It’s not news that smartphones are taking over when it comes to the gaming industry and no matter how much old-school gamers don’t like this fact, more and more people are joining in the gaming world through the lens of their pocket-sized computers. Roguelike games for mobile have been picking up more and more attention because the very nature of moving around while simultaneously killing and dodging enemies is easily played on handheld devices. And it doesn’t take long to get used to it.
Every roguelike game has its own twist, perks, and hooks. For example, there are numerous best Brotato builds to be explored in that popular battle of spuds vs aliens. Some other games don’t offer that amount of diverse weapons and items but make up for that by adding new features to their games that make them uniquely fun. Keep reading and find out which 5 roguelike games we think are the best for mobile.
Tesla Force
Tesla Force is one of those progress-based roguelike games where you jump into the shoes of famous scientist and engineer Nikola Tesla and fight off Lovecraftarian, Cthulhu-like monsters, throughout the map, one level at a time. You have numerous weapons and power-ups at your disposal and every section of the city has its own goal that you need to accomplish. Sometimes that will be destroying two monster-spawning nests while at other times you might need to collect numerous parts of a machine that needs to be built.
After each stage is completed you get to pick one permanent perk that boosts your Tesla character. The more stages you complete the more powerful you are. You should keep this in mind especially before you jump into any boss levels. If you don’t think you’re powerful enough to take them on, clear a couple of more stages for additional perks.
Brotato
Brotato is a roguelike where you’re put in the shoes of various potato warriors who need to fight off the swarms of aliens that are coming at you. The map itself is always the same (no autogenerated levels with obstacles) but the weapons, items, and powerups you can get are randomized for each run. The combination of those will determine how successful your run will be.
The game has 62 unique characters in total (with DLC included) and completing the run with all of them can be quite a challenge as you will need to carefully adapt your strategy for each one. The game is pretty beginner friendly and if you’ve never tried it before you can see Brotato Beginner’s Guide for more info on one of the most fun roguelike games for mobile.
Rogue Slasher
Set in a medieval environment, this roguelike mobile game puts you in an environment where you get to interact with and fight with humans, dwarves, orcs, elves, etc. The game itself doesn’t send a swarm of enemies at you like some other roguelikes. Instead, you fight a smaller number of stronger and more dangerous enemies that you need to dodge around and poke so we can say that Rogue Slasher has some Soulslike elements to it.
As you complete quests and defeat enemies you will earn gold that you can use to unlock permanent perks (like extra HP) or new weapons. You can also switch between a melee and a ranged weapon during combat to adjust to different types of enemies. This type of game is perfect for anyone looking for a bit more of an RPG-oriented roguelike.
Wizard of Legend
Wizard of Legend puts you into a world where you are a wizard (no surprise there) who masters the powers of 4 elements — earth, air, fire, lightning, and water. As always, you will upgrade these skills as you clear more and more enemy-filled dungeons. However, before you jump in you should know that this game isn’t your usual roguelike.
The levels through which you will move and fight are often narrow corridors without that big open space that allows you to run away when danger knocks on your door. Since you will be confined to a limited space, positioning will be key as you can get killed quite easily with an array of enemy attacks.
Another key thing is that this game doesn’t have iFrames/invulnerability frames. If you’re unfamiliar, this refers to those dashing or attacking moments where your character doesn’t take damage. Developers of roguelike games for mobile don’t talk about this often but it’s a common thing among action RPG games and some other roguelikes. However, since Wizard of Legend doesn’t have this protection you need to be extra careful when dealing with enemies and especially bosses since you can get comboed easily.
If you happen to jump in Wizard of Legend and die often don’t get upset as this game is definitely made for those players who like a challenge and don’t mind grinding the same level multiple times. Some roguelike games for mobile are meant to be tough to beat and require extra dedication and skill, so if you’re a casual mobile games player choose carefully.
20 Minutes Till Dawn
Roguelike adventure with just a few colors and old-school simple graphics? Yes, that’s exactly what you will get from 20 Minutes Till Dawn and it’s going to be pretty fun! As the name says, you need to survive 20 minutes on different maps and the game becomes harder and harder as time passes.
Don’t be fooled by some online gameplay videos that you can see as this game is pretty challenging even to experienced roguelike players. Your character uses weapons that need reloading every few shots so you need to calculate that in your movement around the map. On the upper hand, the upgrades that you get as you level up are interesting and dynamic so for example instead of getting a generic “increased attack speed” or “increased damage” as boosts, you get powerful spells and weapon effects that help you clear the horde chasing you.
Roguelike Games for Mobile Played More and More
Roguelikes for mobile and PCs have become popular in recent years and it’s not without reason it seems. Busy life puts us all in circumstances where we often like to play a quick game of something instead of diving into a 3-hour-long gaming session. So, the developers of these addictively fun games have given us just the solution we needed!
The gaming world is of course filled with mobile games that have one or more roguelike elements and as you start to explore you’ll no doubt discover many more fun alternatives. Our list was created based on what we think are the best ones at the moment and we will keep track of this amusing genre in the future and bring you stories about new roguelikes that are no doubt coming.