Some games make you stronger every time you play them. Roguelikes tend to do the opposite: they kill you, shuffle the deck, and send you back in to see whether you can do better. Somehow, that simple loop has produced some of the decade’s most inventive and replayable games.
Strictly speaking, a Roguelike traditionally resets almost everything after death, while a Roguelite usually lets you carry some progression into the next run. We’re using the broader modern meaning here, because both styles have delivered some excellent games since 2020. Here are our 10 favorites, ranked from the best to the better than the best.
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate
Credits: Super Evil Megacorp
Released in 2023, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate takes the fast runs and build experimentation of modern Roguelites and puts four very familiar Turtles in the middle of it. Its standout feature is four-player co-op, with each brother bringing different attacks and modifiers to the fight. The result is a run-based brawler that feels especially suited to jumping into with friends.
9. Returnal
Credits: Housemarque/PlayStation
Housemarque’s 2021 shooter, Returnal, is what happens when a studio known for arcade action goes all-in on the run-based formula. Selene’s journey across Atropos mixes bullet-hell combat, rapid movement, shifting environments, and a punishing death loop that can reset a promising run in seconds. It won four BAFTAs, including Best Game, and still stands apart for making the format work at AAA scale.
8. Brotato
Credits: Blobfish
Brotato has no interest in wasting your time. The 2023 arena shooter drops a potato into waves of aliens, gives you six weapon slots, and lets you spend each break between rounds building increasingly ridiculous combinations. Its simple presentation hides a surprisingly deep build system, which is exactly why a run can go from harmless to completely out of control very quickly.
7. Risk of Rain 2
Credits: Hopoo Games
Risk of Rain 2 turns item synergy into an entire game plan. Released in 2020, Hopoo Games’ shooter throws you into increasingly dangerous stages while every item you collect changes what your build can do. That system becomes even more chaotic in co-op, where a strong run can snowball into glorious nonsense. The later Seekers of the Storm expansion had a rough launch, but the base game remains hugely popular.
6. Spelunky 2
Credits: Mossmouth
Spelunky 2 takes the opposite approach to permanent power. Released in 2020, it makes you earn progress by becoming better at reading traps, enemies, physics, and the constantly changing caves themselves. That makes every death useful, provided you actually learn from it. Its 87 Metascore and strong critical reception make sense because few games turn player skill into progression this effectively.
5. Vampire Survivors
Credits: poncle
Vampire Survivors looks like it should be easy. Your character attacks automatically, you move around, pick upgrades, and watch the screen slowly disappear under an army of enemies. Then the numbers start climbing, and you realize the entire game is about finding combinations that break the rules of normal combat. It won two BAFTAs in 2023, including Best Game and Game Design.
4. Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania
Credits: Motion Twin/Evil Empire
Technically an expansion to a 2018 game, Return to Castlevania earns its spot on our list because it arrived in 2023 and is one of the strongest examples of crossover DLC done right. Motion Twin and Evil Empire added Dracula, Richter, Alucard, new weapons, new bosses, and gothic biomes without losing what made Dead Cells work.
3. Inscryption
Credits: Daniel Mullins Games
Inscryption starts as a creepy card game in a cabin and then keeps changing the rules underneath you. Daniel Mullins’ 2021 release mixes deckbuilding, Roguelike runs, puzzle solving, and psychological horror, but its biggest trick is knowing when to stop behaving like the game you thought you were playing. The result earned an 85 Metascore and a strong long-term community following.
2. Balatro
Credits: LocalThunk/Playstack
Balatro took poker, removed the gambling, and somehow turned it into one of the most compulsive strategy games of the decade. LocalThunk’s 2024 debut gives you familiar hands, then throws Jokers, Tarot cards, Vouchers, and other modifiers into the mix until basic poker logic barely resembles what you started with. It earned a 90 Metascore and won Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie at The Game Awards 2024.
1. Hades (Series)
Credits: Supergiant Games
Hades already had an argument for the top spot before its sequel arrived. Supergiant’s 2020 Roguelike tied every run to character dialogue, story progression, weapon upgrades, and a world that kept reacting to your failures. Hades II then expanded that formula with Melinoë, new systems, new regions, and another story built around repeated attempts.
HADES II is out now on @Xbox Series X|S, @XboxGamePass, and @PlayStation 5!🌖Battle beyond the Underworld in the highest-rated game of 2025, now with all-new bonus content. pic.twitter.com/pR9Apoo1ar— Supergiant Games (@SupergiantGames) April 14, 2026
With both games critically acclaimed and beloved among players, the series has shown how naturally replayable combat and narrative progression can fit together.
That’s our ranking of the 10 best Roguelike and Roguelite games of the decade so far. Do you agree with the order, or is there a game you’d put above one of our picks? Which run-based game has kept you coming back the longest? Let us know in the comments below!
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
