10 Best Roguelikes For Beginners (2024)

Key Takeaways

We recommend roguelikes that are easy to get into, fun to play, and incredibly satisfying when you rack up high scores.
Approachable roguelikes like Downwell, Risk of Rain 2, and 30XX provide a low skill floor and high skill ceiling for players new to the genre.
Splatoon 3's Side Order DLC offers an incredibly fun roguelite experience, perfect for those who find traditional roguelikes too difficult.

If you're new to roguelikes, you might've been like me, picking up the most revered ones like Enter the Gungeon or Dead Cells, then dying constantly, making no progress, and getting incredibly frustrated. Truth is, while these games are difficult, there are plenty of approachable roguelikes to try out first.

Roguelike Deckbuilding Poker Game Balatro Releases to Rave Reviews

LocalThunk's poker-themed deckbuilder Balatro arrives today for all major platforms, and it comes with a shocking amount of unanimous praise.

This list compiles both roguelikes or roguelites across various different genres that aren't necessarily easy games, but are way more approachable and better at teaching the concepts and mechanics you'll see in a lot of these games. They'll usually have a low skill floor, and a very high skill ceiling.

There is massive discourse on the definition of what is a "roguelike" or a "roguelite." We've lumped the two together, but if you want to deep-dive into the discussion, this is a good place to get started.

10 Downwell

Cheap, Arcadey, Great Fun

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 83/100 Critics Recommend: 84%

Released: October 15, 2015
Developer: Moppin
Publisher(s): Devolver Digital

Downwell is one of those games that you can pick up and play for a few minutes or invest hundreds of hours into and thoroughly enjoy it either way. It's a semi-platformer, bullet hell, arcade game mix where you fall down a massive well, shooting enemies and racking up a massive combo as you try not to land on the ground.

It's usually only like $5, occasionally going for so cheap it's practically free, especially if you're on a platform with reward points and can easily accrue enough to buy it. It's not super easy to get into, but fans of arcade games are likely going to have fun regardless, plus it's got a bunch of fun unlockables to dig into.

9 Risk Of Rain 2

Give It A Shot

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 86/100 Critics Recommend: 96%

Released: September 11, 2020
Developer(s): Hopoo Games
Publisher(s): Gearbox Publishing

Risk of Rain 2 is a roguelike third-person shooter where you progress through five stages, grabbing tons of unique and cool items , play as a ton of really varied and interesting characters, and try to dodge flying pests. It's an incredibly fun game, though it's not always the easiest to get into.

It's not beginner-unfriendly (I managed to play on Rainstorm my first time and got to stage 3 without knowledge), but it's got quite the learning curve. It's really fun to throw yourself at and learn new things every time you do a new run, and the skill ceiling is insanely high. People play this game competitively.

8 30XX

This Game Rocks

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 85/100 Critics Recommend: 96%

Released: February 17, 2021
Developer(s): Batterystaple Games
Publisher(s): Batterystaple Games

Tactical Roguelike Dicefolk Hits Steam

A new take on random.

If you're a fan of platformers in general, I'd definitely recommend shooting for this one, as it's one of the best platforming-focused roguelikes I've played, and only as hard to get into as Mega Man is. You might struggle with it quite a bit if you're not used to the gameplay style, but it can still be a fun time.

7 Slay The Spire

Cards, Swords, And Spells

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 89/100 Critics Recommend: 100%

Released: January 23, 2019
Developer(s): Mega Crit
Publisher(s): Humble Bundle

If you're looking for something more like a turn-based RPG and wouldn't mind a bit of roguelike deckbuilding to go with it, Slay the Spire is perfect for you . It has you ascending a tower with branching paths, tons of different enemies, and situations that require clever strategies and combos to survive.

It's great if you're a fan of slower-paced, tactical gameplay where you need to get the right cards and know how to use them, and it's got a ton of content in it, is pretty approachable to just about anyone, and the only drawback is that it's pretty slow-going and not the most fun to people who aren't nerds.

6 Crypt Of The NecroDancer

Dance To Random Dungeons

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 87/100 Critics Recommend: 96%

Released: April 23, 2015
Developer(s): Brace Yourself Games
Publisher(s): Brace Yourself Games

You've probably heard of it already, either through the base game or through its collaboration with Zelda (which is another perfectly valid option in place of this one), but Crypt of the Necrodancer is an awesome dungeon-crawling rhythm game where you need to time all your movements to the beat.

It's got a bunch of randomized dungeon layouts to go through, some really awesome unique characters, and fun Zelda-ish gameplay that'll keep you coming back for more. It also has Hatsune Miku DLC, so that's how you know it's absolutely peak. Give it a shot if you like rhythm games.

5 Splatoon 3: Side Order

An Inkredibly Fun Roguelite

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 83/100 Critics Recommend: 93%

Released: September 9, 2022
Developer(s): Nintendo
Publisher(s): Nintendo

Splatoon, while more known as a competitive, fun third-person shooter, also has a tradition of making weirdly high quality, engaging single-player campaigns, and the DLC for Splatoon 3 is no exception . Side Order is a roguelite where you ascend a tower, collecting chips and buffing your variable movesets.

You can take on many different weapons and customize the experience to your liking with hacks, making for a pretty great time if you usually find roguelikes way too difficult. It's exclusive to the Switch and only available as DLC, though, so if you've got Splatoon 3, I'd recommend giving it a go.

4 Dicey Dungeons

Get On A Roll

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 82/100 Critics Recommend: 87%

Released: August 13, 2019
Developer: Terry Cavanagh
Publisher: Terry Cavanagh

If you're looking for something similar to Slay the Spire's roguelike deckbuilder, turn-based RPG gameplay, but would rather something a bit more approachable, varied, and easier to pick up and play, Dicey Dungeons is for you. It's got really simple, fun combat, and it doesn't take long to finish out a run.

It's fun to get into, easy to understand, and it's a great time even if you're not usually into RPGs or deckbuilders. I'd recommend giving it a shot, especially since the massive cast of characters with unique playstyles all get different episodes testing you on a new way to play, and it's a ton of content that's fun every time.

3 Inscryption

Scarily Good

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 86/100 Critics Recommend: 97%

Released: October 19, 2021
Developer(s): Daniel Mullins Games
Publisher(s): Devolver Digital

If you like the idea of roguelikes, but don't quite like that most of them aren't heavy on story and expect you to do a ton of runs, Inscryption might be for you . It's another roguelike deckbuilder, but more story-based, taking place in a cursed cabin with a narrative that shifts towards creepypasta while still being fun and engaging.

Gordian Quest Brings its Novel Mix of Roguelite Deck-Building to PlayStation

Gordian Quest launches for PlayStation today, giving roguelite RPG fans a little something different to enjoy.

The main mode is meant to be experienced once, only taking a few hours to complete but remaining unique, interesting and very entertaining the whole way through. If you want to keep on playing, though, there's a mode called Kaycee's Mod where you can keep doing new runs with extra challenges.

2 Hades

Hell Of A Time

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 94/100 Critics Recommend: 99%

Released: September 17, 2020
Developer(s): Supergiant Games
Publisher(s): Supergiant Games

You've almost definitely heard of it by now, but Hades is an isometric action roguelite where you dodge and slash your way out of hell, and it's one of the best-looking, most fun games in the genre. It's also completely approachable, not being too difficult and letting you customize your experience.

Since it's a roguelite, the more you play, the more stuff you'll unlock that can make the experience a bit easier and a bit fresh with each run. On top of that, it's got great characters, fun combat, and banging music, so it's an easy recommendation.

1 Balatro

Poker Like You've Never Seen It Before

Systems

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Rating: 91/100 Critics Recommend: 100%

Released: February 20, 2024
Developer(s): LocalThunk
Publisher(s): Playstack

If you've been on the internet as of late, you've probably heard a ton of people hyping up Balatro. It's a Poker roguelike that takes the classic card game and spins it into a deckbuilding, randomly generated strategy game where you rack up a ton of score to win.

It's really fun making combos, doing the math and figuring out how to get scores in numbers that the game can't even properly display. It's super satisfying, incredibly easy to get into, and I guarantee if you pick it up you'll be playing it for hours on end.

Popular Rogue-lite Hades heads to iOS This Month

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