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Absolum (Switch)
Absolum is an on-par experience to Vanillaware’s Dragon’s Crown, but a superior game in terms of its key metrics. Its combat, collectible augmentations, and planning are exceptionally well-formulated, ensuring no run is ever quite the same, and its strategic options and play-styles are ever-deepening. It’s incredibly impressive in its reconstitution of arcade, role-playing, and roguelike formats, evolving them into something fresh and exciting.
To that end, it’s one of the best of its kind, whatever that kind may be. If you don’t enjoy the idea of repetition and grind, you may not fall in love with its initial five hours, but the momentum for one-more-go becomes so compelling after a while that it’s impossible to relinquish the pad.
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Astral Ascent (Switch eShop)
Astral Ascent is a prime example of a game that amounts to more than the sum of its parts. Its strong character design, hi-bit visuals, tight combat, memorable bosses, and broad build variety have all featured in games you’ve probably played before—there’s nothing ‘new’ here.
But to write it off as just ‘another one of those’ in a crowded genre would be to miss out on one of the most delightful and surprising releases of 2023. Astral Ascent is comfortably one of the best roguelites available on the Switch. Don’t miss it.
Bad North (Switch eShop)
A slice of Viking strategic combat right out of the heart of Scandinavia’s indie development scene, Bad North was at the vanguard of a wave of smart yet intrinsically accessible real-time strategy titles.
Swedish developer Plausible Concept calls it ‘micro-strategy’ and it’s the perfect encapsulation of a minimalist approach that covers everything from unit management to the Monument Valley-style isometric art style. With enough enemy variance to convince you you’re playing an interactive episode of the Vikings TV show, this endlessly entertaining sea of bitesize battles will teach you to fear — and love — the sound of the oncoming horde.
Balatro (Switch eShop)
Balatro is a roguelike for gamers who don’t like roguelikes… and then everybody else on top of that. It utterly nails what it sets out to do, providing an instantly accessible, satisfying, and addictive gameplay loop that anybody can grasp.
It’s an immensely enjoyable experience from the start, but as you get deeper in, there’s really nothing else quite like it. Utterly sublime.
It’s on both Switch 1 and Switch 2, although there’s no upgrade.
BALL x PIT (Switch eShop)
BALL x PIT is a tremendous brew of so many ideas it ought to collapse under the confusion. However, it operates in such perfect balance that it appeals both to the one-more-go instinct and to more cerebral planning and creativity. Kenny Sun Studios set itself a heck of a challenge but, fortunately, hasn’t dropped the ball.
It’s out on Switch 2, too – and the upgrade is free.
Black Future ’88 (Switch eShop)
Black Future ’88 is an intriguing, challenging but also supremely fun and rewarding game. It may be an audio-visual feast, but the tight gameplay, high degree of replayability and the sterling effort that has gone into overcoming many of the criticisms levelled at the genre mean it’s not just a pretty face.
If you’re looking for a dose of intense cyberpunk action on your Switch, you can’t go wrong with this one.
Blue Prince (Switch 2)
If Blue Prince were only about finding Room 46 and nabbing your inheritance, it would be a neat little puzzler with some fun twists along the way. For those who dive in headfirst and keep track of everything else it throws at you, however, it is so much more than that.
Rarely has a game made us feel more clever, more lost, and more elated the deeper into it we ventured, and still some question marks remain over its deeper mysteries. Minor technical drops and a lack of cross-save aside, this remains a superb achievement and one of the finest head scratchers we’ve had the pleasure of playing.
Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda (Switch eShop)
Brace Yourself Games has crafted a unique roguelite Zelda game which somehow fits in perfectly with the rest of the family. A transfusion from Crypt of the NecroDancer gives the old top-down template a fresh spin but it still manages to feel like Zelda.
Nintendo has gained a fantastic entry in the franchise that feels like a celebration. Cadence of Hyrule is not just a brilliant game, it’s a brilliant Zelda game – one that you won’t want to miss.
Caves of Qud (Switch eShop)
Caves of Qud has a devoted following for good reason. Its world is vivid despite its graphical style — the wonderful music helping out — and its rapid turn-based gameplay is addictive. The hardcore roguelike approach is brutal but makes each run special. This is at odds with the main thread of an RPG quest, which demands that every run is aimed at the same goal. However, that tension provides an energy that’s hard to resist. It’s compressed a little uneasily onto Switch, but can be made to work.
Maybe not legendary status on Switch, then, but a tale worth passing down to another generation of console players.
Crawl (Switch eShop)
We really like Crawl, and we’d bet our collected stash of gold and wrath you will, too. A dungeon-crawling hack-and-slash affair with roguelike elements, one player is the hero trying to get through a dungeon and the others play as monster-controlling ghosts attempting to kill said hero and take their place.
It’s an everyone-for-themselves free-for-all, yet there are opportunities for frantic 3v1 co-operative play — a necessity when all the non-hero ghost characters must take joint control of bosses the hero faces. It’s great fun in single-player thanks to some aggressive AI, but that consistent danger takes on a new dimension when you and three of your friends are jostling for XP and that all-important killing blow.
Darkest Dungeon (Switch eShop)
Darkest Dungeon has always been an RPG that finds ways to make life uncomfortable for the player, and this Switch version manages to add a couple of usability issues to that list.
However, this remains a dauntingly deep, thoroughly absorbing dungeon crawler that will swallow you up for hours at a time.
Dead Cells (Switch)
Dead Cells is a masterclass in excellent roguelike design, mixing together nonstop intense action sequences, gorgeous vistas, and an addictive loop of unlocks and rewards into a beautiful experience that no Switch owner will want to go without.
There’s dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of content available here, and though some sense of repetition can creep in every now and then, it’s remarkable how fresh Dead Cells can stay through all those hours. This game is a blast to play, full of visual splendour, and packed with things to do; don’t miss out on this one.
Dicefolk (Switch eShop)
An attractive art style, strong combat system, and meaningful player choices make Dicefolk a brilliant addition to the library, as it manages to feel fresh without getting too far away from the core ideas that make these sorts of games so addictive and popular.
Dicefolk is a good entry point to the genre, in fact; approachable without being patronising and it’s tons of fun once you get a grasp of its various quirks.
Dicey Dungeons (Switch eShop)
Terry Cavanagh did it again with Dicey Dungeons; this is easily one of the best roguelike titles you can play on Switch. Loads of gameplay variety, fantastic music, a high skill ceiling and friendly visuals make this a thoroughly gripping and fun experience you won’t want to miss out on.
If you like roguelikes — hey, you’ve made it to #35 on a Best Roguelikes list, so we’ll take that as a given — or card games, we’d highly recommend you pick this up as soon as you can- And even if you don’t, we’d still encourage you to check it out regardless.
Downwell (Switch eShop)
This is an excellent port of a game that feels like it’s found a natural home on Switch thanks to a plethora of control options and the console’s natural facility with vertical orientation. Short of popping your 4K TV on its side, Switch offers the very best way to play Downwell.
Its roguelike structure and twitch platforming might not be for everyone, but you should really give it a chance. For our money, Downwell is a modern classic that should be in everyone’s collection; for the pocket change asking price, it’s a steal.
Dreamscaper (Switch eShop)
Dreamscaper is a really rather good roguelite; a game that certainly deserves more attention than it received.
What it lacks in originality, it makes up for in heart. A surprisingly emotional story, rewarding progression system, snappy combat, and painterly visuals make for an experience that we’d suggest you give a serious look.
Dungreed (Switch eShop)
Dungreed is a fairly typical roguelite game with a few well-chosen additions to the design that make it stand out as something special.
It may not be genre-defining and it’s certainly not game-changing, but it draws from other roguelite designs to come up with something that’s polished, smart, and extremely satisfying.
Enter the Gungeon (Switch eShop)
Enter The Gungeon is a brilliantly tactile, endlessly replayable twin-stick roguelike that sits right up there with the very best indie games on Nintendo Switch. With satisfying combat, random levels, and an endless supply of inventive weapons, items and secrets, it’s always a total joy to play.
Yet another modern indie classic has found a natural home on Nintendo’s console.
Everspace – Stellar Edition (Switch eShop)
While reminding us just how much we’d love to see FTL on Switch, Everspace manages to carve out an impressive identity for itself as you warp between sectors steadily increasing your arsenal and skill level.
With gratifying space combat, an addictive roguelite core loop and even some light, entertaining writing along the way, it performs admirably – if not flawlessly – on Nintendo’s console. We had a hell of a time with it and this port does a cracking job of preserving the full experience on a handheld.
Fights in Tight Spaces (Switch eShop)
As this list attests, it takes a lot for a roguelike to feel truly fresh on Switch, but Fights in Tight Spaces does a great job of taking a well-worn format and making it feel just that. The turn-based combat means you’ll constantly be weighing up the right strategy while the unique difficult levels mean that completing your first run is only the start of the fun.
Though it isn’t quite optimised to its very best on Switch, it still looks and plays very well and gets our stamp of approval.
Flinthook (Switch eShop)
Flinthook is a really well-crafted, charming, and fun experience. It is one of tightest action platformers and addictive roguelikes around, but due to the randomly generated levels, you will encounter the odd frustrating spike in difficulty or structurally very similar areas in close proximity.
These complaints are reduced to niggles, though, due to its charm, personality, and action-packed gameplay. This trek across the galaxy is sometimes a tough and repetitive one, but it’s also incredibly enjoyable.
Fury Unleashed (Switch eShop)
Fury Unleashed takes the central gameplay loops of the likes of Dead Cells and Enter the Gungeon and infuses them with pulpy ’90s action platforming resulting in one of the best roguelites available on Nintendo Switch.
Awesome Games’ effort benefited massively from five years in development and an extended period of early access on PC that saw its gameplay polished to near perfection with slick and responsive controls, a huge and satisfyingly meaty armoury of weapons, zippy traversal mechanics and procedurally generated levels crammed full of secrets, challenges and hard-hitting enemies waiting to stop you in your tracks time and time again.
GALAK-Z: The Void: Deluxe Edition (Switch eShop)
GALAK-Z isn’t a game for everyone: its roguelite nature, its high difficulty level, and its punishing policy on death (even in its easier Arcade mode) will infuriate some players who are just expecting a quick blast of non-stop action.
Treat it like the slower-paced exploration and survival game it’s supposed to be, though, and your patience will be rewarded with some genuinely satisfying space combat and a wide variety of customisable parts (not to mention its brilliant mech upgrade), all wrapped up in a fantastic ’80s style aesthetic.
Gods Will Fall (Switch eShop)
Gods Will Fall is a unique and challenging dungeon crawler that cleverly combines a handful of inventive gameplay mechanics, resulting in constantly tense and thrilling runs through some seriously tough death chambers and boss battles.
This is a pretty brutal and unforgiving game – one some players are sure to bounce hard off – but stick with it until it clicks, explore, experiment, forge ahead through frustration, and you’ll be rewarded with one of the most addictive and original roguelikes we’ve played in quite some time.
GoNNER (Switch eShop)
An addictive, beautifully presented experience that will bring you hours of joy/frustration, GoNNER seems a perfect match for the console – offering a gameplay style suited to both quick bursts of play and longer, dedicated sessions.
Possibly too tricky for some players, it requires a lot of determination and offers little respite – expect to be thrown back to the start countless times as you try to progress. If you’re the type who enjoys a serious challenge we recommend giving this title a go; it’s one that will reward those who stick with it the most.
Hades (Switch eShop)
Hades is a sublime mix of satisfyingly gritty and flexible combat, a wonderfully vibrant art style, and a genuinely fun and engaging narrative. Supergiant Games has an excellent track record with games like Bastion and Transistor, but this really does feel like its finest hour — a rip-roaring rampage through the underworld that arrived on Switch with a port that’s nigh-on perfect.
Even if you’re yet to be swayed by the admittedly repetitive ebb and flow of roguelikes, we passionately urge you to at least give this roguelite a try; this is one heavenly vision of hell that worth sacrificing yourself to.
If you’re after a Hades-like fix after escaping hell, well, Hades II is just exquisite, too – check out our review of the Switch 2 version.
Elsewhere, Curse of the Dead Gods takes an enormous amount of inspiration from Supergiant. Or if reptiles and pizza are more your style, the decent-but-not-spectacular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate may be worth checking out.
