The Best Roguelikes on iOS and Android

[Extralife]

One game that is missing from this list is called Dungeon Keeper: Dark Lord. It is a hidden gem, and PT should try it out and review it. I only found out about the game because it held the number 1 spot in the play store while I was vacationing in Asia. To be honest, when I first tried it out I thought it was underwhelming and deleted it from my phone, as it felt like an 8-bit hentai clicker. However, I reinstalled it and gave it another chance and the real strategy shined. At its heart, it's a rogue-lite Dungeon Keeper, while the graphics won't amaze you the deep strategy will.

Next issue that might throw people off is the microtransaction. If you look at the costs alone, they are high. Yes, you can say you do not need to buy anything, and everything is unlocked in the game, but there is a grind. However, the grind in this game is somewhat required. If you buy all the microtransactions, then you miss out on learning much of the game strategy, and at higher levels, you will not understand how to build your dungeons correctly. This is different than other types of game where you pay and are competitive right away.

The best way I can describe this is to use Binding of Issac and Dead Cells as an example. In both those games, you keep doing runs, and you unlock items as you find them. So, you learn and acquire them as you play, this game is similar, but the microtransactions allow you to skip having to find them first and makes them available from the moment you purchase them. In both Issac and Dead cells that is not an option, so in reality, the microtransactions are not required and should not be used, except on successions. Successions allow you to carry over "things" to future runs this is the only way to find certain "things" because you have to craft them by joining them together. It is hard to explain without spoiling anything, but this game is full of intricacies and broad strategy.

Lastly, one more issue is this game has is it is made in Korea, and there is some translation issue, but they are usually minor annoyances. You might choose the wrong thing, and it may affect your run, but you will be making a lot of runs either way. If you look at the game with the wrong perception, it is easy to overlook the real meat of this game. FTL, Dream Quest, and Hoplite are mainstays on my phone and Dungeon Keeper will join them. Again, if you look microtransactions, graphics, or the clicker elements and get turned off, you will miss the broader aspects of the game.

[EICJoe]

Thanks for tip! Also as an FYI - there have been other suggestions in this thread as well that haven't made the update. Don't worry, we're not ignoring you... they're on the list for consideration to be rotated in. Just couldn't happen this time around.

[TheMightyHoplite]

Some additions to iOS roguelike list :
Hyper Rogue - one of the best roguelikes ever
Pathos - one of best nethack remakes
Look, Your Loot - a hybrid of Dungelot and Card Theif
Pocket Realms - cheap graphics otherwise great traditional roguelike
Rogue Cards - a good remake of Look, Your Loot

[TheMightyHoplite]

I???ve discovered a nice roguelike recently: Endless Adventure RPG.

It???s a party-based roguelike, you have 2 ~ 4 characters to go with.
And it has a vast of character development spaces, 15+ classes to master 50+ skills to learn.
The graphics are cheap but the gameplay is very addictive.

[Mirefox]

Sproggiwood!

[TheVimFuego]

Really phoning these ancient articles in these days aren’t we?

Dungeon of the Endless isn’t available on the App Store anymore, for example.

I remember when this site was a must read, days long gone, time to delete that bookmark, shame.

[EICJoe]

Really phoning these ancient articles in these days aren’t we?

Dungeon of the Endless isn’t available on the App Store anymore, for example.

I remember when this site was a must read, days long gone, time to delete that bookmark, shame.

Well, that's definitely on me for not checking but I never heard anything about it not being available on the App Store anymore. TBH it's not something I thought I had to watch out for as I assumed we were over this Appocalypse business.

"Phoning it in" is a bit harsh, but we are going to be re-posting these lists about once every 4-5 weeks. I want to avoid it being the only thing that happens in a day, for obvious reasons, but it's better than nothing going up at all which is an increasing danger these days.

I'll be sad to see you go Vim, but if you feel we're no longer relevant then I doubt anything I say will change your mind. All the best!

[ambojitsu]

I was trying out the "Community Favorites" and... holy crap, I can't believe I haven't tried Cardinal Quest (2) before. What a great game for mobile. Surprising depth and variety.

[zealfish]

I mostly mention it as it has become an (albeit modest) running gag, but FTL is still not iOS universal.

[ColeDaddy]

I'm still playing Hoplite after all these years. I just reached level 700 in the Challenge Levels and still have a long way to go