Games Like Saros: 8 Brutal Loop-Driven Games to Play Next

Saros launched April 30 on PS5. Housemarque made another demanding roguelike with bullet-hell patterns and a death loop that actually matters.

If what you want next is demanding 2D combat without a roguelike reset, that is our game: KUTO: The Lock of Time. Scythe of Kronos, Rewind Key, Early Access Q1 2027. Disclosure: we make it. What it actually is, or wishlist it on Steam.

The best games like Saros are Returnal, Hades, Dead Cells, Risk of Rain 2, Curse of the Dead Gods, Neon White, and Ghostrunner — plus one 2D action-platformer metroidvania that overlaps on combat pressure, not on the death loop. Here are eight games for when you run out of things to kill in it.

What to Play After Saros

If you just rolled credits on Saros and want more of the same pressure, start with the games closest to its DNA — Returnal shares a studio, Hades shares the death-loop storytelling, Dead Cells shares the build-from-run-to-run combat. Work down the list from there depending on whether you want to stay in a bullet-hell shooter or branch into something with a different camera and pace. If you haven't bought it yet, is Saros worth it breaks down the difficulty, the price, and the story before you commit.

Returnal

The most obvious pick. Same studio, same third-person bullet-hell chassis, but the weapons are more varied and the mystery-box narrative is denser. It's on PS5 and PC. Death in Returnal resets more — you lose more progress on each run than Saros tends to strip from you. If you haven't played Returnal, do that first. Saros is the more polished version of the formula, but Returnal is where Housemarque worked out what they were making. If the ending left you with questions, here's the Saros story explained.

Hades

Supergiant's 2020 roguelike. Isometric, not a shooter, but the roguelike death mechanic and permanent-progression systems are the template a lot of modern games in this genre borrowed from, consciously or not. Every death adds dialogue and moves the story forward. The storytelling loop — die, learn something, try again — is tighter here than almost anywhere else. Available on PC, Switch, PS4, and PS5.

Dead Cells

Motion Twin's roguelike Metroidvania, originally released 2018. It's 2D and faster than Saros, with no bullet-hell element to speak of, but the combat feedback and the way builds come together from run to run are the closest thing to Saros's weapon system you'll find in 2D. One bad room can end a run, same as Saros. On PC and all major consoles.

Risk of Rain 2

A 3D third-person roguelike at a similar camera angle to Saros. Runs start slow and controlled, then spiral into complete chaos as items stack on items. Solo or co-op up to four players. The pacing is different — Saros stays punishing throughout, while Risk of Rain 2 lets you feel powerful before it kills you — but the loop of "die, retry, push further" is the same. On PC and consoles.

Curse of the Dead Gods

An isometric action roguelike with a corruption system that punishes greed. Slower than Saros, more deliberate. The eldritch-horror setting overlaps with Saros's aesthetic, and the corruption mechanic creates the same "how deep do I push before this kills me" tension. You can take cursed boons for power at the cost of mounting penalties — it's a different mechanic than Saros's absorb-and-charge shield, but the risk calculation feels familiar. On PC and consoles.

Neon White

Completely different aesthetic but it shares Saros's demand for clean, fast execution. Card-based first-person speedrunner with a visual novel story between levels. Runs are short, the precision ceiling is high, and there's more story than the premise suggests. It won't scratch the bullet-hell itch, but if what you liked about Saros was the discipline it asked of you, Neon White asks for the same thing in a very different way. On PC and Switch.

Ghostrunner

First-person cyberpunk action. You die in one hit and respawn instantly at the last checkpoint. The one-hit-kill loop creates the same pressure as Saros's demanding pace — you're always one mistake from starting over, and the game expects you to learn enemy patterns through failure rather than survive them. Less about build variety, more about movement and reaction. On PC and consoles.

KUTO: The Lock of Time

KUTO overlaps with Saros in demanding combat and learning enemy patterns, not in roguelike structure. It is a 2D action-platformer metroidvania built around the Rewind Key and the Scythe of Kronos.

Steam's wording: hold the Rewind Key and pull the last few seconds back. Different camera, different world, no run reset.

If that is the part of Saros you want more of, start with everything we know about KUTO: The Lock of Time or go straight to the Steam wishlist page.

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Most of these are playable right now. If you want a 2D scythe game that rewinds a few seconds instead of resetting the run, KUTO: The Lock of Time is the one to wishlist on Steam.