5 Excellent Roguelites on Switch

Rogue-lites are action-oriented games with some roguelike elements at play. Whether that may be randomly generated this or that, it spices up the game with every playthrough. These games often have a fun core-gameplay loop and a plethora of content and charm to enjoy. There are plenty of rogue-lites on the Switch and an excellent bunch of them as well. Here are 5 of those bunch:

Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+

Binding of Isaac Afterbirth+ Cover Art.

If you haven't heard of BOI (Binding of Isaac) you must be living under an indie rock. BOI is one of the dads of the rogue-lite genre and is credited as such for good reason. BOI has plenty going for it including a wide range of comedy, deep and interesting themes and lore, almost 500 items to experiment with and collect, a catchy suiting soundtrack, a unique art style, and a TON of variety in its enemies, bosses, areas, characters, items, and more. It also features a baffling amount of secrets, unlockables, and special modes. This is all due to the immense support the game has received from its developer since 2011. If you want an excellent rogue-lite game, you cannot go wrong with Binding of Isaac. (Extra Note: The price may seem a bit steep, I myself waited for a sale, but the amount of content here is well worth the price of admission).

Price: $39.99

Difficulty (Max): ✪✪✪✪

Players: 1-4

Enter the Gungeon

Bullet-hells are games where the most important goal is to survive the onslaught of bullets on-screen that often greet you in great numbers. The second most important goal? To eliminate the enemies firing those bullets! Enter the Gungeon (ETG) is a bullet-hell rogue-lite with smoothly tight controls and gameplay. Every run you amass a large arsenal of guns, most enemies are based around guns, and the lore is deeply tied to guns- it's all in the name after all! Besides that ETG has colorful quality pixel art, a kickass soundtrack, a great variety of GUNS, items, enemies, bosses, areas, and characters. There are multiple endings to the game and plenty of secrets to uncover, as well as a home base hub you will continually fill with NPCs you saved from the Gungeon who will help you in your on-going gun-toting quest. Once again, if you’re looking for an excellent rogue-lite to jump into on switch, you cannot go wrong with Enter the Gungeon.

Price: $14.99

Difficulty (Max): ✪✪✪✪

Players: 1-2

Risk of Rain

Risk of Rain is a horde-mode esc rogue-lite where you jump from level to level trying to find the teleporter to the next all the while collecting upgrades and fighting endless swarms of enemies. Risk of Rain really nails the feeling of building your character into an awesome powerful force to be reckoned with… if you can get to that point, because Risk of Rain is BRUTAL. Playing on any difficulty that isn't drizzle (easy) will be a real heck of a challenge (easy can still be challenging at times, especially for beginners). There's a variety of characters to unlock and play as, each with 4 different abilities that wildly differ. The soundtrack is great with very atmospheric tones, while the pixel art is nice and the varied environments shift things up enough. One gripe I have with the game is that one can often lose their player character in the sea of enemies due to the tiny sizes of the characters. Besides this minor issue, Risk of Rain is a challenging, but fun and empowering rogue-lite experience.

Price: $9.99

Difficulty (Max): ✪✪✪✪✪

Players: 1-4

The Swindle

The Swindle Cover Art.

The Swindle is for those who like to be sneaky and mischievous in their games, it's a

stealthy action rogue-lite all about robbing randomly generated buildings of their valuable contents without getting caught. As you progress through the game you will able to buy upgrades that grant you new tools and abilities for obtaining more loot, better mobility, and accessing previously inaccessible areas. You will also unlock new areas, each with a different theme, tighter security, and a higher payout! Here's the catch: You only have 100 days to steal the biggest reward from the richest area (or in other words beat the game). Each match or “run” played counts as a day. So will you play it safe and be satisfied with an okay pay-out or risk a day for a wealth of cash? The game can be brutal at times as one hit from anything will kill you and once you're spotted a highly-lethal police force is sent after you. The game has a very unique hand-drawn-looking art style. This is all with a steampunk theme, including the soundtrack. The Swindle is stealthy stressfully good-time and niche rogue-ish experience!

Difficulty (Max): ✪✪✪✪✪

Price: $14.99

Players: 1

Death Road to Canada

Death Road to Canada is the strangest of the games on this list. It has some very unorthodox elements, odd mechanics, and great humor. This is a game about a zombie apocalypse breaking out in the U.S. and your (two) characters making their way from their home of Florida to the safety of Canada. On their way, they'll scavenge supplies, face random events, recruit new group members, and of course battle with the undead. All the while you must make sure your group does not run low on food, fuel, morale, or medical supplies or dire consequences can ensue. There are a variety of events, big, small, and crazy, that can occur and it's often your choice as to what to do. Sometimes your characters will even have a special option to choose due to their talents or skills. You can start with two randomly generated characters, with their own look, statistics, perks, or create your own characters. BE WARNED: This game is brutally difficult and I myself have never made it to Canada. As you play run after run, you will accumulate Z-points that you may spend to buy new perks or upgrade existing ones ensuring that survivors are always becoming stronger for your next run. There are also a variety of modes to try out, some more difficult and some just plain silly. The game has a crude pixel art style with plenty of filters over-top providing a fitting look to the game. While exploring, survivors and zombies alike hop around areas as a catchy joyful background song plays along. Death Road to Canada is a WEIRD game in the best way. It's a challenge worth sinking time into.

Difficulty (Max): ✪✪✪✪✪

Price: $14.99

Players: 1-4 (With enough survivors)

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I hope you give one of these games a chance whether you're a long-time fan of rouge-lites or just finding out about the genre today! Let me know what you think down below!