The Nintendo Switch seems made for roguelikes, and Metacritic says these are the best games on the system.
Over the years, there have been more independent games, and there have also been more roguelikes. This is especially true for the Nintendo Switch, which is a great platform for independent games. Some people argue about the differences between roguelikes and roguelites, but for our purposes, they work the same way.
A roguelike’s gameplay is easy and flexible, so it can use elements from many different game types while still being a roguelike. Most of the time, roguelikes don’t look or play the same, which doesn’t happen very often in any other type of video game. Metacritic says these are the very best ones you can get.
Nowhere Prophet
- Meta Score: 81
- User Score: 65
Like games like Slay the Spire, Nowhere Prophet crosses the lines between roguelikes and card games. Nowhere Prophet, on the other hand, is set in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world where people must find a way to escape no matter what. Slay the Spire takes place in a somewhat funny fantasy world.
This game is different because the main focus of fighting is on where the units are put. Units that are in front of each other will be safe from most attacks, but units that are behind them won’t be able to attack ahead of them.
Going Under
- Meta Score: 81
- User Score: 72
Evanescence’s “Going Under” was a huge hit song. Now it’s a funny action roguelike game with a unique art style that makes it stand out from other games in the same genre.
Sometimes, dungeon crawls have pretty serious stories. In Going Under, the main character, Jackie, dives into the haunted ruins of failed tech startups and uses random office supplies as weapons to protect herself.
Crawl
- Meta Score: 82
- User Score: 82
Critics and Metacritic users don’t always agree, but in the case of Crawl, they do! Because this game is unique—one person controls the hero while their friends control the monsters—it was made to be played with other people.
There are still randomly created tunnels, but now there are also other players who use the monsters that appear to try to kill the player. A prize for one of them succeeding is being able to become the hero.
Crown Trick
- Meta Score: 83
- User Score: 75
The fighting in Crown Trick is deep and strategic, and the game is a turn-based roguelike dungeon crawler. Enemies move after you do, which means you have all the time you need to study each case and continue along the best course of action. With tons of different guns and items to play with, you’ll definitely need the time to plan.
The flashy art style in Crown Trick makes it stand out from other roguelikes. While it isn’t as tough as others in the genre, there’s definitely a good deal of challenge here to keep you involved for a while.
Moonlighter
- Meta Score: 83
- User Score: 79
You take on the role of a man who has two lives in Moonlighter. By day, Will runs a shop in Rynoka Village. This is no mere story – you can decide what to sell and set the costs, plus hire your helpers and grow your business. By night, Will follows his dreams of becoming an explorer, exploring the local caves to find new things for the shop.
The cute art style in this game is just the tip of the iceberg. You can keep yourself busy while traveling by making crafts, casting spells, and making friends with people in the area.
UnderMine
- Meta Score: 83
- User Score: 75
The pixel art in this roguelike game makes it look like it was taken straight from Stardew Valley. The art style and color palette are very similar. However, UnderMine’s cave crawling combat is closer to The Binding of Issac or Moonlighter than an orderly farming game.
UnderMine is fun to play and has gotten people’s attention in all the right ways. Fans of roguelike games shouldn’t pass up UnderMine because it has RPG elements that let players make their loadouts even more unique.
Crypt of the Necrodancer: Cadence of Hyrule
- Meta Score: 85
- User Score: 80
Cadence of Hyrule is a spin-off that not many people saw coming. It takes the great gameplay of the original Crypt of the Necrodancer and adds a Legend of Zelda twist to it.
In addition to Link and Zelda, players can now handle Skull Kid from Majora’s Mask and Impa, Princess Zelda’s nursemaid who has her own grudge against Ganon’s monsters. With some great versions of old Zelda songs, this game is very easy to pick up and love, even though it can be very hard at times.
Slay The Spire
- Meta Score: 85
- User Score: 83
It seems strange to add deck-building to a roguelike game at first, but it works much better in Slay the Spire than anyone could have imagined. In normal mode, the player picks one of four characters, and three of them need to be unlocked through more runs. Each character’s deck plays slightly differently from the others so that each one feels like a separate experience.
Even though every run is different, the way the cards work is strong enough that players always have a chance, no matter what deck they start with. Some players do better later in the run than others, though.
The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+
- Meta Score: 85
- User Score: 83
Metacritic says that even though The Binding of Isaac is one of the most well-known current roguelikes, that doesn’t mean it’s the best game out there. With roguelike gameplay set in a cave crawling world that looks like old The Legend of Zelda games, this independent gem is hard not to love.
The game’s images and controls are pretty basic, but that’s more than enough to appeal to fans of the genre.Compared to many other roguelikes, the story is also very strange. Players follow Isaac as he tries to get away from his religiously crazy mother while she tries to kill him.
Darkest Dungeon
- Meta Score: 85
- User Score: 80
Darkest Dungeon is one of the most well-known roguelike dungeon crawlers from the past few years. It’s famous for being both a lot of fun and a lot of hard. Darkest Dungeon is one of the best independent games on the Switch. It took a turn-based RPG that is mostly about placement and added horror, permanent death, and survival features to make it one of the best experiences you can have.
Darkest Dungeon is a great game, but it’s not as easy for people who haven’t played games with similar features before to get into. On the other hand, you’ll have a great time if you take the time to learn how to play.
Neurovoider
- Meta Score: 85
- User Score: 80
Neurovoider is a roguelike bullet hell game set in a high-tech future world full of enemies who love to shoot you. The game will put you in charge of a small robot that is up against the whole world.
You can play this game with other people, it’s meant to be played over and over, and you can change how the randomly created levels are made. Just so you know, it’s hard, especially if you haven’t played many bullet hells or rougelikes before. But don’t give up too soon. We have faith in you!
Risk Of Rain 2
- Meta Score: 85
- User Score: 84
The action-packed follow-up to Risk of Rain is called Risk of Rain 2. In Risk of Rain 2, you will fight your way through Petrichor V’s harsh settings as different survivors, collecting things that will help you get off the world. You can choose from different skills for each survivor, and they all play in their own unique and interesting ways.
The best thing about Risk of Rain 2 is how many different ways there are to combine items. When you’re deep into a run, your items will have so many affects at once that you’ll feel like a ball of death that can’t be stopped. If you want a roguelike game where you can really feel powerful by killing hordes of enemies, Risk of Rain 2 is the one for you.
Crypt of the Necrodancer
- Meta Score: 86
- User Score: 71
Crypt of the Necrodancer is one of the strangest-sounding games on the Switch. It’s a roguelike that lets you explore dungeons and adds a beat feature to it. You will need to time your moves and hits to the beat of the music in order to get through each level.
The people who made this game could have used music that was already out there, but instead they made one of the best scores and some of the best music in a video game ever.
Enter the Gungeon
- Meta Score: 87
- User Score: 80
Enter the Gungeon could have easily turned into a boring roguelike dungeon crawler, but Dodge Roll chose to go all-in on the ridiculous idea and make the gameplay really fun and funny.
As the name suggests, players have to go into the “Gungeon,” which is full of references to different kinds of guns and ammo. They have to use weapons that look like they belong in a Worms game, like bananas and pea shooters that actually fire peas.
Rogue Legacy 2
- Meta Score: 88
- User Score: 77
Rogue Legacy 2 is even better than the first game in every way. Almost everything about Rogue Legacy 2 is better than the first game. It has more monsters, more levels, and new classes.
The succession method in Rogue Legacy 2 is what makes it different from other roguelikes. Every time you die, you will pick one of your children to take over and try to do what you couldn’t. But every child is different and has their own skills and quirks, like being colorblind or having chronic tiredness syndrome. Because of these things, no two runs are ever the same.
Dicey Dungeons
- Meta Score: 88
- User Score: 77
Dicey Dungeons shouldn’t work nearly as well as it does, since it combines text-heavy combat like in board RPGs with a combat system that looks a lot like in card-based games.
Dicey Dungeons, on the other hand, does it with humor, a cute cartoony art style similar to Night in the Woods, and surprisingly deep and fun gameplay that is a breath of fresh air in a genre that’s already too full.
Downwell
- Meta Score: 88
- User Score: 73
Even though Downwell is one of the simplest roguelike games on the Switch, that doesn’t make it any less good. Downwell is a gun-based game like Geometry Dash Lite. Players must shoot their way through levels while falling down an endless well and trying to reach the bottom.
Compared to other games, this one has been out for a while—it came out in 2015 and wasn’t available for the Switch until 2019. However, Downwell has still gained a few new fans.
Dead Cells
- Meta Score: 89
- User Score: 84
Many people would be right to think that Dead Cells is the best roguelike game on the Switch, but Metacritic disagrees. Dead Cells is thought to be not only one of the best roguelike games on the Switch, but also one of the best roguelike games ever made. It takes the random produced Metroidvania worlds that made Risk of Rain so famous and adds a much more colorful universe to explore.
Also, Dead Cells is almost impossible to finish because the creators are always adding new material to keep the game fun, even after hundreds of hours of dying.
Into the Breach
- Meta Score: 89
- User Score: 79
A roguelike strategy RPG like X-Com or Fire Emblem comes from the same people who made FTL: Faster Than Light, which is a shame because it’s not on the Switch. This time, though, Into The Breach has a more sci-fi setting. The player controls huge mechs that fight monsters called Vek that will do anything to kill mankind.
This tactical RPG is different from others because it lets you know when an enemy is going to attack, which adds a level of strategy that you don’t see in other games like it. Battles are a lot like puzzles in that the only thing that can stop you from winning is your ability to answer problems.
Spelunky 2
- Meta Score: 92
- User Score: 81
Spelunky began as a free, open-source game. It became so famous that it was fully developed and sold, and then there was a follow-up! That movie gets great reviews from both fans and reviewers.
You are a wealth hunter in Spelunky who has to go through randomly created caves. There are lots of threats and things to avoid, but there is also treasure to find. Take as much as you can!
Hades
- Meta Score: 93
- User Score: 90
Hades is one of the best Switch games and one of the best games ever made by Supergiant Games. Before, roguelikes like Diablo were made, and games like Children of Morta got a lot of fans when they came out on platform. But as good as that game is, it just couldn’t hit the same heights as Hades.
The great thing about this game is that it focuses a lot on Greek mythology, which is what made games like the God of War series so famous in the past. Its graphics are also a nice change from all the pixel art games on the Switch.