Summary
Theroguelikegenre is rooted in fantasy; its namesake and point of origin, the hit old-school game,Rogue, was a fantasy RPGheavily influenced by tabletop RPGs. As many fans of roguelikes are likely to already know,Roguecombined permanent death, random generation, turn-based combat, and RPG elements to create an entirely new genre.
SinceRogue’sexplosion of popularity, there has been an abundance of clones, offshoots, and innovations in the genre; not to be confused with the roguelitegenre that formed alongside it. Many roguelike fans have spent hours debating the semantics between each genre. This list aims to provide a variety of roguelikes, both modern and traditional, that take place in fantasy settings. While these games may not check every box in the “true roguelike” genre (some of these games aren’t tile-based), they all feature permanent death, procedural generation, and turn-based combat.
With a beautifully animated, hand-drawn aesthetic, tile-based movement, and turn-based combat,Crown Trickis a brilliant combination of classic roguelike dungeon crawling and modern roguelike gameplay.
The only thing that arguably pullsCrown Trickdown, and further out of the roguelike genre, is its meta-progression system that allows players to overcome the game’s challenges through grinding rather than improving. However,Crown Trick’sunique gameplay and polished visuals make it a rare treat in the roguelike genre, and it’s worth playing for those who can look past its progression system.
For The Kingfeatures a basic combat system that focuses on rolling dice, although in this game they’re simply called “slots” and only feature two sides: fail or success. The game has an abundance of enemies to fight, plenty of classes and events, and an overworld map to explore in a turn-based fashion.
The combat scenarios themselves are also turn-based, with a lot of player success coming down to how well they planned beforehand, and how well they can manage their focus, an in-game resource that allows players to force successful dice rolls.For The Kingis best played with friends, exploring the map and delving into the game’s dangerous dungeons as they complete quests, defeat bosses, and level up.
This game, from the developers of the indie-hit deckbuilder,Monster Train, features a well-crafted fantasy world beautifully realized through an appropriately inky aesthetic.Inkbound’scolorful tones and cartoon style make the game a joy to look at, but its gameplay loop is even stronger.
InInkbound, players can go it alone or with friends in online co-op, battling monsters in simultaneous turn-based combat and upgrading their characters as they play in traditional roguelike fashion. Although the game’s combat is turn-based, players can move around and use action points simultaneously, making the game tremendously fast-paced and preventing players from getting bored between turns, all while allowing them to deliberate and strategize over their individual moves.
Tinyfolks
WHERE TO PLAY
Train your folks, upgrade your town and battle monsters in this minimalist retro-looking strategy RPG!- 20+ different classes with unique stats and abilities- 15+ different weapons 20+ artefacts with unique effects- Upgrade Your town! 7 different buildings with unique activities- Combine classes, craft items, pay for researches or one time bonuses- Upgrade each building to unlock new activities- Battle Monsters! 13 Unique biomes- 70+ Monsters to defeat- Boss Battles, amazing loot- All In Crisp pixel Art Graphics!
This turn-based strategy roguelike featuresgreat pixel artand a brilliant chip-tuned soundtrack that, when combined with the game’s simple but tactical gameplay, makes for a charming package that’s easy to learn and hard to master.
Tinyfolksplays very similarly toDarkest Dungeon, only a lot less dark and more forgiving.Tinyfolksisn’t an easy game, though, tasking players with improving and equipping their various heroes in the town phase before sending them off to dangerous locales to fight enemies and massive bosses alike.Tinyfolksalso features a push-your-luck system, allowing players to return with their bounty after each combat encounter, or press on toward the boss.
It’s no secret thatDarkest Dungeonis a great roguelike, innovating withits grim-dark settingand mechanics; psychological trauma, stress, in-fighting, and even heart attacks plague every member of the player’s rag-tag crew. The abundance of Lovecraftian horrors that they must face throughout the game doesn’t help with any of that either.
InDarkest Dungeon, players recruit a team of heroes and delve into a series of dungeons, fighting horrific monsters, collecting loot, completing objectives, and trying to keep their party from going insane. Heroes die permanently inDarkest Dungeon, and losing a particularly strong hero can be devastating.Darkest Dungeonis not for the faint-hearted; players can lose an entire party of experienced heroes in a matter of moments, there’san abundance of RNGin the game, and the variety of enemies, bosses, and class combinations can take some time to learn. However, for those who don’t mind a challenge,Darkest Dungeonis a brilliant roguelike RPG with a lot of depth.
Released all the way back in 2011, thisfantasy dungeon-crawlerhas an old-school charm and turn- and tile-based combat brought to life by some charming cartoon graphics and an immense amount of variety. All these elements work together to inject the game with a great deal of replay value.
Dungeons Of Dredmoris arguably best for its character creation and variety, allowing players to choose various traits out of a broad selection and combine them to create a unique character with their own distinct playstyle. This game is a highly classic experience, but its replay value, competent visuals, and difficulty options make it a much more accessible experience than more traditional roguelikes.
AlthoughTales Of Maj’Eyalisn’t the most graphically advanced game, its visuals are still more palatable than other traditionalroguelike RPGs of its ilk. This is an RPG-focused roguelike with an inordinate amount of replay value and variety, taking place in a detailed fantasy world full of quests to complete.
Tales Of Maj’Eyalfeatures in-depth character creation and progression through its RPG mechanics, as well as a large variety of items and classes. Each class inTales Of Maj’Eyaltakes time and effort to master, and the abundance of procedural generation in the game prevents it from ever getting stale.
This post-apocalyptic, sci-fi/fantasy roguelike RPG takes place in an incredibly detailed and unique world full of strange items, creatures, and people to meet.Caves Of Qud’shand-crafted areas and quests, combined with its procedurally generated locations, caves, lore, and even quests, make it an infinitely replayable experience with a lot of content.
Caves of Qudallows players to play as “True Kin” or “Mutants”, each with their own distinct play styles; the latter get access to the game’s mutations, while the former are able to use cybernetics. The game’s combination of hack-and-slash dungeon-crawling, spells, and sci-fi equipment make it a truly unique and unpredictable experience.Caves Of Qudis one of the mostbrutal and unforgiving gameson this list, but it’s worth trying for fans of sci-fi/fantasy.
