What do you want to improve next time?
Enjoying another attempt depends on the activity within it. After defeat, one player wants better dodges and more accurate attacks. Another wants a deck whose cards work together. A third wants to read a dangerous place carefully and avoid using a useful discovery too early. These three games provide different answers to the wish to start again: Hades, Slay the Spire and Shattered Pixel Dungeon.
This collection does not promise equal difficulty or duration. Each game has its own pace and your experience affects the time involved. Avoid choosing a roguelike only because runs sound short: first make sure you enjoy its decisions. An error can then suggest another approach instead of requiring you to repeat something unpleasant simply to reach the next result.
Three starting points
Compare format and activity
| Game | Players | Mode | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hades | 1 player | Action roguelike | Improve movement and combat |
| Slay the Spire | 1 player | Deckbuilding roguelike | Build a deck that works together |
| Shattered Pixel Dungeon | 1 player | Turn-based roguelike | Understand the dangers of a dungeon |
Hades
Improve movement and combat
- Players
- 1 player
- Mode
- Action roguelike
Hades builds attempts to escape the underworld around real-time combat, weapons and gifts from the gods. Choose it if defeat makes you want to execute the next fight better. Listen to conversations between attempts too: returning home forms part of the story. Start with a weapon you enjoy so movement and decisions remain engaging.
Keep in mind: Requires real-time control and reactions. This is the original Hades, rather than Hades II.
Steam reviews: 98% positive · 309,689 reviewsData checked:
Slay the Spire
Build a deck that works together
- Players
- 1 player
- Mode
- Deckbuilding roguelike
Slay the Spire asks you to choose a route, develop a deck and combine cards with relics. A new card matters when it supports the plan you already have. Choose it if failure makes you curious about another combination. Before taking a reward, consider which problem it solves; that makes another attempt more meaningful than collecting everything.
Keep in mind: Combat is turn-based, but defeat ends the attempt. A strong combination does not guarantee a safe run.
Steam reviews: 97% positive · 219,295 reviewsData checked:
Shattered Pixel Dungeon
Understand the dangers of a dungeon
- Players
- 1 player
- Mode
- Turn-based roguelike
Shattered Pixel Dungeon builds adventures around a random dungeon, items and turn-based decisions. Consider it if spotting dangers matters more than pressing buttons quickly. Treat a first attempt as learning the rules: understand an error and change the next approach. Observing surroundings and spending discoveries carefully become skills alongside developing a character.
Keep in mind: Death ends the attempt. Pixel graphics do not imply simple rules or low difficulty.
Steam reviews: 95% positive · 2,221 reviewsData checked:
Begin with your preferred kind of decision
Choose Hades for controlling combat in real time. Consider Slay the Spire for combinations of cards and rewards. Start with Shattered Pixel Dungeon for cautious exploration and turn-based choices. There is no required order: choosing an activity you want to repeat matters more than beginning with the most famous game in a genre.
Treat your first encounter as an exploration of your own preferences. After failure, identify one cause and one thing you want to change. If irritation replaces curiosity, try another format: turn-based deckbuilding and dynamic combat can feel very different to the same person. Search from a particular game to find related choices, then include or exclude tags that matter to you. Read the explanations before assuming every returned game shares the same experience.
Repeat the selection in search
On 10 October 2026 we searched ggpick for the “roguelike” tag, limiting results to released base games with at least 80% positive Steam reviews and 1,000 reviews. From the actual results we chose three different activities and checked their official Steam pages. This is an editorial choice from our catalogue, including older releases. It neither covers the entire genre nor ranks games from best to worst. The search button repeats the conditions; results and review figures can change over time.
Find games in the catalog
Put the advice into practice with a relevant selection of games.
Frequently asked questions
Which demands fewer quick reactions?
Slay the Spire and Shattered Pixel Dungeon use turn-based decisions. Hades centres on real-time combat. A turn-based format still does not guarantee an easy victory.
Does searching for games like Hades only return roguelikes?
Search compares known genres and mechanics rather than one tag alone. Add a genre filter and read the match explanations. Limited catalogue evidence can prevent a useful comparison.