After years of waiting, the highly-anticipated turn-based squad-building survival-roguelike dungeon-crawler dark-fantasy role-playing gameDarkest Dungeon II(talk about a multihyphenate) is finally out. In a market as crowded as the roguelike genre,Darkest Dungeon IIis a standout in terms of quality, detail, and design.
Review: Darkest Dungeon II
Darkest Dungeon II builds upon great features seen in the series, while also providing new opportunities for growth.
While its core elements are not at all uncommon, there aren’t many games out there that effectively combine them as well asDarkest Dungeon II. In a sea of roguelikes, turn-based RPGs, and squad strategy games, only a few titles come to mind as worthy of comparison toDarkest Dungeon II’s high levels of captivation, perfection, and polish.
10Darkest Dungeon
Hey, it got a sequel for a reason
While the “new hotness” that isDarkest Dungeon IIis obviously fantastic, the originalDarkest Dungeonis in no way “old and busted.” The same basic structure and gameplay seen in the sequel are still here, and to this day the game not only holds up but stands out as a front-runner in the genre after all these years.
There really aren’t many games that capture the combination of darkness, strategy, survival, and fantasy like the Darkest Dungeon series does. It may seem like an obvious choice, but if you haven’t played the first installment in theDarkest Dungeonseries yet, you need to check it out ASAP.
9Inscryption
A dark and mind-bending strategy experience
Dark and scary tone? Check. Solid turn-based gameplay? Check. A fresh take on the roguelite structure? Check. WhileInscryptionmay differ in gameplay (it’s a deck-building card game), it matches Darkest Dungeon’s attention to effective strategy-centric combat, as well as its mood, mystery, and utter brutality.
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It’s honestly hard to imagine any strategy fan not getting sucked into this game, as it brings a littlesomething for everyonewhile having an incredibly gripping and captivating plot. We won’t spoil anything, but you are not ready for where the back half of this game goes (and we still haven’t fully recovered).
8Into The Breach
From the creators of indie strategy classicFTL: Faster Than LightcomesInto the Breach, a squad-based mech combat title that’s equal partsAdvance WarsandXCOM. This roguelike has players leading teams of three customizable mechs across the world, fighting off invading monsters while avoiding certain doom with dozens of starting lineups to choose from.
While playingInto the Breach, you’ll begin to notice a nearly chess-level simplicity and perfection to the design. Every level is constrained to an 8x8 grid of spaces, there’s simple but effectively massive variety in character moves, and anticipating enemy movement while keeping spatial control of the board are extremely important factors to your survival.
7Dicey Dungeons
Roll on through this roguelike
While this may be the cutest dungeon crawler around, don’t be fooled:Dicey Dungeonsis a legit strategy title. While a cartoonish roguelike based around rolling dice may sound like it falls somewhere between preschool-level easy and completely unfair and random,Dicey Dungeonscheekily disproves both of these concerns with each battle you win.
The gameplay centers around manipulating and outsmarting the RNG-centric gameplay of dice-rolling, with class-specific abilities and unique items giving characters the power to overcome the odds (or bend them to their favor). It features deck-building and RPG elements to spice up each run, along with a simple-but-effective roguelike structure. There’s loot to collect, new classes to unlock, and dungeons to explore in this cute but tough roguelike.
6Slay the Spire
A perfect deck-building dungeon-crawler
One of thebest single-player deck-builderson the market right now isSlay the Spire,the roguelike dungeon-crawler from Mega Crit. While it matchesDicey Dungeons' structure and format,Slay the Spireforgoes dice play for a tight and focused card-battling experience.
All the classic dungeon-crawler features are here (loot, classes, monsters and bosses, multi-path exploration), butSlay the Spirestands out by encouraging players to completely break the system you play in. Creating monstrous and overpowered builds is all in a day’s work in these dungeons, and unleashing gargantuan chains of combos on your foes is as fun as it gets in any card-battler, period.
The newXCOMgames made by Firaxis are all killer triple-A strategy titles (which we need to cherish, as we don’t get many of them these days) with squad combat and fog-of-war covered maps to cautiously progress through. Building your squad, running missions, making tech improvements, and perfecting your global strategy are all key to saving the world (and it is very possible you will fail to save it).
The games feature multiple classes (with even more in the DLC expansions), skill trees for each recruit, and, of course, turn-based squad combat. And the strategy on the ground is as important and deep as it is off, with critical decisions, base-building elements, and resource management all under your control. Any one of the post-rebootXCOMgames is a great choice for players looking for another roguelite strategy title.
4Circus Electrique
Darkest Dungeon meets Cirque du Soleil
If you’re looking for a game that’s exactly likeDarkest Dungeon II, this is what you’ve been looking for. While the exterior is a lot more fun and goofy than the dark fantasy world ofDarkest Dungeon, Circus Electriqueis uncannily similar in its gameplay.
LikeDarkest Dungeon, the game features 4v4 squads of uniquely-abled characters battle in turn-based fights, with combat based around left-to-right positioning and class-specific moves that encourage players to manage their team with synergy and effective focus. It isn’t entirely identical, though, andCircus Electriquechanges the formula by ditching the survival-roguelike structure and opting for a semi-linear exploration system with business management and day-night cycle mechanics to play with instead.
3Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Super-powered team-ups in turn-based strategy
Okay hear us out. Ignoring the story,Marvel’s Midnight Sunsis a great and unique triple-A strategy game. While the writing and subplots outside of combat range from boring to downright cringe-worthy, the core gameplay is super addictive and surprisingly deep.
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Players get to construct the most effective squads, deck-build for each character, train and upgrade abilities, and then use anything they can find on the field to succeed in missions. In hindsight, we should have given a developer as consistent as Firaxis a fairer shot at entering new territory, because there is no game on the market that combines explosive action, movement-based combat, and turn-based strategy quite likeMidnight Suns.
2For The King
The game so nice, they made it twice!
Both the originalFor The Kingand its sequel are perfect turn-based RPGs. While on the surface it may seem like a cute and simple role-playing game, in reality these games are absolute beasts. They feature top-to-bottom multiplayer, multiple campaigns to play through, vast worlds to explore, and tons of side quests and objectives to pursue.
The game plays like a slightly-simplified version ofDungeons & Dragons(if you want an unsimplified version, see the next entry), with turn-based combat, tabletop-style design, and plenty of dungeons to crawl. There are peaceful villages to visit, as well as dangerous crypts and dungeons to plunder. Plus, its polygon-based art style alone is just straight up charming.
1Baldur’s Gate 3
It has dungeons, and it has dragons
If you enjoyedDarkest Dungeon II,you should already be aware of the original dungeon crawler:Dungeon’s & Dragons.Baldur’s Gate 3is a video game adaptation ofDungeons & Dragons:Fifth Editionthat is so faithful to the tabletop RPG’s gameplay that it even bears an official “5E” sticker on the box.
One of the mostuniversally acclaimedtitles of the past decade,Baldur’s Gate 3is an incredibly expansive squad-based RPG that can be played with or without friends (you control the other party members if going solo), with a fantastic story and insanely diverse combat and exploration. Larian Studios has automated all the heavy-lifting of the massive collection of rules and mechanics ofD&D, allowing players to focus in on all the fun stuff.
