If there’s a genre that has seen a massive explosion in recent years it would have to be the roguelite.
For the uninitiated, a roguelite is a game which consists of uninterrupted runs to the end boss, where each death or failure results in the run being wiped and you having to start again.
Meta-upgrades are usually used to allow for a slow increase in power (making this different to the ‘true rogue’ games) but mostly you’ll be increasing your own knowledge and skills through these repeated playthroughs.
A fantastic way to add replayability to games and encourage players to find their own playstyle, roguelites are also a great genre to cross-over with. Here’s ten genres which roguelites have crossed over with.
Ranking-wise, this is more a collection of ten different options to play, without much difference between each entry in ranking, more just a personal preference.
10
Risk of Rain 2 | Third-Person Shooter X Roguelite
2020 | Hopoo Games | Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC
In Risk of Rain 2, you play as someone stranded on an alien planet with enemies pouring out of everywhere.
You’re tasked with defending yourself, third-person shooter style, against waves of these enemies until such a time when you’re overwhelmed after which you pick yourself up, give yourself a talking to in the mirror and start again.
There’s four player co-op in the game, to allow you to play with friends or strangers and a meta-progression which allows you to select new survivors and modifiers to play with.
Just remember to carry a metaphorical umbrella, as there’s always a ‘risk of rain’.
9
Drop Duchy | Tetris X Roguelite
2025 | Sleepy Mill Studio | PC
Drop Duchy is part-roguelite, part deckbuilder, part-Tetris game, whereby you drop blocks to create both your army and the enemies, alongside resources which can be used to improve your deck in between rounds.
Optimal placement of blocks is crucial, not only to gain the most amount of resources, but to stop the enemy from gaining bonuses, and as you place all the blocks yourself, you can really feel when you’ve got something wrong.
A game which sometimes gets in the way of itself with its own depth, with new systems being added by meta-progression which can upset the beginning of runs.
It’s still a fascinating experiment which shows that roguelites really can be mixed with anything.
8
Ball X Pit | Block Breaker X Roguelite
2025 | Kenny Sun | Nintendo Switch/2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
In Ball x Pit, you play as an adventurer who has come to the ruins of Ballbylon to seek their fortune.
Unfortunately, you find that the city has been overrun by monsters, which thankfully, can be defeated in a block breaker format.
You’ll launch your weapon of choice, a ball, at the monsters, who slowly march toward you. If any monster reaches the bottom, a la Space Invaders, then you’ll take damage, but if you defeat the monsters you can upgrade your weapons.
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Not content with having one crossover genre, Ball x Pit also has a city-building mechanic for its meta progression, with the resources you’ve picked up from the Pit during a run being used to expand the small village you’ve got as home base.
This creates the intoxicating meta-progression of a roguelite, allowing for the gameplay loop to fully take over you, so that all you can see is the ball.
7
Blue Prince | Puzzle X Roguelite
2025 | Dogubomb | PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
Blue Prince is probably the most ‘out there’ in terms of genre splices on this list. What if you take the random nature of the roguelite and combine it with the strict rules of a puzzle game?
Turns out, the result is a rather excellent mystery puzzle game, whereby you try to reach the mysterious 46th room in a manor house, by ‘drafting’ the other 45 rooms from a selection of cards.
Once you’re in a room, you’ll find puzzles to complete, items to pick up and other mysteries to explore.
A run ends when the player runs out of ‘steps’ which can be refilled by eating food, forcing them to leave the mansion and lose any items they’ve collected.
Entering again, you’ll retain knowledge of how the puzzles can work as well as certain permanent upgrades as per the meta-system.
6
Balatro | Deckbuilding X Roguelite
2024 | LocalThunk | Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android, iOS and PC
Balatro is a deckbuilding roguelite whereby players are tasked with playing poker hands to try and score a certain number of points per round.
While this certainly sounds like a simple concept, the game quickly gets more complicated through the use of ‘Joker’ cards, which can change the rules of the game or offer advantages.
These can range from allowing flushes and straights to be made with 4 cards to increasing your hand size or multiplier.
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Through tactical use of Joker cards, you can score into the infinite, successfully defeating any Blind or Boss that comes your way and using the winnings to buy more cards.
Rinse and repeat until you’ve realised the sun has risen, even though it was morning when you started playing.
5
Dead Cells | Metroidvania X Roguelite
2018 | Motion Twin/Evil Empire | Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, iOS, Android and PC
Dead Cells is a mix between roguelite and Metroidvania, whereby you play as The Prisoner, defeating powerful enemies with a variety of weapons.
As you progress through the procedurally generated levels, you’ll unlock upgrades, new weapons and special items called Runes, which allow for new methods of travel and overall progression in the game.
Of course, as per the roguelite formula, if you die then pretty much everything gets lost, unless you’re able to get to the end of a dungeon and use some of your ‘Cells’ to unlock meta-upgrades that become permanent.
One of the first games people go to when they think of a roguelite, and with it being on almost every console including via Netflix subscription, it’s easy to start, but hard to stop.
4
The King is Watching | City Builder X Roguelite
2025 | Hypnohead | PC
In The King is Watching, you control the king of a small kingdom, which has one rule – you only need to work if the king is watching you.
Hence, a strategy occurs – where do you send your king’s gaze, to optimise production? The army will attack to defend their lives on their own, but they won’t recruit more troops and the farmers certainly won’t work on their own.
But you also really want to make a Bear Druid camp, so can you afford to take your eyes off of the woodcutters for a bit to get it made?
And so lies the crux of this game, and its addicting mix of city building and micromanagement with the classic roguelite idea of being able to get meta-upgrades in the form of advisors after each run, which might give you more troops to begin with, for example. Or a spell to help.
3
Aethermancer | Monster Taming X Roguelite
2025 | moi rai games | PC
Aethermancer is a monster-taming roguelite adventure from the creators of Monster Sanctuary, a similar blend of monster-taming and Metroidvania.
You play as Sirius, the eponymous Aethermancer, who sets out to figure out how to stop The Void from swallowing up the world.
To do this, you’ll send out teams of three monsters to defend you from other monsters as you progress closer to the centre of The Void.
You’ll choose a pathway at the end of each map, of which each will give you a different bonus and the opportunity to speak to a different NPC, similar to Hades.
If you lose your monsters, not to worry, as long as one survives the battle, you can bring new ones out afterwards, although unlike Pokemon you can’t bring the same monster back – once they’re gone, they’re gone.
Keep going until you either win or die, and reset with new monsters, as per the roguelite tradition.
2
Hades | Action X Roguelite
2020 | Supergiant Games | Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, iOS and PC
In Hades, you play as Zagreus, son to the King of the Underworld, the eponymous Hades. You’re on a quest to reach your father and teach some serious sense into him, by going through the layers of The Underworld, defeating bosses and getting boons from various Greek Gods.
This game is half action, half roguelite, so you get the use of various weapons which can be used to defeat the hordes of enemies coming your way, as well as various upgrades to make you even more powerful.
From spear to sword and, my personal favourite, the shield, you can shoot, stab or bash your way to victory. I’d also call Hades part visual novel, as one of the best things is the story and the characters you get to know.
By giving them gifts of Nectar, you can get to know the various denizens of the Underworld and uncover just what’s happened to make this situation so dire. All with a healthy dose of sarcasm, wit, and excellent voice acting.
1
Outer Wilds | Metroidbrania X Roguelite
2019 | Mobius Digital | Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC
Outer Wilds is a combination of two genres, which have themselves been merged with others to create a smorgoseboard of goodness.
A roguelite, as when the 22 minute timer runs out, the universe literally implodes, causing you to have to restart with only the knowledge you’ve gained from a previous run being in tact.
Outer Wilds is also a Metroidbrania, a combination of a Metroidvania, whereby areas of the world are blocked off until you can figure out how to open them, and the word ‘brain’, as the key is really just knowledge.
A huge puzzle box, filled with atmosphere, danger, tension and some of the best banjo playing this side of Steve Martin. It’s one of my favourite games of all time and well worth jumping into as blind as you can.
