The Steam Summer Sale 2023 is here, with discounts on some of the best roguelike games on PC. The idea might be the same – try your best, fail, and try again – but the roguelike scene features some exceptional creativity and innovation. Whether you’re after deep, story-driven adventures like Hades, quirky horror with survival elements, or classic platforming, there’s probably something for you – and maybe even a few surprises as well. Better still, most of them work on Steam Deck.
These Steam Summer Sale discounts last until July 13, 2023.
Hades – $12.49
Hades adds a dash of social sim and a generous helping of mythological flair to the roguelike formula. You play as Zagreus, a son of Hades determined to escape the underworld. Zagreus gets some secret help from the rest of the Greek pantheon along the way and forges relationships with them in the process, eventually learning more about his family – and himself. He also gets no shortage of weapon customization options from his Olympian benefactors, so every run feels fresh and fun.
You can get it for $12.49.
Dead Cells – $12.49
Dead Cells combines roguelike replayability with Metroidvania exploration, resetting your progress when you die – which you will, a lot – and challenging you to learn the ins and outs of over 150 weapons to give yourself a fighting chance. You can get its paid expansions, including a Castlevania expansion, in a bundle as well.
You can get the base game for $12.49.
Inscryption – $11.98
Inscryption really exists in a genre of its own, but that genre includes roguelike elements, along with psychological horror and card game mechanics that go surprisingly deep. It’s an unforgettable experience and one best entered without knowing too much about it. Inscryption is on sale for $11.98.
Risk of Rain 2 – $12.49
Risk of Rain 2 challenges you to stay alive as long as possible and see just how many deadly obstacles you can overcome in its gorgeous handcrafted environments. You’ll pick from nearly a dozen characters and customize them with over 100 items, and you can even team up with friends in multiplayer to challenge Risk of Rain 2’s spectacular bosses.
Pick this one up for $12.49.
Cult of the Lamb – $16.24
2022’s surprise hit indie game is discounted to $16.24. You’re a cute little lamb with dark and devious deeds on the brain and a knack for forcing willing, gullible minions to follow your every whim. Cult of the Lamb is part roguelike and part city builder, where you’ll gather resources in the land’s four randomly generated regions and use them to build a city devoted to a false god – and by build, we mean “force your followers to build it for you” of course.
Into the Breach – $7.49
Into the Breach helped revive turn-based tactics thanks to its deep mech customization and rewarding battles. You fight with a team of giant robots to save the last vestiges of humanity, making careful use of terrain and smart reading of enemy patterns to make it through unscathed – or at least alive. The version you get for $7.49 includes several free updates that expand every aspect of the game as well.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth – $10.04
The Binding of Isaac is a dark, twisted, and captivating action game where you guide Isaac through the hellish nightmare realms of his basement in a bid to save him from his mother, who thinks she needs to sacrifice him to prove her faith. You’ll pick up dozens of powers to augment Isaac’s abilities in every run, face monstrous bosses, and eventually die and do it all over again, but better than the last time.
You can get it for $10.04.
Returnal – $47.99
Housemarque’s hit roguelike is discounted to $47.99 during the Steam sale. Returnal puts you in the mind and spacesuit of Selene, a woman forced to relive the same cycle of struggle and death on a mysterious planet, though how it ties in with her own traumatic memories of life on Earth is for you to figure out.
Darkest Dungeon – $7.49
Darkest Dungeon puts a clever twist on dungeon crawling by delving into the psyches of its characters and the stresses and fears they face while adventuring in the depths. Each hero has a specific set of fears and failures to contend with in Darkest’s procedurally generated dungeons and turn-based combat, and once they die, they’re gone forever. It’s discounted to $7.49 during the sale.
Don’t Starve – $2.49
Don’t Starve is a standout in the genre, with its blend of survival elements with roguelike exploration and a splash of gothic cartoon horror. You’re a scientist sent unwillingly into a nightmare world with nothing save what you find around you to help survive the brutal nights. Everything wants to kill you, and even if you stave off starvation, you might succumb to madness – and you probably will, at least for a while.
Learning to build, craft, and thrive is immensely satisfying, and while you can get the base game for $2.49, you can also get the mega bundle with Don’t Starve’s many DLC expansions for $15.50.
Vampire Survivors – $3.74
The surprise classic that came seemingly from nowhere is down to $3.74. Vampire Survivors sees you keep hordes of enemies at bay with a range of powerups in frantic bullet-hell action in the hope of earning gold to spend on upgrades and do it all over again. There aren’t any vampires, though.
Spelunky – $2.99
Roguelike platforming and fully destructible levels take center stage in Spelunky. You navigate traps, deal with fierce monsters, and gather treasure in a series of randomly generated levels that ensures no run is ever the same twice. Spelunky is quietly brilliant in how it gradually teaches you the way its world works, and while you’ll probably die in dozens of ridiculous and horrible ways, you’ll come back armed with more knowledge and a different perspective on what to try next.
Spelunky is going for $2.99.
Children of Morta – $5.49
Narrative takes center stage in Children of Morta, specifically the stories of the Bergman family, a magical, dysfunctional bunch tasked with holding back the dark shadows threatening to envelop the world. You’ll gradually earn experience and rewards to power up each family member’s skills as you clear your runs, and their individual stories unfold between dungeon runs back at the family home. It’s a unique take on the genre and one you can play with friends as well.
Grab it for $5.49.
Crypt of the Necrodancer – $2.99
Crypt of the Necrodancer throws rhythm into the roguelike mix. The result is a fresh style that encourages you to think more deeply – and rhythmically – about your attacks and movement as you explore deeper into the nightmarish crypt and fight to stay alive. You can grab it for $2.99.
Slay the Spire – $8.49
Developer Mega Crit Games grafted a deckbuilder onto a roguelike RPG and came up with Slay the Spire, an exceptional game crammed with personality and memorably bizarre creatures. You’ll build your deck with over 350 cards, power up with over 200 items, and decide how to handle nearly five dozen random events that could propel you to victory – or send you spiraling into defeat.
Slay the Spire is going for $8.49.
Loop Hero – $4.94
Loop Hero is a dark, enchanting riff on the deck-building genre, where you use your cards – dealt at random, in true roguelike fashion – to build a path for your hero. You might have enemies and terrain, or you may get lucky and give your hero some powerful tools to fight the darkness with. Every journey has its own fresh set of perils and rewards, and the extra layer of strategy that comes with carefully building your hero’s route is a welcome one indeed.
Loop Hero is discounted to $4.94 while the sale lasts.
Tumbleseed – $14.99
You might think balancing a seed is a simple task, and maybe it is – but not in Tumbleseed. Your goal is getting the seed up a steep, constantly changing mountain and navigating dozens of challenges along the way, but you aren’t powerless during the ascent. You’ll pick up multiple powers and fight back against the corrupt creatures determined to bury your brave seed before they reach the peak.
Tumbleseed is going for $14.99.
Inkbound – $15.99
Inkbound is an ambitious roguelike that blends action elements with turn based battles that you can play in co-op. The written word comes to life in dangerous fashion in Inkbound, and it’s up to you to put the arcane horrors it breeds back in their place. Combat strikes a strong balance between depth and approachability, making it easy to slip into Inkbound for short periods or longer sessions.
You can pick Inkbound up for $15.99. Just bear in mind it’s in early access, so you might run into a few problems.
If you’re after other deals, check out our mainstream Steam Sale deals roundup and our picks for the top Metroidvania games discounted during the event.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
