The roguelike genre has quietly become one of the best places to spend money in gaming. No live service bullshit. No season passes (mostly). Just: here's a tight game loop, go figure it out, die, learn, try again. If you haven't touched this genre seriously yet, or you're looking for what to play next, here's what's actually worth your time.

Start Here if You Haven't: Balatro

Balatro came out in February 2024 and immediately broke a lot of people's brains. It's a poker-based deck builder where you're not actually playing poker -- you're building hands and then breaking the scoring system wide open with Jokers that do increasingly unhinged things to your multipliers.

It's maybe 15 dollars. It will eat your weekend. The loop is fast enough that losing doesn't feel bad and winning feels incredible. This is the game I'd hand to someone who said "I don't really get roguelikes" because the rules are simple and the depth sneaks up on you.

If you want a starting build: lean into flush hands early. Planet cards scale well. Don't sleep on the Steel Joker if you see it.

The Deep Cut: Caves of Qud

Caves of Qud hit 1.0 in December 2024 after something like 14 years in development. It's a traditional roguelike -- tile-based, turn-based, punishing -- set in a far-future mutant wasteland. Your character can be a human with a skill build or a mutant with things like quills, multiple hearts, or the ability to spontaneously combust.

This one is not for everyone. The learning curve is real. The interface is old school. But the world is unlike anything else in the genre -- handcrafted history, procedural content that actually feels meaningful, and factions that remember what you did.

Worth it if you want something that respects your intelligence and doesn't hold your hand. Not worth it if you just want to chill for an hour.

For People Who Like Action: Dead Cells and Hades II

If turn-based isn't your thing, these are the two action roguelikes that are genuinely excellent.

Dead Cells is still one of the best movement systems in any action game. The rhythm of combat -- parry, dodge, hit a specific timing -- is satisfying in a way that doesn't get old. There's a ton of DLC at this point, including the Castlevania crossover that's legitimately good. The base game is cheap and often on sale.

Hades II is in Early Access and is already better than most finished games. Supergiant refined everything from the first Hades -- the combat has more depth, the narrative is doing interesting things, and the number of builds available is wild. It's not done yet, so expect some rough edges and balance patches. But if you're okay with playing an unfinished game, it's excellent right now.

If you want a recommendation between the two: Hades II if you like story and character. Dead Cells if you want pure mechanical challenge.

The Card Game Side of Things

Balatro isn't the only card-based roguelike worth knowing about. Slay the Spire is still the gold standard of the subgenre -- it's been out since 2019, has been refined constantly, and has four wildly different characters with completely distinct playstyles. If you've never played it, it's one of the best 25 dollars you can spend.

Slay the Spire 2 was announced and is targeting early access sometime in 2025. The first game is still worth playing now if you haven't -- don't wait for the sequel.

Monster Train and Vault of the Void are both worth looking at if you've exhausted Slay the Spire. Monster Train has a two-lane mechanic that changes how you think about positioning. Vault of the Void is harder and more focused on synergy -- the ceiling is high but so is the learning curve.

What to Skip (For Now)

Not every roguelike is worth your time. A few notes:

Risk of Rain 2 is a fantastic game that got patched into a worse state with the Seekers of the Storm DLC in late 2024. The community backlash was significant, and Hopoo (the original studio) had already left by then. The base game without DLC is still good. The current state with all DLC is messy. Check patch notes before buying.

Rogue Legacy 2 came out in 2022 and was well-received, but it doesn't do anything that makes it essential. If you've played Hades and Dead Cells and want more, sure. Otherwise it's lower priority.

There are roughly 500 new roguelikes on Steam every month. Most of them are fine. Very few of them are great. The games listed above have proven staying power -- they're not going anywhere, the communities are active, and the builds people are still discovering years later is a good sign.

Where to Start if You're New to the Genre

This order works: Balatro first (cheap, fast, accessible). Then Slay the Spire if you want more card games, or Dead Cells if you want action. Then Hades II whenever you want narrative. Then Caves of Qud when you're ready to go deep.

The genre rewards time investment. The first run you're learning the basics. The tenth run you're starting to understand how the systems interact. The fiftieth run you're building something you never tried before just to see if it works.

That's the hook. And right now, the best games in the genre are actually good -- not just "good for the genre" but good by any standard. Worth picking up at least one of them.