Rogue-like Deckbuilders

Hey all, I've been on a deckbuilder kick recently and I'm looking for suggestions on more to try out. I really love Slay the Spire and I've played Roguebook, Griftlands, Trial of Fire, Monster Train, Inscryption, and Luck Be a Landlord. What other deckbuilders would you recommend?

If I had to rank the ones I've played, I would go Slay the Spire > Monster Train > Roguebook > Luck Be A Landlord > Iscryption (it's a great game, but just an okay deckbuilder) > Griftlands > Trial of Fire.

I think you've played most of the big ones but here are some that are slight variations on the formula (and possibly not even what you're looking for):

Book of Demons is like a Diablo with you getting cards in lieu of gear. Leans more into the rogue category than deck building though. It's often on sale (and been in some humble bundles I think) though so the barrier of entry is low.

And, I know you say Rogelike in the title, but Steamworld Hand of Gilgamech is a solid deck building rpg. But it doesn't have any real rogue mechanics. But the deck building portion is really good and I found myself changing loadouts regularly before boss battles to find the right synergy.

Across the Obelisk is still in early access (and I haven't played it yet) but it looks super promising as a kind of combo Darkest Dungeon/Slay the Spire.

I haven't played Roguebook but seeing where you rank it has me excited to check it out now!

Inscryption recently had a roguelike update called "Kaycee's mod" which added replayability. I can't speak for the update itself, because I haven't played Inscryption since release. Regardless, Inscryption was my game of the year (as well as Nextlander's) so I'd recommend it even without the roguelike elements.

I've had a lot of fun with Fights in Tight Spaces, it's pretty minimalist but exploring card synergy is fun. Treat it like a strategy game and not an action game and you might enjoy it. Another game I enjoyed was Rogue Lords, which was a little title from last year I believe. It's more of an RPG roguelike than a deckbuilding/card based one, but you still upgrade abilities and have a Slay the Spire-style progression through the world.

@seveword: FITS is super good but I still haven't beaten it. Seems real difficult to get super far into it!

@besetment: Good call. I forgot to add Inscryption. I've updated the OP.

I also recommend Fights in Tight Spaces. I wasn't huge on Slay the Spire, but Fights was the second-best game I played last year.

Dicey Dungeons!! It's great.

And Solitairica on mobile

Signs of the Sojourner is a fantastic game that you should probably check out if you get tired of the battling aspect of most deckbuilders. Instead of creating a deck to fight people, you're creating a deck to have conversations with people.

You probably already own it as it was part of the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality.

These aren't roguelikes but they're some of my favorite deck building games. Made me a fan, actually.

- Steamworld Quest

- Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

It's not a card game, but Against the Storm ticks some similar boxes. It's a settlement management/chain of production thing (think a less simmy Banished or a much smaller-scale Anno) where you have a small set of core buildings and then draft the rest from packs while you're out in the field. It's all about cobbling together a solution with an incomplete set of imperfect parts and adapting a build on the fly when the situation changes. To me, that's what a run-based deck builder is all about!

i second this . i first heard of it on a waypoint podcast , but it honestly was pretty great even if not of the exact wheelhouse as the others listed.

Vault of the void is supposed to be good

Tainted Grail: Conquest is on game pass I believe. It’s a bit odd but should scratch the same itch.

I don't have any recommendations that other people haven't already mentioned, but it's worth noting that there's currently a Roguelike/Roguelite sale going on on Steam, so many of the games mentioned here are currently discounted.

@ajamafalous: ooooh, thanks for the heads up.

Come to think of it, another game that's not exactly in the Slay the Spire wheelhouse is Frost. I wouldn't say it's super combo mechanics-focused, and is instead a little more vibe-focused like Signs of the Sojourner. Frost is basically a game where you're an Arctic indigenous person trying to survive as you travel somewhere with a small tribe (I forget if you're specifically Inuit or they keep it general). It's a little more like a board game where you have resources (food, wood, companions, etc.) and you're trading one resource into another to keep your deck balanced, or consuming the resources to pass certain events or buy other cards. To its credit, it's not a Slay the Spire clone and has pretty cool art and music; also it's under $10.

There's a TON of them on mobile but I've found that most of them are far from the quality of Slay the Spire.

I'd recommend both Meteorfall and its sequel (Krumit's Tale) though (which is both on Steam and on phones). It's 50% off right now, I don't think it's the best one of those but it's an interesting take on the concept.

Balance is pretty off and overall game lacks polish but still had a lot of fun with it and glad I gave it a chance on game pass. It's weirdly dark though. A merchant sells you a rope to commit suicide and I thought, "There has to be more to this, right?" but no you just kill yourself and your run is over. Not the only cheap death you'll hit in the game either.

Have you played a slay the spire mod called Downfall? It's a mod where you play as the floor bosses. It's basically an entire game by itself. You not only get play characters with new mechanics but you also get to play versus new bosses.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1865780/Downfall__A_Slay_the_Spire_Fan_Expansion/

Neoverse is very similar to a Slay the Spire, except more... thirsty I guess?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/994220/NEOVERSE/

I played a bunch of it last year when I got it as part of the humble bundle thing.