Gladiator-themed roguelike Bloodgrounds has received its first major Early Access update, just one month after launching on Steam.
Titled Masters of the Arena, the update introduces several features requested by Early Access players, including larger arenas, controllable camera rotation, and new arena obstacles.
It also offers players three new difficulty options: Initiate, Warrior and Champion. This was something that the devs noted was heavily influenced by player feedback, and you can see the break down for each option below.
Developer Exordium Games has confirmed that Bloodgrounds is targeting a full 1.0 release in Q1 2026, with additional content, balancing updates, and new features planned ahead of launch.
Just like many of the games we’ve been covering recently, Bloodgrounds is discounted at 25% off on Steam until 5th January.
You can check out the launch trailer for Bloodgrounds below:
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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!
