It seems that each year brings more exciting and even more innovative roguelites and roguelikes than the year before. Some are from bigger budget studios, though many come from creative indie developers. Here’s my list of the Top 10 upcoming roguelites and roguelikes to play in 2024.
10 Best Roguelites and Roguelikes Releasing in 2024
10. Hades 2
All aboard the Greek Mythology hype train! Supergiant Games is back in March 2024 with the Early Access release of Hades 2, the roguelite we’ve all been waiting for (well, the roguelite I’ve been waiting for, at least). This time, we’re switching out our boy Zag with his badass spell-weaving, sickle-wielding sister, Melinoë. The quest this time isn’t to escape Hell but to slay the mighty God Titan of Time, Chronos.
We’ve yet to learn the reasons why, but we know that the gameplay loop will be similar to the original. Melinoë’s playstyle will be faster and more focused on spells, as displayed in the game’s trailer in a battle against who I assume is Hecate, the Goddess of Magic. There will also be an early closed playtest that we can apply for before Early Access. More information will be revealed soon on Supergiant’s social media.
9. Ultros
Next up on my list of can’t-miss roguelites and roguelikes of 2024, we have the electric and psychedelic Ultros. Set to release in February 2024, it looks to do something a little different with its roguelite elements.
The strange and cosmic setting has many different secrets, and we’ll platform around and explore a Metroidvania world. You can uncover secrets through the loop-based mechanics that will allow us to replay the game from key story moments and unlock different areas, abilities, and skills. As
Hadoque state: “Each loop will bring you closer to the truth.” And I can’t wait to uncover it. Plus, the music is by El Huervo who also worked on Hotline Miami.
8. Windblown
Motion Twin, the creators of the criminally-good Dead Cells, bring us a new world with Windblown. This action roguelite channels the fast-paced combat of Dead Cells but from an isometric perspective. The art style seems to be much more colorful, too, with a more comedic narrative style to back it up.
We’ll be able to use various combat styles through unique equipment and skills, playing alone or with friends in co-op, which is a feature I’m very excited to try out. Windblown will launch in Early Access sometime in Q1 2024. We’re so excited about it that we also included it in our top 10 upcoming Early Access games list, so it’s one to keep an eye on.
7. Sandwalkers
Going from hack-and-slash to turn-based tactics, we have Sandwalkers. This is set to be a desert exploration game where we’ll lead a party of four at the start of a run, adventuring through cities, tribe strongholds, and various dungeons. Combat encounters play out on a hex-based grid, where each party member has a set of class abilities.
The story is a bit different than we might expect from similar genre games, too. We’re here to establish diplomatic and trade relations between separated cities in a mysterious desert, not traverse labyrinths, dugeons, and castles.
From the looks of it, there seem to be choice-based decisions, as well, adding another wrinkle to the mix. Overall, Sandwalker‘s unique worldbuilding is what caught my attention, and I can’t wait to check it out sometime in Q1 2024. The fact that it’s developed by Goblinz Studio, who worked on Legend of Keepers and Racine, is a great sign.
6. Roots of Yggdrasil
One of the more non-traditional roguelikes I found while putting this list together also has one of the most interesting sounding gameplay loops of any game on this list. In a neat twist, Roots of Yggdrasil is a city builder roguelike, a subgenre mashup we can use more of.
Here, you’ll construct settlements and build your deck of ability cards throughout the nine realms of Norse Mythology. The conflict centers around expanding your civilization before Ginnungagap, an obliterating force of nothingness, reaches your settlements and consumes them.
Roots of Yggdrasil features an engaging cast of characters called Scions, which can be recruited in each run and provide bonuses to construction and development. You’ll explore different biomes, make important decisions for your settlement, and generally enjoy mythological worldbuilding. It’s out in late January or early February 2024.
5. Into the Necrovale
Into the Necrovale is a Dark Souls inspired fantasy roguelite — so sign me up. Its combat blends ARPG and hack-and-slash elements into what looks like a dark delight for fans of those genres. And, of course, precise dodging is required to survive. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Into the Necrovale also seems to take a few notes from Hades. It features a main hub that allows you to improve your character between encounters. And the dungeon-delving elements are also familiar, where we’ll progress runs by exploring, gathering gear, and meeting NPCs before returning to base to become more powerful for the next encounter.
4. Death Must Die
Death Must Die is already in Early Access, so this is a bit of a cheat. But it’s set for a full release sometime in 2024, so I had to include it here. It mechanically expands the Vampire Survivors formula into a more complex gameplay loop, while combining a neat dark fantasy art style with a Diablo gear system.
It also has Hades‘ ability system, letting you unlock new skills through God boons. The core mechanics are already promising, but if the full release introduces a more in-depth story, this might be one of my top roguelites of 2024.
3. Sons of Valhalla
Sons of Valhalla is a Viking Age 2D side-scrolling hack and slash with roguelite elements. And while that’s a mouthful, its presentation and gameplay give heavy Kingdom Two Crowns energy, a game I very much enjoyed.
Each run sees you constructing your settlement, building an army of various units, raiding nearby villages, and engaging in combat as you lead your army to victory. You can use different weapons and give commands to your troops to form shield walls, retreat, or charge the enemy.
Interestingly, it’s got a little Dave the Diver DNA, too. It’s not all about fighting. Sons of Valhalla will let you interact with various gameplay mechanics ranging from combat to construction. There’s also a day/night cycle that influences your actions. It’s a promising and beautiful roguelike pixel art title that I can’t wait to sink my teeth into.
2. The Lightless World
I love games like Overlord, Carrion, and Legend of Keepers because they let you play as the villain. The Third One Group is adding to that library of devilish titles with The Lightless World. In this reverse eldritch horror action RPG with roguelite elements, you control demonic gods from another world.
Not much is known about the game just yet, but that description and the gameplay we’ve seen already has me hyped. A mix of Vampire Survivors and Diablo as you fight through instances and unlock new abilities and artifacts? Yes, please.
1. Demon Spore
Rounding out my list of roguelites and roguelikes to play in 2024 is a sci-fi roguelite shooter. Here, a lab experiment gone wrong has created some fleshy eldritch horror monsters — and your job is to eradicate them.
The neat part about Demon Spore is that you’re just playing a regular civilian character like in Dead Space. You’re not a guns-blazing soldier type. Instead, you’re a scientist equipped with knowledge and tools, and the combat is almost like a puzzle as you figure out how to best approach every room filled with tentacle monsters.
On each run, you’ll choose different paths through your lab and utilize various equipment like laser guns or volatile concoctions to escape and survive. That said, each run will uncover more secrets about the lab and the monstrous experiment, unraveling the mystery of what went wrong. It’s some great 80s horror movie fun.
And that concludes my list of the Top 10 best upcoming roguelites and roguelikes in 2024. If all of these release on schedule, 2024 will be a banner year for the subgenres. For more features like this, check out our list of the best roguelites in 2023 and the Top 10 RPGs releasing in 2024.
