The Best Roguelike Games to Play
The roguelikes worth your time, from the genre's gold standard to its weirdest experiments — plus a time-bending newcomer worth watching.
The Blog
Field notes from a breaking timeline
Guides to rewind mechanics, Jokoan Kuto's story, and where KUTO: The Lock of Time sits among time-bending action-platformers.
Best Roguelike Metroidvania Games
The hybrid genre that fuses roguelike runs with Metroidvania maps — the games that nail it, and one upcoming pick built around time.
Time loop games that fight back, not just reset
Stuck in a loop, learning a little more each cycle. The games that turn the time loop into a whole genre — plus one rewind Metroidvania that does not reset the run.
Bullet time games where slow-mo changes the fight
Slow the world to a crawl and weave through gunfire. The games that made bullet time iconic — plus one upcoming Metroidvania whose time mechanic is rewind, not slow-mo.
Game Feel: What Makes Combat Feel Good
Why one game's sword swing feels amazing and another's feels like waving a stick. The invisible craft of game feel, and what makes combat satisfying.
Games Like Dead Cells: 6 That Keep the Combat Speed
Loved Dead Cells? Here are the games that nail the same fast, brutal roguelike combat and run-based loop — plus one built around time.
Games Like Hades: 13 Roguelikes to Play Next
Loved Hades? Here are 13 action roguelikes that scratch the same itch — fast combat, a run-based loop, gods to kill — plus which run on mobile and the closest alternative.
Games Where You Can Stop Time: Superhot to Katana Zero
Freeze the clock and move while the world holds still. The games that make stopping time the whole point — plus one rewind Metroidvania that does not freeze.
Roguelikes Built on Myth: Gods and Titans
Death you repeat, gods who watch, fate you fight against. Why myth and the roguelike loop were made for each other.
Procedural Generation in Games: How It Works
How games build levels, loot, and whole worlds from algorithms instead of hand-placing every room — the types, the algorithms behind them, and why it powers roguelikes and Minecraft.
Roguelike vs Roguelite vs Metroidvania, Explained
Three words people use interchangeably and shouldn't. Here's what roguelike, roguelite, and Metroidvania each mean — and how games fuse them.
The Five Time Keys — KUTO design notes
Older design notes on a five-key kit. The current Steam build of KUTO ships one time mechanic: the Rewind Key. Treat the rest as planned.
KUTO: The Lock of Time — story, combat, Steam
A 2D action-platformer metroidvania built around rewinding time. Jokoan Kuto, the Scythe of Kronos, the Rewind Key.
The Lore of KUTO: Kronos and the Gods
An outcast left for dead, saved by the titan of time himself. The story behind KUTO: The Lock of Time, and the bond that arms him against the gods.
Games where you rewind time — not checkpoint, rewind
Undo a fall, replay a bad choice, rewind a fatal hit. Ten games where pulling time backwards is either a safety net, a puzzle tool, a story mechanic, or all three.
Upcoming Metroidvania Games in 2026
The Metroidvanias worth watching in 2026, from the big sequels everyone's waiting on to the indies flying under the radar.