If you have read any of my other guides, you know the drill: I do not tell you what the best roguelikes on Xbox are, I go count what the community already decided. It is the same method I used for my broader best roguelike games roundup, just narrowed to what you can actually play on Series X and S. I read 14 Reddit threads, tallied 3,698 upvotes across 77 games, and let the numbers sort themselves out. Dead Cells edged out Slay the Spire for the top spot, which is not how this usually goes.
Plenty of game writers will tell you they played everything and you should just trust them. Yeah, ok (I hate that). I would rather show my work, so every vote total on this page is the sum of real upvotes from the threads people actually find when they search this exact question, and you can click straight through to the source on any of them.
If you just want a recommendation and do not care how the sausage gets made, scroll down and take the quiz. One thing worth flagging up front: most of this list is technically roguelites, not strict roguelikes, and the Xbox crowd does not draw a hard line between the two. Vampire Survivors in particular set off a real "is this even a roguelike" argument, so I left it in and tagged it a debated fit, because the upvotes kept rolling in regardless.
10 questions, matched to 77 community-ranked games.
Question 1 of 10
What kind of run are you in the mood for on Xbox?
Question 2 of 10
How do you want to deal damage?
Question 3 of 10
How long should a single run last?
Question 4 of 10
How do you feel about getting permanently stronger between runs?
Question 5 of 10
Where do you land on difficulty?
Question 6 of 10
What art style pulls you in?
Question 7 of 10
Are you playing solo or with someone?
Question 8 of 10
How much do you want to think?
Question 9 of 10
Does it matter that it is on Game Pass?
Question 10 of 10
Pick the vibe that sounds best right now:
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 77 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 "best roguelikes on Xbox" 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/XboxSeriesX, r/XboxGamePass, r/roguelites, and r/xbox. I pulled 16 threads, dropped two that were too incomplete to count fairly, and tallied the remaining 14. I left out threads scoped to a different platform, like Switch-only or PlayStation-only asks, since this list is about Xbox.
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 if Dead Cells picks up 96 upvotes in one thread and 33 in another, that is 129 votes toward its total before you even count the rest. Nothing here is ranked by my opinion.
Two nuances worth flagging. First, most of this list is roguelites, not strict roguelikes, and the Xbox crowd uses the terms loosely, so I followed the votes rather than policing definitions. Vampire Survivors got the loudest "that is not a roguelike" pushback but kept getting upvoted, so it stays, tagged a debated fit. Second, I pooled obvious franchise duplicates: Risk of Rain, Rogue Legacy, Monster Train, and Spelunky votes were each combined into one entry rather than split across sequels.
These ten came out on top across all 14 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 |  | Dead Cells | 359 votes |
| 2 |  | Slay the Spire | 338 votes |
| 3 |  | Vampire Survivors | 235 votes |
| 4 |  | Hades | 223 votes |
| 5 |  | Roboquest | 179 votes |
| 6 |  | Binding of Isaac | 152 votes |
| 7 |  | Brotato | 151 votes |
| 8 |  | Neon Abyss | 140 votes |
| 9 |  | Monster Train | 139 votes |
| 10 |  | Enter the Gungeon | 117 votes |
How the Votes Stack Up
Every total below is the sum of upvotes from each of the 14 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.
| Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dead Cells | 168 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 28 | 13 | 55 | 38 | 7 | 359 | ||||
| Slay the Spire | 91 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 15 | 101 | 7 | 7 | 33 | 35 | 14 | 7 | 338 | ||
| Vampire Survivors | 65 | 59 | 78 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 235 | ||||
| Hades | 29 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 34 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 90 | 10 | 223 | |||
| Roboquest | 67 | 9 | 16 | 2 | 23 | 10 | 4 | 43 | 5 | 179 | |||||
| Binding of Isaac | 64 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 22 | 21 | 152 | |||||
| Brotato | 107 | 15 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 151 | |||||||
| Neon Abyss | 67 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 36 | 140 | |||||||
| Monster Train | 68 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 139 | |||||
| Enter the Gungeon | 13 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 39 | 117 |
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 | Dead Cells | 359 | 47 | PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation, Mobile |
| 2 | Slay the Spire | 338 | 64 | PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation, Mobile |
| 3 | Vampire Survivors debated | 235 | 34 | PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation, Mobile |
| 4 | Hades | 223 | 62 | PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation, Mobile |
| 5 | Roboquest | 179 | 35 | PC, Xbox |
| 6 | Binding of Isaac | 152 | 34 | PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation |
| 7 | Brotato | 151 | 21 | PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation, Mobile |
| 8 | Neon Abyss | 140 | 17 | PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation |
| 9 | Monster Train | 139 | 31 | PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation |
| 10 | Enter the Gungeon | 117 | 28 | PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation |
| 11 | Moonlighter | 111 | 15 | PC, Xbox |
| 12 | Gunfire Reborn | 102 | 20 | PC, Xbox |
| 13 | Balatro | 101 | 26 | PC, Xbox |
| 14 | Risk of Rain 2 | 94 | 29 | PC, Xbox |
| 15 | Cult of the Lamb | 90 | 11 | PC, Xbox |
| 16 | Loop Hero | 89 | 3 | PC, Xbox |
| 17 | Rogue Legacy 2 | 82 | 24 | PC, Xbox |
| 18 | Streets of Rogue | 64 | 5 | PC, Xbox |
| 19 | Ball x Pit | 60 | 10 | PC, Xbox |
| 20 | Curse of the Dead Gods | 58 | 9 | PC, Xbox |
| 21 | Returnal | 55 | 8 | PC, Xbox |
| 22 | Children of Morta | 53 | 8 | PC, Xbox |
| 23 | Going Under | 49 | 5 | PC, Xbox |
| 24 | Halls of Torment | 46 | 9 | PC, Xbox |
| 25 | Atomicrops | 41 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 26 | Inscryption | 34 | 8 | PC, Xbox |
| 27 | Against the Storm | 29 | 4 | PC, Xbox |
| 28 | Hades II | 27 | 7 | PC, Xbox |
| 29 | Wildfrost | 26 | 8 | PC, Xbox |
| 30 | Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor | 26 | 5 | PC, Xbox |
| 31 | Darkest Dungeon | 25 | 9 | PC, Xbox |
| 32 | Roguebook | 25 | 9 | PC, Xbox |
| 33 | Clover Pit | 24 | 5 | PC, Xbox |
| 34 | Spelunky 2 | 23 | 10 | PC, Xbox |
| 35 | UnderMine | 23 | 8 | PC, Xbox |
| 36 | Nuclear Throne | 22 | 5 | PC, Xbox |
| 37 | Sworn | 21 | 6 | PC, Xbox |
| 38 | Wizard of Legend | 18 | 7 | PC, Xbox |
| 39 | Absolum | 17 | 3 | PC, Xbox |
| 40 | Dicey Dungeons | 15 | 3 | PC, Xbox |
| 41 | Ravenswatch | 14 | 8 | PC, Xbox |
| 42 | The Rogue Prince of Persia | 14 | 4 | PC, Xbox |
| 43 | Army of Ruin | 13 | 7 | PC, Xbox |
| 44 | Skul: The Hero Slayer | 13 | 6 | PC, Xbox |
| 45 | Go Mecha Ball | 12 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 46 | Into the Breach | 11 | 3 | PC, Xbox |
| 47 | TMNT: Splintered Fate | 9 | 5 | PC, Xbox |
| 48 | Soulstone Survivors | 9 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 49 | Have a Nice Death | 9 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 50 | Hellclock | 9 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 51 | Noita | 9 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 52 | Astral Ascent | 8 | 5 | PC, Xbox |
| 53 | Void Bastards | 7 | 5 | PC, Xbox |
| 54 | Dreamscaper | 7 | 3 | PC, Xbox |
| 55 | Lost in Random: The Eternal Die | 7 | 3 | PC, Xbox |
| 56 | Tainted Grail: Conquest | 7 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 57 | Across the Obelisk | 5 | 3 | PC, Xbox |
| 58 | Griftlands | 5 | 3 | PC, Xbox |
| 59 | 33 Immortals | 4 | 3 | PC, Xbox |
| 60 | Blue Prince | 4 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 61 | Deadzone Rogue | 4 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 62 | Immortal Redneck | 4 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 63 | Peglin | 4 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 64 | Prey: Mooncrash | 4 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 65 | Vagante | 4 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 66 | ReVita | 3 | 2 | PC, Xbox |
| 67 | Endless Dungeon | 3 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 68 | 9 Kings | 2 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 69 | Crown Trick | 2 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 70 | Despot's Game | 2 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 71 | Cobalt Core | 1 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 72 | Fury Unleashed | 1 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 73 | Heroes of Hammerwatch | 1 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 74 | Shogun Showdown | 1 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 75 | Star of Providence | 1 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 76 | Warm Snow | 1 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
| 77 | West of Dead | 1 | 1 | PC, Xbox |
SourceDead Cells finished first on this list, and it was not close. It took the top spot in the headline 'Best Roguelikes on Xbox x/s' thread and kept showing up everywhere else, which tells you the Xbox crowd treats it as the default answer to this exact question.
What people keep coming back to is the feel. The movement and combat are quick and responsive in a way most games in the genre never reach, the weapon pool is huge, and the carried-over unlocks mean you are always inching forward even on a run that ends badly. It is a roguelite, not a strict roguelike, and a few commenters bounced off the boss fights, but the volume of love it got drowned that out.
SourceSlay the Spire is the most-mentioned game on this entire list, named in twelve of the fourteen threads I read. It did not always win the raw vote on a given thread, but nothing else came up as consistently, which is why it sits at number two and arguably has the strongest claim to the broadest appeal.
It is the rare pick that satisfies both the card-game crowd and people who normally never touch deck-builders. Runs are self-contained, the four characters play completely differently, and the Ascension ladder keeps the difficulty climbing long after your first win. If you have Game Pass, it has rotated through, which is how a lot of the Xbox commenters got hooked in the first place.
SourceVampire Survivors landed third, which is a little funny given how many people argued it should not be here at all. A handful of commenters insisted it is not really a roguelike, and the genre debate around it was the liveliest on any thread I read. The community kept upvoting it anyway, so it stays, flagged as a debated fit.
The case for it is simple: it is five dollars, it is on Game Pass, and the gameplay loop where you barely aim while the screen fills with carnage is shockingly hard to put down. It is the game people recommend to a friend who says they do not have time for roguelikes, right before that friend loses a weekend to it.
SourceHades came in fourth on votes but was named in eleven of fourteen threads, and the tone around it is different from anything else here. People do not just recommend it, they warn you about it, as in do not play this if you want other roguelites to still feel good afterward.
It earns that reputation with combat that is tighter than its peers, a boon system that makes every run a fresh build puzzle, and a story that actually advances each time you die. Strictly speaking it is a roguelite because of all the meta-progression, but it is also the most polished game on this list, and on Xbox it has spent time on Game Pass to boot.
SourceRoboquest was the breakout of these threads. It is not as famous as the games above it, yet it cracked the top five on sheer enthusiasm, and almost every mention came with some version of 'why does nobody talk about this.' It is also free on Game Pass, which removed the only barrier most Xbox players had.
It is one of the few first-person shooter roguelites out there, with a bright Borderlands-ish look, a heavy emphasis on movement, and gunplay that people single out as the best-feeling part. It also has co-op with crossplay, which is why it kept appearing in the multiplayer-focused threads too.
SourceThe Binding of Isaac, almost always meaning the Rebirth and Repentance versions, is the game the purists in these threads kept pointing to as THE roguelike. It landed sixth on votes but earned some of the most emphatic single comments, the all-caps 'cannot recommend it enough' kind.
Its pitch is depth and longevity. The item pool is so large that players with hundreds of hours still find combinations they have not seen, and the procedurally generated floors keep runs unpredictable. The dark, scatological theming is not for everyone, and the sheer number of items is daunting at first, but nothing here offers more raw content per dollar.
SourceBrotato rode one enormous comment to seventh place. A single 40-upvote post named it alongside Balatro, and the rest of the Xbox crowd piled on with personal hour counts that border on confessional. It is on Game Pass, it costs about five dollars otherwise, and it is the most-cited 'silly little game that ate my life' pick here.
Where Vampire Survivors is open-field auto-attacking, Brotato is tighter and more deliberate: short waves, a shop between each one, and a roster of wildly different characters that change how you build. The runs are quick, the loop is moreish, and local co-op is on the way, which kept it coming up in the couch-play conversations.
SourceNeon Abyss is the surprise of the list. It finished eighth, almost entirely on the strength of people who were shocked it had not already been mentioned, with a steady drumbeat of 'don't see it talked about much, but it rules.' It has spent time on Game Pass, which is where most of the Xbox recommendations came from.
It is a run-and-gun platformer where items stack on top of each other until your character turns into a screen-clearing mess of effects, pets, and bullets. It is more about chaotic momentum than careful planning, which makes it an easy palate cleanser between the heavier games on this list.
SourceMonster Train is the other deck-builder that the Xbox threads would not stop bringing up, almost always in the same breath as Slay the Spire. It finished ninth, and a real chunk of its votes came from people arguing it is actually the better of the two, which is about as strong an endorsement as a card game gets.
Instead of one path, you defend a train across multiple vertical floors at once, mixing two clans per run for a huge range of combos. People describe it as less random and more content-rich than its rival, and the recently released sequel got named as a game of the year pick more than once.
SourceEnter the Gungeon rounds out the top ten, and it is the pick with the most diehard loyalty. It topped the 'favorite roguelike for console' thread outright and got called an all-timer and a top-three-ever more than once, even by people who admitted it took a while to click.
Everything in it is gun-themed, from the enemies to the bosses to the loot, and the combat is a dense top-down bullet-hell built around dodge-rolling through walls of fire. It is harder and less forgiving than most of this list, which is exactly why its fans love it, though a few people admitted it never quite scratched the itch for them.
Dead CellsHadesThese two finished first and fourth, and they are the action-roguelite picks people most often weigh against each other when they only want to buy one.
| Category | Dead Cells | Hades |
|---|---|---|
| View | 2D side-scrolling platformer | Isometric hack-and-slash |
| Run Feel | Speed and weapon flow | Boon builds and bosses |
| Story | Light, atmospheric | A full narrative that advances |
| Difficulty | Steep, movement-driven | Eased by meta-progression |
| Best For | Players chasing pure combat feel | Players who want polish and a story |
Dead Cells is the tighter pure-action high; Hades is the more polished, story-driven on-ramp.
Slay the SpireMonster TrainThe two deck-builders the Xbox threads argued about most, often in the same comment. If you want one card game, this is the decision.
| Category | Slay the Spire | Monster Train |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | One path up the spire | Defend multiple floors at once |
| Build | One deck, one character | Two clans mixed per run |
| Randomness | Swingier RNG | More content, less random per fans |
| Learning Curve | Gentle, genre-defining | Steeper, more moving parts |
| Best For | Your first deck-builder | Graduating to something deeper |
Start with Slay the Spire; move to Monster Train when you want more knobs to turn.
Vampire SurvivorsBrotatoThe two cheap survivor games that came up constantly, usually with someone insisting one is clearly better than the other.
| Category | Vampire Survivors | Brotato |
|---|---|---|
| Movement | Open field, auto-attack | Tight arena waves |
| Pacing | Continuous swarm | Wave, then shop, repeat |
| Decisions | Fewer, evolution-focused | More, every shop phase |
| Price | About five dollars | About five dollars |
| Best For | Brain-off swarm clearing | Tighter, snappier sessions |
Vampire Survivors is the relaxed swarm; Brotato is the punchier, more deliberate cousin.
Strictly speaking, a roguelike resets you to zero every time you die, while a roguelite lets you carry some progress between runs. By that definition, most of this list, Hades, Dead Cells, and Vampire Survivors included, are roguelites. The Xbox players in these threads rarely made the distinction, and honestly neither does the way people search, so this ranking reflects how the community actually talks. If you want the full breakdown, I wrote a dedicated roguelike vs roguelite guide.
By community votes, Dead Cells took the top spot, narrowly ahead of Slay the Spire. Dead Cells won on the strength of its fast, fluid action, while Slay the Spire was the single most widely recommended game overall, appearing in 12 of the 14 threads.
Several top picks rotate through Game Pass, including Slay the Spire, Vampire Survivors, Brotato, Roboquest, and Monster Train. Roboquest in particular got recommended again and again specifically because it is free with the subscription.
Mostly roguelites. Hades, Dead Cells, Brotato, and Vampire Survivors all carry progress between runs, which makes them roguelites by strict definition. Xbox players use the terms interchangeably, so this list follows the votes rather than the dictionary.
Vampire Survivors and Brotato are the easiest on-ramps, both cheap and almost effortless to pick up. Hades is the best gateway if you want a bit more depth and a story to pull you along.
Slay the Spire is the consensus pick and the genre benchmark. Monster Train was the close runner-up, with a vocal group of players arguing it is actually the better of the two.
It is debated. Several commenters argued it is a survivor game with fixed maps, not a true roguelike. Others pointed out it has procedural runs and permadeath. The community kept upvoting it either way, so it stays on this list flagged as a debated fit.
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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