to finish a run, is in the next spoiler.

Tap for spoilerLearn to escape the Holy Mountain without collapsing it. Being able to return to edit wands, go back up in the world, and access health is a game-changer. Finishing the game without that trick is something I don't think I've ever done.

All the big lore stuff is discovered after finishing your first run anyway as far as I can tell.

Other than that, I would look up how to design good wands. This can be a good thing to learn by doing for a while, but there are deep interactions that you could soend a thousand runs not learning. I think the shared science is a big part of what makes this game great.

Thank you for the in-depth explanation! I've wishlisted it and will pick it up when it goes on sale. The art is absolutely beautiful, I can see how it could get haunting and lonely.

[–] Bamboodpanda@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

I will share my personal favorites:

Faster Than Light, Into the Breach, Inscryption (don't look up anything just buy and play it)

[–] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago (2 children)

For those who fondly remember FTL and think they got everything out of it; I highly, HIGHLY, recommend getting the Multiverse mod. It's essentially FTL 2 and adds an absolutely insane amount of content. Seriously, it's like 10x bigger than the base game. Dozens of new ships and equipment, several new races, hundreds of new events, new paths, new victory conditions. It is amazing and has really breathed new life into such an awesome game.

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[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 days ago

Seconding Inscryption. Excellent game. Read nothing about it and explore it on your own.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago

You owe it to yourself to try some traditional Roguelikes:

  • Caves of Qud (Just released 1.0 a month ago. Amazing game. Unique science fiction world full of weird and wonderful characters, complex tinkering crafting system, crazy mutants and really cool cybernetics. Huge amounts of lore and a rich detailed world. I can’t stop playing it!)
  • Shattered Pixel Dungeon (Really awesome game with a friendly developer who posts on Lemmy. Extremely well balanced classes: 5 main classes with a 6th in development. Cool character customization and equipment upgrade system. Super deep alchemy system. Probably the best mobile roguelike but amazing on PC too, with a great UI for every platform)
  • NetHack (old school, developed since 1987 and still active, very tough game, might not want to try this one first. Incredibly rewarding once you learn it! Absolutely crazy amount of interactions between items, characters, and features in the dungeon. Takes its “verb-based action system” much farther than any other game, including text adventure games)
  • Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup (very complex but not as brutal and spoilery as NetHack. Extreme replay value due to the huge number of species, backgrounds, skills, and gods)
  • Tales of Maj’Eyal (not as many races as DCSS but still a huge variety of character builds. Great music as well)
[–] Amanduh@lemm.ee 5 points 5 days ago (5 children)

People play games on netflix?

[–] Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

They annoyingly have some proprietary licensing. Cozy Grove 2 was Netflix only. I only have it because my spouse's comfort show is on Netflix, otherwise it's going to be gone

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 days ago

It's possible to find APKs with the Netflix login patched out. I've been playing Into the Breach recently.

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[–] OfficerBribe@lemm.ee 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Slice & Dice is really good. If I play something on phone it is either that or Slay the Spire.

[–] Squirrelanna@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 5 days ago

Seconding this. There's so much to do and so many ways to customize how you wanna play while still unlocking new things to play with. Great, we'll designed little game that I've been playing for years.

[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I said Noita is my favourite roguelite, but actually Heat Signature is probably tied with it. It has a completely different philosophy of soft failure.

If your character dies in space, they're dead, but they can also be captured, then another character can rescue them. And if a mission is going sideways, you can huck a wrench through a window and fling yourself into space, as long as you're confident you can pick yourself up with your space pod before you pass out.

It's very fast-paced with quick runs. Each character that comes along has different traits, and you can have 4 different people on the go at once. Each character has their individual quest - which can be rescuing another character - and when that's done you can retire them or keep them going.

It's very open to how you want to play.

Oh! Also, if you're trying to do your character's big final mission and it goes wrong, usually you can bail and try again. I lost quite a few characters before I realised that.

[–] ArtemisimetrA@lemmy.duck.cafe 3 points 5 days ago

The Dead Cells devs have been putting in work on their multiplayer rogue lite Windblown, which is super fun. Hades 2 is in a great spot and will keep getting better Risk of Rain (1+2) both fantastic

But for really obscure and interesting mechanics and a true rogue like experience: Noita. It's pixel graphics but every foreground pixel is simulated and there are a craft huge number of interactions between substances and spells. There's deep lore that you have to be very dedicated to decipher. There's an actual alchemy system that changes depending on map seed. Oh, and it's really hard.

[–] Ketram@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

If you enjoy Slay the Spire and are interested in more rogue like deckbuilders, I'm a big fan of Griftlands.

It's pretty small in scope but it has some fun ideas and three base characters/decks with their own stories you follow. It does have some meta-progression if you care about that. I find making builds in it really fun and it's incredibly satisfying to see a deck come together and just destroy everything in your path.

[–] kyle@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Freaking love the art in Griftlands. And you're spot on, when your deck comes together it just hits

[–] Ketram@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 5 days ago

Yeah I wasn't sure if the art is for everyone so I didn't mention it but I love the entire style, as well as the addition of the fake languages that the audio is done in. It really enhanced the immersion.

[–] scutiger@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

Dead Cells is 50% off on GOG right now.

If you enjoyed Hades, you might like the new Ninja Turtles game, Splintered Fate. It's definitely a bit more than "inspired by" Hades. Doesn't quite hit the same, but it's still a good time.

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 6 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Just as a bit of a counter to all the Isaac love (and, don't get me wrong, I love Isaac):

BoI is probably the best roguelite... from the early 2010s. The gameplay is ridiculously solid but the upgrade design and drop system has too much in common with the roguelikes of old where you would often lose a run because the purple potion was instant death on this run.

There are just so many upgrades and synergies that you might become completely unkillable on floor 2 of one run and then have your entire build ruined on floor 5 of a different run. I STRONGLY encourage playing with the wiki or https://tboi.com/ open on a second device/display to avoid these run ruining pickups because you happened to forget what THAT weird egg looking thing did with a different weird looking egg thing.

On PC there are mods that integrate this into the game (and I think you can use it with achievements after your first matricide?). And I think Edmund has said he wants to add that to the base game sooner than later?

But contrast that with games like Hades where basically every single upgrade is a pure upgrade and you have good item descriptions before you pick anything up (so it is mostly a case of deciding what damage types you want to spec for). Or Dead Cells where you can easily swap out a weapon if you decide you didn't like it. But in Isaac? You are basically chugging mystery potions on every floor.

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[–] Katana314@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I have generally found roguelikes to be too difficult, so if you want a turn-taking, strategic one that leans into the easier side while letting you set up many ridiculous combinations, I enjoy "Backpack Hero". You get a Resident Evil 4 styled inventory screen, and must arrange/place items for an optimal build. You generally get rewarded for stacking similar items.

[–] KombatWombat@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

The Bazaar is a similar game releasing soon. It's still primarily focused on developing synergies between items in your build, but there's more varied events between pvp fights and configuring your pack is simpler because it's on a line rather than a grid, if that makes sense. It will be releasing as free to play probably in February or March.

[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Dead cells and rogue legacy 1/2 were a lot of fun. Check out nethack if you want something more casual for mobile or in a terminal, it's a classic. Switch specific I'd say check out dead cells or Isaac. If you want something casual without a big story or learning a bunch of RPG systems you might want to check out donut county, goose game, or golf story.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 8 points 6 days ago

If you've gotten a lot of enjoyment from Slay the Spire, be sure to try out Monster Train.

[–] Lupo@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

I don't know if you are into Mystery Dungeon games, but I loved both of Void Terrarium games. Both on switch.

[–] HeyJoe@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

As much as I want to love rogue light games, I just can't get into most because I do not enjoy repeating the same thing over and over. It's especially exhausting when you start doing 30-40 minutes runs and I am just like, nah, there's no way I'm doing another run once I die. With that said, my favorite by far is also Slay the Spire because a run doesn't take very long and is lighthearted, so it works perfectly. The other games I enjoyed were Dead Cells, and Children of Morta. Hades was great as well, but you mentioned that.

[–] Elevator7009sAlt@ani.social 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

For folks browsing the thread, not OP who already is done with Hades, I came to this thread to plug Hades because I hate roguelikes but enjoyed Hades. Story suckered me in, and it turns out the gameplay was fun too.

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[–] A_Filthy_Weeaboo@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago (3 children)
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[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 5 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Barony

Lunacid

Vampire Hunters

Dead Cells

Noita

Gunfire Reborn

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[–] tfw_no_toiletpaper@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Dead Cells is fun. It has an end tho, but it's difficult getting there on the higher difficulties. I also liked children of morta, has a story mode and roguelite mode

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[–] GooberEar@lemmy.wtf 5 points 6 days ago

Have you tried the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate game? I have not played it much at this point, but what little I piddled with it seemed enjoyable. For what it's worth, I've played Hades and Cult of the Lamb and really enjoyed them both. I have not played Slay the Spire, though.

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

A couple weirder Rogue-lite suggestions:

Against the Storm is a Rogue-lite City Builder, which sounds like 2 things that shouldn't go together but works surprisingly well. It has a generous demo on Steam that lets you freely play up to level 6 or something in the standard biome, so give it a try

Shape-Hero Factory is a Rogue-lite Factory Builder. Another weird combination that is surprisingly effective. It's in Early Access so there's a lot of features that are still planned, but you can do full runs and go up to I think Ascension 6. It had a demo during nextfest, not sure if the demo is still there.

[–] prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago

Against the storm is pretty fun

+1

[–] Famko@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

I've been recently playing Kingsway which is a pretty unique roguelite RPG where the entire game takes place in a fake operating system inspired by the Windows 95 interface. Only on Steam though iirc.

Pretty fun, though I wish there were mods to increase the amount of content in the game.

[–] Atherel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 6 days ago
[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

If you can still download the legacy version of Dwarf Fortress from Bay12Games website, Adventure Mode is the best rouge like I've ever played. It's not yet in the Steam version, though.

For a more action-oriented rogue like, I find Returnal to be fun as hell. Roguelike bullet hell 3rd person shooter, with a pretty intriguing story line if you manage to actually get all of it (finding story bits is as random as everything else).

Edit: Er... They're on PC, though. DF could run on pretty much anything; returnal might need a decent gaming rig (or a PlayStation).

[–] Rigal@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

They are releasing adventure mode in the steam version on the 23rd.

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[–] Dogiedog64@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Since you love Slay The Spire, you should try Balatro •<|:)€ ♤♡◇♧!

It's the titular "Poker Rogue-lite" that's taken the world by storm, and it certainly knows how to up the ante!

Trailer.

Mobile Trailer.

Mobile release.

You shall join us soon...

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[–] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago

While I also strongly recommend Dead Cells like others, I think it's best if you first play Rogue Legacy. Let's put it this way, if Rogue Legacy is like a good cup of coffee, dead cells is cocaine, or maybe crack.

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Technically not... exactly a rogue like, but:

Deus Ex w/ Randomizer Mod and PermaDeath.

You can set it up fairly easily the Steam version of DX and the Revision Mod, which at this point is basically all the most popular DX mods, reconfigured to play nice with each other and be as mutually compatible as possible.

Someone already mentioned Caves of Qud, that one is amazing, Noita is really good, also StarSector is functionally a roguelike but in space.

Also No Mans Sky is basically a rogue like if you turn on permadeath, kick the difficulty up.

[–] dink@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

Ants Took My Eyeball - Pixel graphics, awesome soundtrack, ridiculous premise. One my favorite roguelites ever. Similar to Dead Cells and Noita.

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