Want hours and hours of content with addictive gameplay but without all the endless wandering around open worlds? Then you’ll want a roguelike/roguelite videogame. These games tend to be dungeon crawlers with procedural worlds and a love of the grind. Constantly offering just that little bit more to keep you coming back for one more run. They’ve become increasingly popular in recent years, so here are XR Source’s best VR roguelike games.
The 7 Best VR Roguelike Games
All roguelike titles have several key traits in common. They all rely on ‘runs’ where you’ll start a session and try to get as far and unlock as much as possible. You will eventually die, usually thrown right back to the start where you’ll lose collected buffs. However, you’ll also be able to apply permanent upgrades to strengthen your character for the next run. And so the process begins all over again.
Below you’ll find titles (in no particular order) highlighting VR roguelikes from across the board. Playable across a variety of VR headsets including PC VR, PSVR and Meta Quest 2.
In Death/In Death: Unchained
An oldie but a goldie. In Death was originally released by Solfar Studios in 2018 for PC VR, before Superbright ported the title to Quest 2 as In Death: Unchained. With a biblical vibe where you battle demons and angels across a medieval fantasy world, the main hook here is its archery mechanics.
In Death supplies you with a normal bow to begin with, then as you progress you unlock a crossbow and magical arrows. Either version of the game is gorgeous to look at and the bow mechanics are excellent, so you can pick enemies off at range. There are four big worlds to try and survive, with epic boss battles as well as gate-defence game mode “Siege of Heaven”.
The Light Brigade
One of the newest titles on this list as it only arrived for Quest 2, PC VR and PSVR 2 in February, The Light Brigade is a WWII-styled roguelike. The forces of darkness have overrun the world and it is your duty as part of the Light Brigade to push back.
The Light Brigade intertwines both history and fantasy, whereby the enemies and especially weaponry are WWII-era inspired. At the same time, magic exists to aid your progress. Bullets can be enhanced with magic to lock onto targets or use magical spells to add specific buffs. Whereas the guns have to be manually reloaded, and you can choose specific classes, each with its own skills and loadouts.
Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game
If you’re after a roguelike that’s not a first-person shooter then try Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game, as you’re in space captaining a spaceship. Offering an expansive universe to explore as you hunt for the elusive ‘Ghost Signal’, you’ll encounter planet-sized creatures, hostile alien species, and gather valuable resources to conduct important research.
Mixing action, strategy and roguelike mechanics into one, your ship – the Aurora – can be upgraded to deal with dangerous foes. Find or purchase power-ups like freeze rays, and atomic missiles or you can even get help from dragon companions. Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game is a single-player game but it does feature asynchronous multiplayer. Meaning you can loot other players’ deserted ships when yo find them.
Cosmodread
The only game here to mix horror with roguelike mechanics is Cosmodread. Love films like Alien or Event Horizon, then Cosmodread is for you. Set on an abandoned spaceship hurtling back towards Earth, you need to get off this dying spaceship quickly.
Each run will change the room and corridor layout, enhancing that intense, claustrophobic feeling of terror as you scour the ship for vital parts. You’ll be able to upgrade and improve your kit to deal with the horrors that lurk in the darkness. However, preparing yourself for what lies ahead is a different matter.
Until You Fall
VR is great at physical gameplay like bows and swords and shields. Until You Fall falls into the latter, a roguelike based around melee combat. You need to think fast and react faster in this hack-and-slash action game.
With a great synth wave soundtrack, Until You Fall pits you against an assortment of knights and magic-infused monsters. Choose to wield a two-handed sword or go for dual-wielding knives for faster attacks, mix and match weapons to see which suit your style. Cast spells, augment weapons with magic and don’t forget to dodge incoming attacks in this intensely physical experience.
Compound
Giving off strong retro vibes, Compound has that 90s Doom feel wrapped around VR gameplay. Designed to be tough-as-nails for only the hardiest of VR veterans, Compound is all-out 16-bit warfare.
The definition of rinse and repeat because you will die a lot, Compound will only make you a tougher player…if you survive.
MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE
Most roguelikes feature guns quite prominently. MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE is all about guns. We’re not talking pistols and shotguns here, that’s plain old boring. If you want an almost infinitely customisable arsenal of weaponry, MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE is happy to supply it.
Take distinctive gun parts like chainguns, railguns, and pizza launchers and forge ever more ludicrous weapons by killing enemies and selecting different paths through the procedurally generated levels. The mayhem and lunacy grow continuously until either all the enemies are dead or you are.
And there you have it. That wraps up our picks of the seven best VR roguelike games! What are your thoughts? Which ones did we miss? Let us know in the comments below!
Or take a look at:
- The 7 Best VR Horror Games
- The 7 Best VR Fitness Games
- The 7 Best VR Puzzle Games
- The 7 Best VR Co-op Games
- The 7 Best VR Board Games
- The 7 Best VR Rhythm Action Games
- The 7 Best VR Shooters