There has been a whole ton of interesting games landing in the ol’ inbox this week, and it has been impossible to keep up and give everything the sort of attention that it deserves.
So despite Gambonanza’s ongoing playtest being revealed on Monday, I only just finished checking it out today. I should have probably looked sooner, but at least it’s still available over the weekend for anyone else who is similarly late to the party.
What is Gambonanza?
In the tradition of recent games, such as Below the Crown and Passant, this new Chess-themed turn-based roguelike from indie dev Blukulélé is all about finding synergies in your inventory, and then making clever moves with your pieces on the board.
It’s the latest in a growing line of new rogues that remix one of the oldest tabletop strategy games in the world, but now with the added unpredictability of a shop full of game-changing “gambits” you can add to your loadout, giving yourself some powerful new moves.
The example in the tutorial is simple enough to explain. You’re encouraged to pick a Thunder’s Gambit, which activates whenever you take a piece with a pawn. When that happens, your opponent skips their turn, and your little pawn can move again, maybe even take again. In this manner, it’s easy to string together a series of outrageous moves that operate vaguely within the spirit of chess, but never within its traditional rules.
In between rounds, you can visit a shop, and there you can buy gambits (apparently, there are more than 150 in the full game), tokens to gamble on new pieces, and more. It’ll be a familiar set-up to anyone who has played a couple of contemporary deckbuilders, where you must grow your economy to buy better gear from the shop, so you can advance further and take on the game’s bosses.
The playtest and what’s next
The Gambonanza playtest is running until February 2nd, and you can jump in this weekend via access on the game’s Steam page. If, however, you’d prefer not to feel rushed, it’s worth noting that the game will be getting a full demo in the upcoming Next Fest at the end of February.
As well as confirming their ongoing collaboration with Sidekick Publishing and Stray Fawn, developer Blukulélé also confirmed that a mobile port of the game is on the way, too. Apparently, both versions will be dropping at the same time, although at the time of writing, all we know is that Gambonanza is coming to PC (Lin, Mac, Win) and mobile platforms at some point in Q1, 2026.
If the sound of some irreverent chess-like roguishness appeals, I suggest you check out the playtest and wishlist Gambonanza over on Steam, because it’s shaping up to be another fun entry in this burgeoning sub-genre.
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In an effort to tempt you into clicking deeper into our web of rogues, moving forward, we’re going to try something a little different, and after the upcoming advert for NordVPN, you’ll find a new feature: Rogueliker’s Hall of Fame. But first, here are a load of mega awesome roguelikes and roguelites, almost 40 of them, in fact.
Still with us? Ok, the Hall of Fame below highlights arguably the best game from each sub-category in the article linked directly above; however, each of these standout games is reinforced with another article about even more titles, whether they be turn-based roguelikes or first-person shooters.
Finally, if you’d prefer everything split into individual platforms, we’ve got you covered, too, although be warned, those lists don’t go into as much detail:
First, let’s establish the parameters for inclusion. We can answer the question of “what is a roguelike?” by telling you about the game that started this whole party. Rogue is a turn-based RPG with procedurally-generated content and permadeath. The genre has exploded in a hundred different directions since then, but all of the games on this list retain one or two core features that first appeared in Rogue back in 1980.
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!
