Roguelike games, despite being deeply satisfying, can be too punishing for some players. Having to start each playthrough from scratch demands time and skill, basically forcing you to master every existing mechanic to get to the end of a game.
However, with its crescent popularity and extremely engaging fundamentals, roguelites, a lighter variant of the genre, have emerged, allowing you to carry some sort of progress (skills, upgrades, money, etc.) to every subsequent run.
While it shares basics like permanent death and procedural levels, this new approach to the genre is more accessible thanks to players’ steady growth and the games’ forgiving learning curve, as you can see in our ranked list of the 10 best roguelites on Game Pass.
10 Inkulinati
Medieval Superstar
Inkulinati is a turn-based strategy game that looks like it came from a medieval manuscript, and it’s a clever roguelite that diligently balances fun and strategy.
As an Inkulinati Master, your goal is to defeat historical figures such as Hildegard, Dante Alighieri, and more in drawing battles, influencing the course of the combat through sketching obstacles, relocating your painted units, or exploding your troops.
Therefore, Inkulinati’s magnificent art is more than just aesthetic, as the mechanics and the visual context merge into its gameplay. Add these elements to the variability of the battlefields and the apocalyptic events that can occur, and you find a unique roguelite that looks and plays great.
9 Superhot: Mind Control Delete
Slow Motion Repetition
Superhot is an innovative series with an amazing concept, intensely combining FPS mechanics and puzzle-like levels, but Superhot: Mind Control Delete took it to another dimension with its roguelite proposal.
Adding new enemies, weapons, and skills in procedurally generated environments suits the core mechanics of the franchise pretty well. The shift to this new genre was just natural thanks to its explosive action and enjoyable retries, as repetitions felt good and appealing since the first entry.
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Overall, Superhot: Mind Control Delete is one of the best roguelites on Game Pass, but it’s also one of the service’s best shooters. If you like refined, sharp, and flashy experiences, this game fits perfectly.
8 Descenders
Roguebike’s Origins
Descenders, the extreme downhill freeriding game, is a fresh approach to the roguelite genre thanks to its non-violent gameplay. In this title, all you have to do is enjoy the fast-paced experience of biking.
Defined as ‘roguebike’, you have procedurally generated worlds, an in-depth physics system, and plenty of biomes to freestyle your way down the mountains.
As you earn special mutators each time you play, you have to work with the abilities that best suit your riding style, which gives a sense of personalization that serves the theme of the game.
Becoming the next legendary Descender is not your typical rogue-centered product, but that’s part of the charm of Descenders: being easily distinguishable from its peers.
7 PlateUp!
Overcooked Went Rogue
PlateUp! is a cooking game where you try to build a culinary kingdom in procedurally generated locations, using increasingly more unlocks, abilities, and dishes to develop your business.
Even though you can play it alone, it’s better when enjoyed with friends, as its co-op mode allows up to four chefs to run a restaurant with ever-changing maps, customers, challenges, conditions, and climates.
If you can tolerate having the most unreliable companions in the kitchen, the entertainment provided by PlateUp! is hard to match. Its management mechanics feel even better with the roguelite progression, making it one of the most fun options on the list.
6 Brotato
Auto-firing Potato
- Released
- June 23, 2023
- Developer
- Blobfish
- Publisher
- Blobfish
- Engine
- Godot
- ESRB
- e
- How Long To Beat
- 5 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
As a top-down arena shooter roguelite where you play a potato, Brotato is the type of game that doesn’t let you go because of its addictive nature and its fast runs.
Its auto-firing style, dozens of characters, and hundreds of items assemble a system where there’s always room for another try, another search for the combination that will make you survive the countless waves of aliens.
With a charismatic design, thousands of numbers and bullets, and high-octane sequences, Brotato is exactly the sort of experience that you imagine when you think about the best roguelites.
5 Roboquest
First-person Madness
- Released
- November 7, 2023
- Developer
- RyseUp Studios
- Publisher
- RyseUp Studios, Starbreeze Publishing
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 8 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Roboquest is a fast-paced title that merges roguelike elements with first-person shooter mechanics, giving you a frantic and engaging experience.
With a heavy emphasis on movement, it’s a game that’s even better in co-op mode, as it lets you join a friend to enjoy the loop of blasting bosses, upgrading your base, and customizing your build.
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It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it doesn’t need to. RoboQuest is a straightforward option with a polished experience and a great soundtrack, and that’s more than enough to be at the level of the best roguelike shooters out there.
4 Neon Abyss
Procedural Bullet-hell
Fusing platforming action, tons of creative guns, and melee combat, Neon Abyss is an underrated roguelike that excels thanks to its massive array of weapons and tremendous challenge.
The game has unlimited options and synergies, resulting in spectacular encounters with so many bullets, beams, rockets, enemies, and blood that it’s simply thrilling.
Also, its setting is full of personality with unmatched aesthetics, so if you’re searching for an addictive roguelike that looks and plays phenomenally well, you’ve got Neon Abyss.
3 Vampire Survivors
Snowballing Addiction
Vampire Survivors is a time survival game with minimalist gameplay and a strong fixation on stealing up to the last hour of your free time. And your busy time too.
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This bullet hell with thousands of creatures thrives on snowballing mechanics, focused on gathering the most overpowered combinations of abilities and trinkets for the pleasure of seeing big numbers and bright colors.
Since you can invest the progress of every run into passive bonuses that will carry on forever, you will always want to go for another try, making Vampire Survivors not only addictive but also an amazing roguelike for a cheap price.
2 Deep Rock Galactic
King Of Co-op Games
After its launch in 2020, Deep Rock Galactic has carved its way to the top of co-op games, partly because of its procedurally generated cave systems.
In this FPS with badass space dwarves, no two playthroughs are the same, taking complete advantage of its fully destructible environments. It also has four unique classes and resource-focused cycles, so it adds up to countless hours of fun.
In addition, Deep Rock Galactic has a constant flow of free content. Therefore, its depth is always growing and evolving, making it an authentic gem of cooperative and roguelike games alike.
1 Sifu
Mastering Perfection
Being one of the best indies of recent times, Sifu represents everything that roguelites are known for: engaging attempts, the persistent striving for perfection, the seeking for absolute mastery of its mechanics, putting you in a flow state, and so on.
Despite every level being always the same, the character and the players change along the way, unlocking not only more skills to face the challenges but also gathering more knowledge about enemies and bosses.
Besides, following its roguelite structure, each run becomes more accessible thanks to shortcuts that you can open for future playthroughs. By the end of the experience, it won’t only be easier thanks to all the grind previously done, but also thanks to your development as a martial artist.
Given its cinematic orientation, Sifu is a crescent spectacle that makes you feel accomplished and a brawler masterpiece that every fan of independent games must play.
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Knowledge is its own reward.
