If you have sunk a few hundred hours into Risk of Rain 2 and hit that point where nothing else quite scratches the itch, you are not alone, and the good news is the community has already done the legwork. I do not tell you what to play next based on my own taste. I go count what Risk of Rain 2 players actually recommend to each other, using the same method behind my broader best roguelike games roundup. I read 15 Reddit threads, tallied 2,546 upvotes across 66 games, and let the numbers settle the order.
What jumped out is how lopsided the top is. Gunfire Reborn ran away with first place, Roboquest was right behind it, and the single most repeated piece of advice was almost funny in how often it came up: go back and play the original Risk of Rain. After that, Crab Champions, a game where you are literally a crab with a gun, turned out to be the pick people kept calling the closest thing to the RoR2 loop.
Every vote total on this page is the sum of real upvotes from the threads people find when they search this exact question, and you can click through to any source. If you just want a fast answer, scroll down and take the quiz. One thing worth flagging up front: the threads spent real energy arguing about what even counts as a Risk of Rain-like, and a few picks such as Deep Rock Galactic got the "that is barely similar" treatment yet kept getting upvoted, so they stay, tagged a debated fit.
9 questions, matched to 66 community-ranked games.
Question 1 of 9
What carried Risk of Rain 2 for you?
Question 2 of 9
How do you want to see the action?
Question 3 of 9
Solo or squad?
Question 4 of 9
How hard do you want it?
Question 5 of 9
How should you get stronger?
Question 6 of 9
What matters most in a single run?
Question 7 of 9
Pick a weapon style:
Question 8 of 9
How long should a run go?
Question 9 of 9
Pick the vibe:
Your community-ranked match
If you have read my other guides, this part will look familiar, so feel free to skip ahead. For everyone else: I do not play 66 games and rank them by gut. I let the community data talk. Plenty of writers say "I play games, trust me." Yeah, ok. I would rather count.
I searched Google for "games like Risk of Rain 2" and the related phrasings, collected the Reddit threads that ranked, then ran the same searches directly on Reddit to catch anything Google missed. Most came from r/riskofrain and r/roguelites, with a couple from r/gamingsuggestions and r/ShouldIbuythisgame. I pulled fifteen threads spanning 2021 to this year and tallied every one of them. I left out threads scoped to a single platform, since the question here is cross-platform.
A game's total is the sum of upvotes on every comment that recommended it, including duplicate suggestions across different threads and replies that agreed with a pick. So when Gunfire Reborn pulls 72 upvotes in one thread and 44 in another, that is 116 votes toward its total before you count the rest, which is how it ended up so far ahead. Nothing here is ranked by my opinion.
Two nuances worth flagging. First, the roguelike-versus-roguelite debate ran hot in these threads, and people use the terms loosely, so I followed the votes rather than refereeing definitions. Second, I pooled obvious franchise duplicates: votes for the original Risk of Rain, Risk of Rain Returns, and "RoR1" were combined into a single Risk of Rain Returns entry, and the same went for the Spelunky and Ziggurat sequels, rather than splitting one series across several rows.
These ten came out on top across all 15 threads, ranked purely by upvotes. The names link to Steam if you want a closer look. We do not earn a cent from your purchases.
| 1 |  | Gunfire Reborn | 428 votes |
| 2 |  | Roboquest | 314 votes |
| 3 |  | Risk of Rain Returns | 290 votes |
| 4 |  | Crab Champions | 275 votes |
| 5 |  | Returnal | 138 votes |
| 6 |  | Hades | 122 votes |
| 7 |  | Enter the Gungeon | 103 votes |
| 8 |  | Noita | 101 votes |
| 9 |  | Dead Cells | 98 votes |
| 10 |  | Synthetik | 62 votes |
How the Votes Stack Up
Every total below is the sum of upvotes from each of the 15 Reddit threads that recommended the game. Each colored segment is one thread. Hover to see its contribution, or click any segment to open the source thread.
Every game the community named, sorted by votes. Sort by any column or filter by platform to narrow it down.
| #^ | Game | Votesv | Mentionsv | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gunfire Reborn | 428 | 46 | PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch |
| 2 | Roboquest | 314 | 24 | PC, Xbox |
| 3 | Risk of Rain Returns | 290 | 41 | PC, Switch, Xbox |
| 4 | Crab Champions | 275 | 29 | PC |
| 5 | Returnal | 138 | 26 | PC, PlayStation |
| 6 | Hades | 122 | 18 | PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch |
| 7 | Enter the Gungeon | 103 | 12 | PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch |
| 8 | Noita | 101 | 9 | PC |
| 9 | Dead Cells | 98 | 11 | PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, Mobile |
| 10 | Synthetik | 62 | 8 | PC |
| 11 | Binding of Isaac | 60 | 9 | PC |
| 12 | FTL: Faster Than Light | 59 | 5 | PC |
| 13 | Muck | 47 | 14 | PC |
| 14 | Deep Rock Galactic debated | 36 | 7 | PC |
| 15 | Nuclear Throne | 35 | 6 | PC |
| 16 | Vampire Survivors | 28 | 5 | PC |
| 17 | Slay the Spire | 27 | 5 | PC |
| 18 | Ziggurat | 25 | 6 | PC |
| 19 | Gatekeeper | 21 | 8 | PC |
| 20 | Megabonk | 21 | 4 | PC |
| 21 | Brotato | 21 | 2 | PC |
| 22 | Spelunky | 19 | 7 | PC |
| 23 | Elden Ring Nightreign | 19 | 4 | PC |
| 24 | Wizard of Legend | 18 | 5 | PC |
| 25 | FlyKnight | 15 | 1 | PC |
| 26 | Helldivers 2 | 13 | 2 | PC |
| 27 | Vellum | 11 | 6 | PC |
| 28 | Warden's Will | 11 | 4 | PC |
| 29 | Deadlink | 10 | 3 | PC |
| 30 | Immortal Redneck | 9 | 4 | PC |
| 31 | Path of Achra | 9 | 2 | PC |
| 32 | Nova Drift | 8 | 2 | PC |
| 33 | Rogue Soulstone | 7 | 2 | PC |
| 34 | Darktide | 6 | 1 | PC |
| 35 | Hyper Light Breaker | 5 | 3 | PC |
| 36 | Post Void | 4 | 2 | PC |
| 37 | Shoulders of Giants | 4 | 2 | PC |
| 38 | Delver | 4 | 1 | PC |
| 39 | Rogue Legacy | 4 | 1 | PC |
| 40 | Vampire Hunters | 4 | 1 | PC |
| 41 | Ravenswatch | 3 | 2 | PC |
| 42 | Streets of Rogue | 3 | 2 | PC |
| 43 | Tower of Guns | 3 | 2 | PC |
| 44 | Ultrakill | 3 | 2 | PC |
| 45 | Ember Knights | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 46 | Flinthook | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 47 | Revita | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 48 | ScourgeBringer | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 49 | UnderMine | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 50 | Voidigo | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 51 | Yet Another Zombie Survivors | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 52 | BPM: Bullets Per Minute | 2 | 2 | PC |
| 53 | Curse of the Dead Gods | 2 | 2 | PC |
| 54 | Rounds | 2 | 2 | PC |
| 55 | ArcRunner | 2 | 1 | PC |
| 56 | Endless Alice | 2 | 1 | PC |
| 57 | Go Mecha Ball | 2 | 1 | PC |
| 58 | Tiny Rogues | 2 | 1 | PC |
| 59 | Ball x Pit | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 60 | Crypt of the NecroDancer | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 61 | Get to the Orange Door | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 62 | Gigantic | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 63 | Mothergunship | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 64 | One Step from Eden | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 65 | Prey: Mooncrash | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 66 | Void Bastards | 1 | 1 | PC |
SourceGunfire Reborn was the most-recommended game across every thread I read, named in fourteen of the fifteen and racking up more raw upvotes than anything else. If you ask the Risk of Rain 2 community what to play next, this is the answer that comes up first, second, and third.
The pitch is easy to see once you play it. It is a first-person shooter built around heroes, weapons, and stacking scrolls, and the late-run power fantasy where your build snowballs into something absurd is the exact feeling RoR2 players chase. It leans more Borderlands than bullet-hell, the co-op holds up to four, and several people noted you have to learn the systems before you hit that ceiling. That curve is the one thing fans flag, but almost nobody walked it back.
SourceRoboquest finished a clear second, and the energy around it was the loudest of any game here. People did not just recommend it, they shouted it, often in all caps, usually right after praising how it feels to move and shoot. It came up in nine threads and never once with a shrug.
It is a first-person roguelite built on speed: bunny-hopping, sliding, and blasting through bright cel-shaded levels with weapons that escalate fast. Where Gunfire Reborn is about deep build theory, Roboquest is about flow, and several commenters said the gunplay matches or beats Risk of Rain 2 in the moment. It is lighter on long-term systems, but for the pure run-feel it is the community darling.
SourceThe single most consistent piece of advice in these threads was almost funny in how often it appeared: if you love Risk of Rain 2, go play Risk of Rain. The original game, now remastered as Risk of Rain Returns, was suggested in twelve of the fifteen threads, and people kept pointing out it shares the exact DNA that makes the sequel special.
It is a 2D side-scroller rather than a third-person shooter, but the loop is identical: scour each stage, hit the teleporter, and watch the difficulty climb on a clock while your items stack into something ridiculous. Returns adds new survivors, a proper multiplayer revamp, and quality-of-life that the 2013 original lacked. Several people said individual items feel more impactful here than in the sequel, which is high praise from a crowd that lives in RoR2.
SourceCrab Champions has the funniest pitch on this list and the most surprising track record behind it. Yes, you are a crab with a gun. People kept admitting they wrote it off as a joke cash-in, then sank a hundred hours into it, and it landed fourth on sheer volume of converts.
Under the silly shell it is a third-person shooter roguelite with island-hopping runs, big movement, and a power curve that ramps endlessly, which is exactly why RoR2 players kept calling it the closest match to that core loop. It is made by the creator of the Crab Rave video, it is still in early access, and a few people noted the difficulty curve is steeper than RoR2. Even so, it was the single most-named answer to the question of what actually feels like Risk of Rain 2.
SourceReturnal was the recommendation people reached for when someone wanted the third-person shooter feel of Risk of Rain 2 with a much bigger budget behind it. It showed up in eleven threads, often described as a fusion of RoR2 and Hades, and just as often with a sigh about the price and the platform.
It is a high-end third-person roguelite set on a hostile alien planet, with dense bullet-hell combat, weapons that feel fantastic, and a story that loops back on itself. The Tower of Sisyphus mode gives it the endless climb that RoR2 fans want. The catch is that it started as a PlayStation 5 exclusive and is pricey, though the PC version has widened the door. Several people called it one of the best games they have ever played.
SourceHades came up in roughly a third of the threads, usually from someone a little surprised they had to scroll so far to find it. It is not a third-person shooter, so it is a half-step away from RoR2 mechanically, but the build variety and the addictive one-more-run pull put it firmly in the conversation.
It is an isometric hack-and-slash where every death advances the story and every run hands you a fresh stack of boons to combine. Players coming off Risk of Rain 2 singled out the way dying actively makes you stronger, both through the meta-progression and through learning the systems. It is the most polished game here by a distance, which is exactly why it keeps getting named even when the question is about shooters.
SourceEnter the Gungeon was the most-named pick once people accepted that not everything has to be 3D. It is a top-down twin-stick rather than a third-person shooter, but it is shooter roguelike to its bones, and RoR2 players kept reaching for it when they wanted that gun-first feel.
Everything in it is gun-themed, from the enemies to the bosses to the loot, and the combat is a dense bullet-hell built around dodge-rolling through walls of fire. It is harder and more pattern-driven than Risk of Rain 2, which is exactly what its fans love about it, and it pairs naturally with Neon Abyss or a similar pick if you want variety in the same lane.
SourceNoita was the pick for players who wanted the single thing RoR2 does best, the moment a run breaks wide open, pushed to an extreme. It came up in four threads but with unusual intensity, always with the same two-part warning: it is much harder to get there, and the payoff is much, much bigger.
It is a pixel-physics sandbox where every pixel is simulated and you craft wands by chaining spells into combinations the developers clearly never fully tested. The build potential is genuinely staggering, which is why the broken-build crowd loves it, but the difficulty is no joke and wins can take dozens of hours to earn. If a maxed RoR2 run is your favorite feeling in gaming, Noita is the deepest version of it here.
SourceDead Cells was the go-to when someone wanted a different shape of the same endless loop, named across five threads and often by people who had poured RoR2-level hours into it. It even shares crossover costumes with Risk of Rain 2, which says something about how closely the two communities overlap.
It is a 2D side-scrolling action roguelite with some of the most responsive controls in the genre, a huge weapon pool, and persistent unlocks that keep you inching forward even on a bad run. It is melee-led rather than a shooter, and it is genuinely tough, but the moment-to-moment combat is so clean that it kept landing on these lists anyway.
SourceSynthetik rounded out the top ten as the choice for players who care most about guns as systems. It was named across five threads, always by people who clearly loved how deep its shooting goes, and often in the same breath as Nuclear Throne for the top-down crowd.
It is an isometric shooter roguelite with genuinely unique weapon handling, where reloading, jamming, and managing each gun is part of the skill, layered over six classes and a wall of items, variants, and upgrades. It is hard, and it is not trying to be friendly, but the road to a god-tier weapon hits the same nerve as building an unstoppable RoR2 loadout. Fans describe shredding rooms of robots and never getting tired of it.
Gunfire RebornRoboquestThese two finished first and second, and they are the FPS roguelites people most often weigh against each other when picking just one.
| Category | Gunfire Reborn | Roboquest |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Deep scroll and weapon builds | Movement and gunfeel |
| Pace | Methodical power-scaling | Fast and flow-driven |
| Co-op | Up to four players | Two players |
| Learning Curve | Needs game knowledge to break open | Easy to pick up |
| Best For | Theorycrafters chasing broken builds | Players who want pure run-feel |
Gunfire Reborn rewards system mastery; Roboquest wins on raw movement and gunfeel.
Crab ChampionsRisk of Rain ReturnsThe two picks fans most often call the closest thing to Risk of Rain 2, one in 3D and one in 2D. If you want the core loop, this is the decision.
| Category | Crab Champions | Risk of Rain Returns |
|---|---|---|
| View | Third-person 3D | 2D side-scroller |
| Loop | Island-hopping, endless scaling | Stage-to-teleporter on a clock |
| State | Early access, still growing | Finished remaster of the original |
| Price | About twenty dollars | About fifteen dollars |
| Best For | The closest 3D match to RoR2 | The franchise roots, done right |
Crab Champions is the closest 3D match; Risk of Rain Returns is the surest bet for franchise fans.
ReturnalHadesPlayers kept describing Returnal as a fusion of Risk of Rain 2 and Hades, so the two are worth lining up directly.
| Category | Returnal | Hades |
|---|---|---|
| Combat | Third-person bullet-hell shooting | Isometric melee and casts |
| Budget | Blockbuster production | Indie polish, top of its class |
| Progression | Light, run-driven | Heavy meta-progression |
| Price | Full price | About twenty-five dollars |
| Best For | The shooter feel with a big budget | Build variety and a story that pulls you on |
Returnal is the shooter spectacle; Hades is the cheaper, deeper replay loop.
Risk of Rain 2 sits right on the fault line, and these threads argued about it constantly. A strict roguelike resets you to zero on death, while a roguelite lets some progress carry over. Risk of Rain 2 unlocks new survivors and items permanently but does not let you bank raw power between runs, so people genuinely cannot agree which bucket it belongs in. That blurriness shapes the whole list: most picks here, Hades, Dead Cells, and Returnal included, are roguelites by the strict definition, while a few such as Noita lean closer to a true roguelike. I followed how the community actually talks rather than policing the label. If you want the full breakdown, I wrote a dedicated roguelike vs roguelite guide.
By community votes, Gunfire Reborn is the clear number one, named in fourteen of the fifteen threads. Roboquest finished a close second on raw enthusiasm, and both are shooter roguelites built around the same get-absurdly-overpowered payoff that defines a good Risk of Rain 2 run.
Crab Champions, oddly enough. Players repeatedly called the crab-with-a-gun roguelite the nearest match to RoR2, with island-hopping runs, big movement, and endless scaling. Roboquest is the closest pick on pure gunfeel, and the original Risk of Rain shares the exact looping, item-stacking DNA.
Yes. Gunfire Reborn supports up to four players, Roboquest does two, and Deep Rock Galactic and Helldivers 2 came up often for groups who care more about co-op than about a strict roguelite structure.
Roboquest and Gunfire Reborn are the two FPS roguelites the community recommends most, with Deadlink, Immortal Redneck, and Ziggurat as deeper cuts. If you want third person instead, Crab Champions and Returnal are the picks.
It is debated, which is half the fun. It permanently unlocks survivors and items but does not let you carry raw power between runs, so it sits between the two. Most players just call it a roguelite and use the terms loosely, which is how this list treats them.
Start with the original, now remastered as Risk of Rain Returns, since it shares the core loop. From there, Gunfire Reborn and Roboquest are the most-recommended next steps, and Crab Champions is the closest 3D match.
If you came for roguelikes, these community-ranked roundups and tier lists are the natural next stops.
Vote totals compiled from public Reddit threads. Quotes belong to their original authors. Game names and cover art remain the property of their respective developers.
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