Millions of people fell for Balatro's poker-themed roguelike loop when it came out earlier this year, and for good reason. It's instantly fun from the start, but weeks after your first race you'll still discover new strategies that turn on mini lightbulbs in your brain. So when its creator recommended two more “special” roguelikes at the ongoing Steam Next Fest event, I listened.
Ballionaire – Announcement Trailer – YouTube
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Ballionaire has already had us under control for days. Described as “the world's first autobonker game”, this roguelike is set entirely inside an original pachinko machine where you desperately try to beat the increasingly greedy money requirements. You'll press a button to make a ball fall from the top of the machine, and it will slowly accumulate money by hitting other balls on your way down. The roguelike twist is that, between rounds, you can choose between random upgrades and progressively wacky new bobs to place in the machine that could send your ball through a portal, for example, or throw it back to the top. It's just as delicious and rewarding as Balatro, and you can try its free demo on Steam.
StarVaders – Future Game Show Trailer – YouTube
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However, LocalThunk's second recommendation might be my favorite. StarVaders is obviously a variation on the iconic Space Invaders formula. The UFOs slowly fall to the bottom of the screen. You have to shoot them before they land. That kind of thing. Instead, this time, it's a tactical, grid-based, deck-building roguelike in which you must meticulously plan your movement from square to square, Into the Breach style. Cards drawn from your ever-growing deck are what determine where you can move, when you can attack, and when you can use special abilities like, say, placing three bombs on random tiles. Although StarVaders gets spicier with a risk and reward system where you can “overheat” (use more than the three cards you're normally assigned per turn) in exchange for burning that last card for the rest of the battle. It's tense, strategic and very easy to have fun. Check out their Steam demo here.
For now, check out some of the others ten best Steam Next Fest demos which you should try before the event ends.