Welcome, Dear Reader, to the latest world exclusive to grace the pages of Rogueliker! This time around, I’m delighted to be helping Standoff Games get the word out about its new action-roguelite, Drako: Blood Heist.
This top-down 2D shooter looks like it has taken a lot of inspiration from The Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon, except in this case, you’re playing a vampiric kitty called Drako, and you’re out to drain the local bloodbanks of their precious red stuff.
What I like the look of, and the reason why I was more than happy to help, is the colourful visual effects and maze-like bullet hell attack patterns.
On top of that, there looks like there is interesting gameplay variety in the form of mini-games around hacking and even lite farming mechanics – so it’s not just a straight-up shooter but rather a more balanced roguelite with meta-progression.
“Drako can be pretty frenetic at times, so the hideout acts as a palate-cleanser of sorts: take a breather before diving in again by organising your loadout and looking after your plants,” explained Chris Rowson from Standoff Games.
“Seeds collected on your heist runs can be planted and watered in the hideout, and grown into little demon sidekicks – what would a vampire cat be without his weaponised garlic?”
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!
