Don’t Have the Time to Play an MMORPG? Try These Roguelikes Instead

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games are some of the most popular games ever made and, while they have a lot of fun elements, they can sap your free time. If you enjoy the feeling of progressing in an MMO but have a hard time sticking around till the endgame, the roguelike genre might be the perfect compromise.

Many Roguelikes Have RPG Elements

If you’re chasing the feeling of building a character or growing more powerful through repetitive gameplay, roguelikes have you covered. Games like Hades and Dead Cells let you build up your character over time with permanent buffs and skills that can aid you in each respective run.

Some roguelike games even offer multiple playable classes like Enter the Gungeon, to encourage you to replay the game with different builds and explore unique abilities you missed the first time around. Meanwhile, there’s usually some kind of endgame to work toward as well (similar to an MMO), like maxing out a home base or farming gear to beat the final boss.

For those who like the RPG aspects of combat in MMORPGs, roguelikes can scratch that itch as well. Many of them still use stat-based systems to determine various aspects of combat and have buffs, debuffs, and even randomized loot and enemy drops for valuable items, similar to the Diablo games.

If you’re someone who likes the “dress-up” aspects of an MMO or enjoys customizing your character’s appearance, you may find the roguelike genre somewhat lacking. However, there are plenty of options if you’re looking for complex stat-based customization, like Caves of Qud or Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.

The First Few Hours of an MMORPG Are Always the Most Fun

If you ask me, MMORPGs are at their most fun in the first several hours as levels typically come quickly and new gear feels more powerful each time it appears. However, this can quickly taper off once you reach later levels and progress begins to plateau, requiring much more time to make meaningful progress.

Once those first few hours are up, it’s easy to find yourself overwhelmed by the amount of content in an MMO and missing the early hours when valuable gear and levels were more abundant. Before long, you might find yourself with several low-level characters and dozens of hours across each with little progress just to chase the fun of those early hours.

Instead of wasting time and making a bunch of characters to chase those first few hours, consider checking out roguelikes like Rogue Legacy or Darkest Dungeon. These games have permanent progression for characters, but the gameplay loop still starts you off from scratch each time, keeping things feeling fresh.

This way, you can experience the rush of new loot and a character progression over and over again without getting overrun with side content and distracting mechanics.

No More Stressing Over Builds

One of the biggest things that turns me off from MMOs in general is the idea that I might be making the wrong choices for a particular build. Even if the game lets me reassign points at will, I will always wonder if I’d have more fun with a different class or moveset, leading me to spend time and in-game currency on respecs.

While some MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XIV let you switch classes on the fly to try different playstyles, the most interesting abilities are often linked to high levels. This usually means you’ll have to play for quite a while before you’ll know for sure if a particular build is something you want to stick with or not.

Roguelikes such as Risk of Rain let you experiment with multiple builds across various classes with more engaging progression, especially in games with procedural generation. This means you can unlock powerful abilities fairly quickly without having to grind out a class you might not stick with, while the gameplay remains fresh.

Many Roguelikes Have Multiplayer

Playing an MMO with a friend can be fun, but it can also be stifling if you aren’t constantly playing together, as one player might fall behind in levels if they don’t play as often. Plus, a lot of MMOs have content locked behind player progression, DLC, or other restrictions that can make the multiplayer experience less than seamless.

If adventuring with friends is your primary reason for playing an MMO, you could try out any number of cooperative multiplayer roguelikes to get the same kind of feeling. Cult of the Lamb offers local multiplayer and Risk of Rain 2 has online co-op, letting you pair up with a friend to take on adventures and earn progress together.

Instead of queueing up with strangers or missing out on content, jump into something like The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and get your dungeon-crawling fix with anyone you like and cut out the nasty wait times that often come when looking for a group to raid with or play through certain content.

No More Subscriptions or Content Expansions

Playing an MMO that requires a subscription or that locks content behind new expansions can feel like a trap, as you can feel obligated to play more even if you don’t enjoy it.

Some games like Destiny 2 and Diablo 4 take the seasonal approach, putting time restrictions on certain gear and resetting certain milestones at the end of each season. Others, like World of Warcraft, require monthly subscriptions to play, which can sometimes make them feel more like an obligation rather than an experience worth the time.

A roguelike will let you play at any pace you like without the feeling of obligation that can come with paying a monthly fee or the typical live service model while offering a comparable sensation. Whether you want to play for a few hours a few times a month or just binge the same dungeons over and over for the best loot, there is no financial obligation to determine your pace.

Whether you’re someone who likes a casual dungeon crawl with friends or an action RPG you can play in short bursts, roguelikes are a great alternative to MMOs. The next time you find yourself bored of the same old tasks in your favorite MMO and just want to kill some monsters, try playing something like Returnal or Slay the Spire instead and scratch that same itch.

Finding yourself short on time to game? Check out some of the best games for short sessions.