Horror climbing roguelite White Knuckle is one game we’ve been behind from the start with us even crowning it our Early Access drop of the year in our 2025 round-up.
The game is now celebrating its first anniversary in Early Access with a major update which rolls out this Friday (April 17th). The headline addition is Trinkets and Bindings which can be obtained by completing objectives and allow players to further tailor the gameplay experience to fit their preferred level of challenge.
Additionally, the update adds a newly revamped meta progression in the form of Facility Credits. These can be spent on Facility Upgrades allowing players to access new stations in each safe area as well as activate permanent buffs and cosmetics.
That’s not all, as the update also adds a new Challenge Map, new Score Calculation mechanics, and a new Competition Mode for speedrunners. In celebration of the update the devs are streaming a Developer Run Competition which can be watched here.
Kinix strapped on his climbing gear and checked out the game when it first dropped in Early Access. In his preview, he said: “The core gameplay is perfect, and I’ve not seen any bugs yet. In fact, I’m very excited for whatever Dark Machine Games has planned with new creatures and items coming, as well as more zones to explore.”
With White Knuckle approaching the summit of release, several updates have been rolled out over the past year. The AbyssUpdate landed last September and added a new biome and five powerful game-changing artefacts. Then, over Christmas, The Chimney Update introduced a new Endless Mode with a holiday theme.
You can check out the trailer for the Anniversary Update 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!
