Games like Hades
The three best follow-ups to Hades are Dead Cells (best-feeling combat in the genre), Slay the Spire (the buildcraft without the action) and Cult of the Lamb (runs plus a life to manage between them). The ranking below sorts ten games by which half of Hades they inherit: the hands or the heart.
Hades did two things at once: it made a roguelike where dying moves the story forward, and it made every run a build experiment that feels different by the third room. Most 'games like Hades' get you one of those halves. This list tells you which half, per game, so you do not buy the wrong one.
Every pick below is a finished game with at least a Very Positive rating on Steam. One entry is a deliberate skip — a game that shows up in every 'like Hades' thread but answers the wrong question for most people asking it.
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How we picked these
- Runs of 20–45 minutes where death costs the run, not your progress.
- Builds that change how a run plays, not just how big the numbers get.
- Meta-progress between runs — power, story, or both.
- Controls tight enough that dying feels like your fault.
- Very Positive or better on Steam, and actually out of early access.
The list
01 Dead Cells
The hands. Movement and combat feel even better than Hades — the flow of a good Dead Cells run is the genre's high-water mark. What you trade away is the heart: there is barely a story and nobody waits for you at home between runs.
02 Slay the Spire
The brain. Strip the action away and keep the part of Hades where you weigh three boons against your build — that decision, repeated for forty hours. The genre standard for a reason, and it runs on anything.
03 Cult of the Lamb
The closest to 'both halves': combat runs that feel like a lighter Hades, and between them a cult to feed, house and indoctrinate. The management half is the deeper one — expect to catch yourself doing runs just to fund the commune.
04 Hades II
The obvious answer, ranked honestly: more Hades, made by the people who made Hades, with a bigger toolkit and a witchier lead. It sits fourth only because if you are reading this list you have probably already considered it — the three above are for when you want the loop without repeating the flavour.
05 Wizard of Legend
For the build-experiment half: hundreds of spell combinations and a dash that does as much work as Zagreus'. Sessions are short and it is outstanding in local co-op — something Hades never offered.
06 Curse of the Dead Gods
Hades' structure with a risk dial bolted on: corruption stacks curses on you mid-run, and greed for treasure makes it worse. Slower, meaner combat — closer to a stamina game than to Zagreus' sprint.
07 Rogue Legacy 2
The meta-progress half, maximised. Every death rolls a new heir with new quirks, and the castle upgrade tree turns dozens of failed runs into visible power. The story is a garnish, but the 'always getting somewhere' feeling is the strongest on this list.
08 Gunfire Reborn
The loop in first person: guns instead of blades, co-op up to four, runs of half an hour. The cheapest-feeling entry visually, and the best one to play with friends who bounced off isometric action.
SKIP09 Returnal
Skip if what you loved in Hades was warmth and momentum — Returnal is cold, punishing, and a full-length run can take over an hour with no pause in sight. If you want story-through-death done right, pick Hades II; if you want a challenge, Curse of the Dead Gods punishes you faster and cheaper.
10 Enter the Gungeon
The elder of the list and still the deepest bullet-hell take on the loop. Harder and less generous than Hades — meta-progress unlocks variety, not power — so it lands with players who felt Hades eventually got too easy.
Similar but different
Hollow Knight
Not a roguelike — but the same trick of feeding you story through a hostile world that slowly opens, and combat that rewards the same read-and-punish instincts.
Vampire Survivors
The Hades build-snowball compressed to thirty minutes and one joystick. No skill expression, all drafting — dangerous in the way crisps are.
FTL: Faster Than Light
Run-based decision pressure with zero action. Each jump is a boon choice; each fight, a small crisis to manage. The granddad of every game above.
FAQ
Should I just play Hades II instead?
If you have not, yes — it is the most direct continuation and it is excellent. This list exists for the day after you finish it, or for when you want the loop with a different flavour.
What is the closest game to Hades with a real story?
Cult of the Lamb carries the most personality between runs. Nothing matches Hades' trick of advancing relationships specifically through dying — that remains its own.
Which of these is best with friends?
Gunfire Reborn for online co-op up to four; Wizard of Legend for couch co-op. Both keep the run structure intact in multiplayer.
I loved Hades but I am bad at action games. What fits?
Slay the Spire — all of the build tension, none of the reflex demand. Hades' own God Mode is also a legitimate answer; it scales difficulty down per death without switching games.
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