The last 24 hours have been a good one for LocalThunk and Playstack, after their indie sensation scored big at The Game Awards 2024 with a trio of awards.
The poker-themed deckbuilder won awards for Best Mobile Game, Best Independent Game, and Best Debut Indie, which is an astonishing result for the Canadian developer, who goes by the alias LocalThunk.
NOT ONLY THAT but yesterday I noticed an update when I booted up the game just before bed. Thereafter I was happy to discover that yes indeed, there is a new Friends of Jimbo update.
Once again, it’s a hitlist of fellow indie darlings, including more of the biggest names in the business. Now you can customise your deck with card faces inspired by Divinity Original Sin 2, Shovel Knight, Enter the Gungeon, Cult of the Lamb, Don’t Starve, 1000xRESIST, Potion Craft, and Warframe!
Finally, if you’d like to know more about Balatro, which is out now on Android, iOS, PC (Mac, Win), PS, Switch, and Xbox, check out my interview with LocalThunk from earlier this year.
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Still with us? Of course you are! If you want to keep reading about great hand-picked rogues, the following articles represent a huge collection of the best roguelike games ever made.
Next, there are genre-specific lists that delve into the best roguelike games of all types. I’ve pulled out the best examples from each category, alongside the links to more in-depth articles!
The best turn-based roguelikes: Caves of Qud | There are some seriously incredible turn-based roguelikes out there. Of all the modern games, these are the closest to the original Rogue.
Awesome first-person rogues: Gunfire Reborn | We almost went with Blue Prince for this spot, but most people checking out first-person rogues probably want to wield a gun, you know?!
Cool roguelike deckbuilders: Balatro | Sorry, Slay the Spire fans, but this poker-solitaire deckbuilder has stolen Mike’s heart and won’t give it back.
Exciting roguelike platformers: Spelunky | Now, don’t get us wrong, Dead Cells is an incredible game, especially with all the DLC switched on. But when it comes to impact, you just can’t beat Spelunky.
Amazing action-roguelites: Hades 2 | And finally, let’s wrap things up with our favourite of them all. There’s no beating the original Hades, although Hades 2 comes pretty close!
