There’s only one certain thing when you’re playing a roguelike game: you’re going to die. A lot, probably. And when you do, you’ll go right back to the beginning, with your only option to try all over again. But for some reason, we just can’t get enough of them. And so, we’re taking a look at the best roguelike games on PS5.
As frustrating as death may be, it’s also the joy of the roguelike genre. Each time you try, you get a little bit stronger; a little bit more capable of dealing with what lies ahead. Maybe it’s just your own skills improving, or maybe you’ll get to level up in some way by unlocking a new permanent upgrade or spending a skill point or two. Not all roguelike games are created equally, and what they allow you to carry over between runs varies from game to game.
Read on to see our picks of the best roguelike games on PS5. There’s a good range available, all very different in style and tone. So, if you’re looking for a new roguelike to sink your teeth into, hopefully we can help.
This article was first published in 2020 and has been periodically updated since.
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate
If you love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this will no doubt be one of the best roguelike games on PS5 for you. Heck, even if you aren’t a diehard TMNT fan, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is still worth checking out. It’s an easy roguelike to get to grips with, with a straightforward control scheme, a simple progression system and fun but challenging combat. It has an easy mode too, which tones down the strength of enemies, giving you a fighting chance if you’re new to the genre.
Perhaps our favourite thing about Splintered Fate, though, is the fact that it can be played co-operatively. You can team up online, or get up to four friends to share the same screen in couch co-op. Not enough roguelikes allow you to play with friends, and it really does work here, making fights more manageable with another turtle by your side. The only downside is that only the host player will earn trophies while playing, but it likely won’t be a dealbreaker for many.
Read more about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate
2. Monster Train
Are you a fan of deckbuilders and card-based combat? You’ll love Monster Train, then. It’s a little like Slay the Spire, but with one cool twist: you’re fighting while on a four-storey train. After each round, enemies will climb a storey and, if they reach the top, they’ll damage your pyre. The whole goal here is to keep your magical pyre lit and burning, so you want to defeat enemies before they manage to get there.
There’s a range of character classes you can play as, each with different cards and abilities. Because the cards you get are random, no two games ever feel exactly the same, and with the right cards in your hand, you can go a long way indeed. Even if you fail, it’s so addictive that you’ll be eager to jump straight back into Monster Train again and again. Even better, there’s a sequel launching soon, so if you enjoy this, you’ve got even more card-based mayhem to look forward to.
Read our review of Monster Train
3. Let’s Revolution
Combining turn-based combat with Minesweeper-like gameplay, Let’s Revolution is like nothing else we’ve ever played, and it’s all the better for it. This ultra-colourful game require careful planning and consideration as you aim to clear all enemies out from a grid. Uncovering new squares is always a risk, as you never know where an enemy might be lurking — but you might also find treasures, or an opportunity to upgrade.
Planning is key in Let’s Revolution. It’s not the type of game you can be all-guns-blazing in. If you want to succeed, you’ll need to think about each move carefully before you make it, and consider any possible repercussions. You’ll probably still get your butt kicked, but that’s the nature of a roguelike, right? Simply dust yourself off and try again.
Read our review of Let’s Revolution
4. Go Mecha Ball
Go Mecha Ball is another game that blurs the line between genres. This combines roguelike brawling with… pinball? Yeah, it sounds rather mad, but it works, and the fast-paced, frenetic gameplay here is what really makes Go Mecha Ball shine.
You’ll need to make your way through environments, dashing up ramps, shooting through pipes and powering yourself towards enemies. You can attack normally, with feet on the ground, but Go Mecha Ball is best when you’re in ball form, speeding your way around each level’s small but perfectly formed track. Once you’ve cleared a few levels of small-fry enemies, you’ll be tasked with facing off against a boss, and it’s here that your skills will really be put to the test.
Read our review of Go Mecha Ball
5. Into the Restless Ruins
There’s something quite special about Into the Restless Ruin, one of the newest roguelike games on PS5 to appear on this list. We described it as a combination of Vampire Survivors and Blue Prince in our review, which sounds absolutely impossible until you actually play it. You see, each turn of Into the Restless Ruin begins with you placing down a number of map pieces in order to form a route through the so-called ‘restless ruin’. There are clouded-over areas you’ll need to uncover, with the eventual goal to build enough of a ruin to reach the area of the map containing the boss.
After placing down your map tiles each turn, you’ll then need to explore the ruins you’ve built, defeating enemies as you go. Like Vampire Survivors, you’ll attack automatically, and a range of upgrades are available to unlock as you go. Our only complaint about Into the Restless Ruin was it wasn’t too challenging, but as you play you’ll unlock a range of modifiers, so you can eventually make your experience as tough as you’d like.
Read our review of Into the Restless Ruin
6. Peglin
Remember Peggle? Of course you do. Made by Popcap Games way back in the 2000s, it had us firing balls at pegs in order to clear them all. Peglin brings back the formula and adds a roguelike twist onto proceedings. It plays very much the same: you’ll need to fire a ball in order to hit pegs. But by hitting pegs, you’ll rack up a score — and that score is eventually turned into damage dealt to enemies.
It’s a fantastic idea, and it’s one that works far better than it has any right to. You’ll gather different types of balls in Peglin, all offering various boosts and enhancements, with the goal to deal as much damage as possible. Some balls might increase the score of each peg, for example, while others may be bouncy, or might have the ability to turn pegs into damage-dealing bombs. Similarly to games like Slay the Spire, you’ll work your way down a pathway of missions, where you’ll eventually come up against a boss. How well you do will likely depend entirely on the balls and upgrades you have in your inventory, but one thing’s for sure: it’s so fun to play that you’ll be dying to jump straight back in.
Read our review of Peglin
7. Blue Prince
Blue Prince is very much unlike any other roguelike you’ve played before. It doesn’t even really register as a roguelike in our head, because there’s no combat here. But the nature of the game, which forces you to start over every day, means that it fits the bill. So, if you like the idea of a roguelike game that focuses on puzzles and exploration, this is the one for you.
The game begins with you inheriting a large mansion from your now-deceased uncle. It’s no normal mansion, however: its 45 rooms are forever changing and, when you walk through a new door, you have the opportunity to choose the blueprint that will appear behind it. The goal is to unlock the mysterious 46th room, but to do so you’ll need to solve a lot of puzzles, explore particular rooms and uncover many secrets of the house first. It kept us absolutely hooked, and if you like games that aren’t afraid to do something different, Blue Prince is one of the best roguelike games you can play on PS5.
Read our review of Blue Prince
8. Returnal
Without a doubt, this is one of the best roguelike games on PS5. Returnalfrom Housemarque offers an unforgiving exploration onto an unknown planet, where its roguelike elements form part of the game’s narrative.
You see, protagonist Selene realises she’s stuck in a loop. If she dies, she simply awakens back where she started, at the site of her crashed ship. In order to solve the mystery of the loop, she needs to push through the planet, uncovering its secrets along the way. And hopefully, she’ll find a way to break the loop and maybe, just maybe, get back home. Is it a possibility? You’ll have to play and find out.
A third-person action game that makes excellent use of the PS5’s features,Returnalis a game that quickly gets its hooks in you. Its brutal difficulty may put some players off, but if you can handle a challenge, there’s a lot to love here. From a wealth of otherworldly enemies to defeat to a myriad of weapons and upgrades to find, every run is just as exhilarating as the last. And not to mention the absolutely heart-stopping boss fights. We can’t get enough of it.
Read our review of Returnal
9. Hades
Incredibly slick and stylish, not many roguelikes on PS5 ooze as much personality asHades. In it, you play as Zagreus, prince of the Underworld. Except.. he’s not particularly happy being stuck in the underworld. And so, he’s fighting to escape. Cue a never-ending journey through the layers of hell, each one a little more tough to get out of than the last.
Like all the best roguelike games on PS5 should,Hadesfeatures a strong permanent upgrade system. Keep playing, and you’ll unlock new weapons and ability upgrades for Zagreus. It’s the buffs and items that you find on each run that will made or break you, however. Get the right combination, and you’ll soar through hell with ease. No, we’re kidding.Hadesis always tough – but that’s the fun of it. Tied in a neat package with fantastic storytelling, gorgeous art and a killer soundtrack, there’s so much to love here. You don’t want to miss it.
Read our review ofHades
10. Roguebook
The clue’s in the name with this one. With a name likeRoguebook, you wouldn’t expect anything less than one of the best roguelike games on PS5. And you’d be right: this card-based action roguelike is hard to put down when you get stuck into the nitty-gritty of it.
Taking its cues from the likes ofSlay the Spire,Roguebookups the ante by pairing up heroes and adding in a world exploration system. You’ll explore a map by uncovering it using ‘ink’. And as more becomes revealed, you’ll uncover new battles, events and treasure. The battles are the bread and butter ofRoguebook, however. They’re turn-based affairs where players use cards to attack their opponents and prepare for the incoming hit. If you die, it’s game over, of course. But as you go, you’ll unlock new cards and abilities to make your journey that bit easier next time.
Read our review ofRoguebook
11. Neon Abyss
A side-scrolling platformer with a lot of heart – and a lot of challenge –Neon Abyssis very difficult to put down once you’ve picked it up. Playing as one of several available heroes, you’re tasked with defeating a number of so-called ‘managers’. But in order to defeat them, you’ll have to make your way through increasingly difficult dungeons, killing a range of weird and wonderful foes on the way.
Rather like a bullet hell game at times,Neon Abysscan get very hectic. You need to be quick on your toes to avoid enemies’ attacks – or just make sure that your attack hits them first. As you play, you’ll level up your weapon, find new guns, and pick up a myriad of modifiers to change your skills and give you perks. Maybe you’ll get bouncy bullets, for instance, or maybe you’ll learn to fly, giving a whole new dimension to your bullet-dodging. It’s the sort of thing that will pull you in again and again; the lure of what pick-ups you might collect is just too strong.
Read our review of Neon Abyss
12. Moonlighter
Moonlighteris very much a game of two halves. In the first half, you’re a shopkeeper living in a small village. You run your shop during the day, setting fair prices for your wares, serving customers, and policing your store of any trouble-causers that come in. The profits you make allow you to purchase better gear to help with the second part of the game: a dungeon-crawling adventure.
You see, on the outskirts of the town you live in is a series of mysterious dungeons. It’s somehow fallen to you to explore these, killing the enemies that lay within. There’s one benefit though: while exploring, you’ll find valuable goods that you can sell in your shop the next day. If you die before making it out, however, you’ll lose most of what you’ve found.
It’s not a roguelike in the sense that you’ll completely lose your progress at any point, but you’ll have to start at the beginning of a dungeon each time you go to explore it. It means if you progress to a higher level area of a dungeon, filled with more valuable loot, you’ll lose that progress if you die. You’ll have to constantly balance risk vs reward and, even if you may never completely die altogether, the roguelike elements here make Moonlighter one of the best games in the genre.
Read more about Moonlighter
13. The Binding of Isaac
Since starting life in 2011, Edmund McMillen’sThe Binding of Isaachas seen numerous updates and expansions. Not only is it one of the best roguelikes out there, it’s also one that’s been credited as breathing life into the genre – and it stands out thanks to its obscure, grotesque imagery. Expect, blood, guts and poo, and lots of it.
In it, you play as the titular Isaac, a small boy who must make his way through a dangerous, labyrinthine basement filled with monsters. His tears are his projectile weapon, but as you progress through the game, you’ll unlock upgrades to allow you to deal more damage.
At the end of every level, you’ll face off against a fierce boss; as creepy as they are powerful. Should you manage to survive the ordeal, you’ll be rewarded with a perk, and able to progress to the next level. You’ll need to keep your wits about you; always starting out with just three hearts, Isaac isn’t very powerful, so you’ll need to be skilled at dodging and attacking in order to succeed.
Many games have come along to try to replicateThe Binding of Isaac’s style, but few have been as successful. As long as you don’t mind the gross visual style, it has a lot to offer.
Read our review ofThe Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+
14. Rogue Legacy 2
Ah,Rogue Legacy 2. We loved the first Rogue Legacy when it released way back in 2014, and it’s no surprise that we love its sequel, too. It’s one of the best roguelike games on PS5, in fact, hence why it’s earning a place on this list. In it, you play a knight tasked with battling through a castle. Overrun with monsters, you plough on through increasingly difficult areas, trying to take down each area’s boss.
One of the great things ofRogue Legacy 2is its permanent progression system. The money you earn carries over when you die, so you can use it to buy weapons or unlock upgrades that carry over between each character. And each character you play as is a direct descendant of the one that came before it. Essentially, you’re wiping out an entire lineage by having them succumb to the same beasts that killed their ancestors. Harsh.
Perhaps the most unique thing about the game, though, is that each character you play as has their own unique quirks. Your knight may have monochromacy, which means your entire run will be in black and white. Or perhaps you’ve got amnesia, which means you can’t remember where you’ve been (and as a result, your in-game minimap is useless). The conditions are numerous, and often combined with one another; it means every time you playRogue Legacy 2, it’s slightly different.
Read our review of Rogue Legacy 2
