Catacombs Of The Yokai
After finishing a late shift at work you find a mysterious amulet that was dropped on the ground.
As you go to return it to the woman that dropped it, you encounter a strange doorway that you haven’t seen before. Entering the door leads you into an unnerving nightmare realm.
On your way through the depths you will encounter various enemies (many inspired from Japanese/Taiwanese urban legends and myths) that must be tricked, conversed with or eluded in sometimes unconventional ways.
Can you survive and return the amulet banishing this portal forever?
-
Randomly Generated Levels: Each new play-through will generate a random set of floors. However, these change with each new game file started, allowing for extended re-playability.
-
No combat. Survive by hiding, using your wits and clever use of the items at your disposal.
-
Use magical items at the cost of health to help navigate the catacombs and help locate enemies.
-
Urban legends and myths from Japan and Taiwan were used as reference for many enemy designs and behaviors including: Kuchisake-onna (Slit Mouth Woman), Kunekune (Wriggling body) and Spirit Houses.
-
Unique Enemy AI: Survive by leaving offerings, making smart conversational choices, causing a distraction or even closing your eyes to avoid death.
-
Creepy and foreboding atmosphere.
-
Created by 2 people, allowing for more direct communication with players on the content and direction of future updates.
Read More: Best Action Roguelike Psychological Horror Games.
Bone Mayhem
It’s fairly rare that I don’t recommend a game, but I can’t really say I recommend this one - FOR NOW. I know this is early access, but I’m not sure it was ready for play testing yet. It has a ton of promise and seems like it has some good bones, but the ammo is incredibly limited, it’s too easy to get cornered, there’s no real explanation of the game or mechanics, and it’s just sort of… confusing? I feel rather silly saying this, but I wanted to like it so much because the style and look is kinda adorable! But it was just too little explanation and to little real gameplay for me. That said, I do think that it’s got the right idea - it’s just not there yet. It will be. It just needs more time. Put some flesh on those bones and let us come back!
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Action Roguelike Arena Shooter Games.
Ammo is EXTREMELY limited.
The enemies march in lockstep at the player.
The maps are cool but basically have zero effect on the combat.
Definitely not a fan.
– Real player with 0.2 hrs in game
City of Brass
I thought long and hard on whether I should recommend City of Brass or not and ultimately decide to recommend it despite all its flaws. Make sure you pick it up during a sale because the game has certain features that you will either love or hate.
The Good
Lets start with what City of Brass gets right. It’s a good looking game that runs well on low spec computers. I could consistently get 60 fps on my PC which is older than the earth itself. During my 17 or so hours with the game I’ve only encountered one bug which was more comedic than annoying.
– Real player with 31.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Action Roguelike Swordplay Games.
I don’t like to use the word “promising” very much. Plenty of Early Access-titles can be described as “promising”, as in “The concept is solid, but plenty of things are missing, and when / if those things are put in, it might be fun”.
This game, however, is different. You can tell a lot of content is missing, yes, but what’s already in the game feels really rewarding. The artstyle is charming, the gameplay is solid and already feels really satisfying.
The gameplay can be summed up rather quickly. You’re an adventurer raiding a mythical city brimming with treasures and the undead citizens and guards that used to populate the place. Because things can never be as simple as “A couple of skeletons chase you”, however, the nice people that lived in the titular City of Brass have kindly left enough traps to make Jigsaw jealous.
– Real player with 26.3 hrs in game
Eldritch Reanimated
Eldritch is a randomly generated roguelike FPS populated by H. P. Lovecraft’s creations.
You start off in a library hub (a safe zone which is not randomly generated), from where you can go to different worlds: Dagon. Nyarlathotep, and R’lyeh. Each progressively more challenging. In each world your main goal is to descend 3 levels until you retrieve an orb, and then return to the library. In the library, you can place each orb on a pedestal, and unlock the final world, “The Endless Library”. Reaching the end of this world, completes the game, and unlocks New Game+ for future runs.
– Real player with 24.7 hrs in game
Do you like stoning fish-men to death with big rocks? I know I do! But if you’re like me, it’s a private pleasure and no one must know. So you creep out at night, ducking behind cover, keeping low to the ground, slowly rotating your irregular bit of rock (sedimentary perhaps), finding the grip to put the perfect english on it, listening for the hop-hop sounds of the fish-man as you slowly peak out, glancing briefly to see that his dopey face is turned away revealing his moist, tender cranium…
– Real player with 24.6 hrs in game
Force Reboot
Force Reboot is a fast-paced nonstop FPS with rogue-lite elements. You need to get past all of the rooms as fast as you can.
-
Rush Through Various Rooms
-
Destroy Everything You See
-
Pick Different Buffs and Debuffs
-
Repeat
Force Reboot features:
-
3 different levels. Each level is unique.
-
50+ different buffs and debuffs (Low Gravity, Reflection Bullets, Four Guns etc.)
-
SLIDING AND KICKING
-
5 types of enemies
-
4 types of guns (Pistol, Shotgun, SMG, Laser Gun)
-
20+ different types of rooms
(This game in active develpment and this list will expand with every update)
Slasher’s Keep
Target Audience: Rougelite players, Dungeon Crawlers, honestly most anyone who likes games
Summary:
Slasher’s Keep….yeah it’s sorta taken a bit of my time. I’m the indie guy who tries to cover as much as I can, so I’ve got a lot of games at 2-3 hours. Slasher’s Keep has dug under my skin, decided to live there as much as Hades on the Switch has, and well I find myself still wanting more of it. There’s definitely a formula that Slasher’s Keep follows that keeps the addiction going: including a variety of interesting skills and items that make different characters and runs interesting, and a core combat system that gets accuracy of melee combat right in so many ways. All the different systems that Slasher’s Keep synergize together to be something that I didn’t want to put down.
– Real player with 83.5 hrs in game
After beating the game, I think I can safely say you’re probably only going to get 40 hours out of this game unless you’re one of those sick freaks who enjoys getting every achievement. In this game, increasing your level is not treated as a reward you get for defeating difficult bosses, it’s treated as an integral part of gameplay, requiring the player slog through every earlier level to get just enough exp to equip slightly better gear and actually have a chance in the RNG based level design.
– Real player with 47.1 hrs in game
1001st Hyper Tower
Even the fairly early alpha version I was playing felt like a treat. It’s a procedurally generated tower-climbing FPS that has a sufficiently high skill cap. While I haven’t played any other such Roguelike-FPSs, the negatives I’ve heard people level at those don’t seem to apply here, e.g. the A.I. is just fine and fighting varied enough. There are a LOT of weapons and enemies already, though the levels aren’t hugely varied. High skill-cap if you want to challenge yourself. Not a lot of unfair deaths once you get used to a few things.
– Real player with 78.3 hrs in game
This is a really compelling rogue-lite shooter that for several months now has been my default compulsive “just one more go” game, I love the emphasis it places on the verticality of the massive tower levels, and there’s a real sense of style as you jet around the levels on rocket boots, going into slomo to clip one guy before switching weapons to take out the other next to him before he can react. It can be very tough at first, in fact for most of the playtime I only ever saw the first level (there are four in total), but getting better at it and learning how to play skilfully feels very satisfying.
– Real player with 56.4 hrs in game
Delver
Picked up Delver during the Steam Sale. Definitely worth the $3 it cost.
I wouldn’t call it ‘3d’ in more than a limited sense, it feels a lot more like Doom’s 2.5d- 3d environments, sprite monsters, etc. Still, it’s one save file you can’t back up and one life in a randomly generated roguelike. It actually makes for a pretty cool story:
I started off in a little camp with a couple of shopkeepers and the obligatory guest appearance of Old Man Exposition, who explained that there was a MacGuffin at the bottom of yonder dungeon. He also seemed troubled that people kept going in but never coming out. More on that later.
– Real player with 188.2 hrs in game
Big ol' TLDR:
Me, myself and I actually enjoy this game, and not just because I bought into it waaay back into pre-release and “feel obligated to pretend my money’s worth it”, I’ve had a genuinely good time with it thus far, and what’s here is quality.
I just have a few issues that makes me feel I can’t fully recommend this to someone else, unless I know they like what I do, but that said, I would definitely make this a tentative recommendation was it more stable. And as a sidenote, because I bought in early, my time played isn’t 100% indicative of everything I’ve gotten out of it.
– Real player with 25.9 hrs in game
Monstrum
Ahh, Monstrum. Has been a long time my darling! How have you bee- dies
Monstrum is a very peculiar horror game. It has a unique setting, interesting and terrifying Monsters, and some hilarious bugs and glitches to expl- wait, oh fuck, they fixed those. Shit
What is Monstrum?
Monstrum is an indie horror game. It follows the player waking up in a very cramped room on either the upper decks or the lower decks of an abandoned cargo ship. You must find the equipment required to repair one of the three escape routes and get off the ship. There’s just one problem. You’re not alone.
– Real player with 67.3 hrs in game
Summary:
All things considered, monstrum is a better than average indie horror game at an indie horror game’s price. The monsters are interesting, the collectable and RNG systems bring about a fair amount of replayability to the game, and the general feel of the game are superb. Though it is obvious that this product has recieved a vast amount of care from the developers, bugs still remain. These bugs aren’t exactly the most common, or the most game breaking, but in certain situations it can lead to a bit of headache or confusion. All in all, the game is worth the price in my eyes, and it’ll certainly grant satisfactory hours of entertainment in the time that one plays it.
– Real player with 52.0 hrs in game
OUTLIER
OUTLIER is a roguelite adventure VR game featuring FPS and RPG elements. Players can control and mix various abilities, utilize an array of weapons, and explore breathtaking worlds, making for a diverse and progressive gameplay experience.
You are a captain of one of the last human arks. In search of a new home for humanity, your vessel was sucked into a black hole. From your position beyond space and time, you witness an unknown race devastating what looks like a habitable solar system. The unknown physics of the black hole endow you with mysterious powers and allow you to exist in parallel worlds. Live, die, and repeat in your quest to conquer at least one of these worlds in the name of mankind.
Game Features
• Elaborate, yet randomized level generation
Every level is procedurally generated. This means each new restart is a brand-new experience for the player. You will meet different characters and experience new artifacts, weapons, and story pieces. Your unique abilities build across the game’s even in a single game session.
• Making the most of VR
The advanced controls integrate a wide range of movements. As you tactically break your way through the enemy hordes and navigate the complex terrain, you’ll need to use your body to cast artifact powers, slam enemies with surrounding objects, cut them into pieces, dodge their attacks, hide behind objects, jump, dash, and more.
• Micro and macro player progression
The combination of power-ups and ability modifiers makes for different experiences. Combine your spells together to get new ones: mix a fireball and a telekinetic push to acquire both an explosive fireball and a fire push. Shape your character and armory between the runs to construct diverse builds for any playstyle."
• Explore a looped Sci-Fi world
The solar system after alien race expansion is a harsh place, full of harsher occupants. As you progress through each planet, random events and new storyline pieces will help you to infiltrate the black hole and fight back against the intruders. Interconnected levels drive you to explore your surroundings, full of breathtaking landscapes and mysteries like secret rooms, hidden passages, and artifacts.
The decisions you make through each life and death cycle provide for a story that is uniquely tailored to each player.
