Best Indie RPGs With Dungeon-Crawling

Key Takeaways

• Dungeon crawlers blend hack-and-slash combat, loot, RPG systems, and puzzles, making them a perfect fit for the genre.
• Indie games like Barony provide diverse dungeon-crawling experiences with different character classes and challenges.
• Games like Tiny Rogues offer a minimalist but engaging dungeon-crawling experience with RPG elements and arcade combat.

Dungeon crawlers typically feature hack-and-slash combat, occasional puzzles, plenty of loot, and labyrinthine exploration, stemming from the world of tabletop role-playing games. This gameplay loop tends to fit perfectly with RPGs.

While there are a variety of indie games that feature dungeon-crawling, not all of them feature RPG systems. These games, however, offer a variety of dungeon-crawling experiences alongside RPG character progression.

Games that are not purely RPGs but that have RPG elements in them will also be considered.

8 Barony

A First-Person Roguelike Dungeon-Crawl

Barony is a roguelike dungeon-crawling RPG that tasks players with battling through dungeons from a first-person perspective. The game features deadly traps, a variety of enemies, and a broad ensemble of character classes, resulting in a diverse experience.

As an action roguelike, Barony is a naturally tough experience; being killed by traps can be especially frustrating. However, players that enjoy first-person dungeon-crawlers and roguelikes in the same breath should find plenty to love with Barony, and the game even features online co-op to boot.

7 Guild Of Dungeoneering

Top-Down Dungeon-Crawling With A Unique Twist

• Platform(s): PC
• Released: 2015
• Developer(s): Gambrinous
• Genre: Roguelike Deckbuilder

Guild Of Dungeoneering is a unique combination of roguelike deck-builders and dungeon-crawling RPGs, with a scratchy hand-drawn art style that offers a distinctive look. Rather than having the player battle through each dungeon manually, Guild Of Dungeoneering tasks players with building the dungeon itself.

This added twist provides a puzzle-like gameplay loop that’s equal parts strategic and relaxing. While it’s not the most complex experience, and the game can get somewhat repetitive, Guild Of Dungeoneering is a lighthearted dungeon-crawler that’s perfect for short play sessions.

6 Tiny Rogues

A Minimalist Dungeon-Crawling Roguelite Perfect For Beginners

Tiny Rogues is an action-packed roguelite with a minimalist visual style and a focus on arcade top-down combat. The game’s visuals may be simplistic, but they help to keep the bullet-Hell action readable, preventing frustration and keeping the emphasis on skill.

Although Tiny Rogues is a roguelite, it features a variety of RPG elements, classes, and Soulslike trappings, such as a dodge roll and stamina system. All this is to say that Tiny Rogues is a unique experience, and the distilled dungeon-crawling loop is perfect for beginners, offering simple but engaging decision-making to intersperse the arcade action.

5 Darkest Dungeon

A Hardcore Strategic Dungeon-Crawler With A Gothic Style

Fans of strategy RPGs and roguelikes will likely get a kick out of Darkest Dungeon, a game that combines resource management and tactical turn-based combat with a hand-drawn Gothic art style and grim-dark tone. Players should be warned, however, that Darkest Dungeon can be a tremendously challenging game, and it isn’t afraid to kick the player while they’re down, but the juice is certainly worth the squeeze.

The sheer variety of character classes and the interactions that they have with each other keep party management an engaging task, and the diversity of the dungeons and the enemies within ensures the gameplay rarely feels stale. All in all, fans of strategy games and Gothic art styles who aren’t afraid to tackle a challenge are more than likely to enjoy Darkest Dungeon.

4 For The King

An Undemanding Strategy RPG Roguelike

For The King is a roguelike RPG that combines open-world exploration on a hexagonal grid with old-school, party-based dungeon-crawling. The game features a unique turn-based combat system that combines luck-based dice rolling with strategic decisions and resource management, resulting in an easy-to-learn system that remains engaging.

One of For The King’s greatest strengths is the addition of online co-op, allowing each player to take control of one or more characters in the party, elevating the experience by incorporating teamwork into the loop. The variety of classes, items, enemies, and bosses also ensures For The King is a replayable experience.

3 Dark And Darker

This extraction RPG tasks players with delving into dark, dangerous dungeons packed with a variety of monsters and fellow adventurers alike, scavenging for loot while attempting to stay alive long enough to extract. Dark And Darker features relatively slower-paced combat that, while clunky, offers a unique and methodical system that can take time to get good at. Combined with the variety of classes and perks, Dark And Darker gives players plenty to chew on in and between looting.

Players who prefer tightly focused, single-player experiences may be disappointed with Dark And Darker. However, players who enjoy slow-burning, high-intensity experiences and don’t mind losing high-quality loot to a dungeon crawl gone wrong should certainly give this title a go, especially since it features a free-to-play option.

2 Lunacid

An Old-School Dungeon-Crawler With A Moody Atmosphere

Players who enjoyed FromSoftware’s earlier efforts, such as King’s Field and/or Shadow Tower, may enjoy the quiet, moody atmosphere and methodical first-person combat of Lunacid. Its combat may leave something to be desired for some, but this indie RPG succeeds with its variety of unique character designs and truly atmospheric world.

Dungeon-crawling fans looking for an intense experience with complex, tactical combat may be quickly dissuaded. However, Lunacid is perfect for fans of moody atmospheres, low-poly visuals, and first-person exploration.

1 Caves Of Qud

An Open-World RPG Roguelike That Combines Hand-Made And Procedural Content

Caves Of Qud is a traditional roguelike RPG that tasks players with exploring a uniquely strange science-fantasy world replete with weird and wonderful NPCs, distinctive locations, and powerful artifacts. Despite being a roguelike complete with permanent death, Caves Of Qud features the option to play in “roleplay” mode, allowing players to take the pressure off and enjoy the game as they would a regular RPG.

Built first and foremost, however, as a traditional roguelike, Caves Of Qud naturally features turn-based combat and grid-based movement. While the combat isn’t immediately engaging, its strong focus on resource management, threat assessment, and the tactical use of special abilities keeps each encounter tense. Though players will spend plenty of time exploring the surface of Caves Of Qud, it’s the game’s underground networks and distinctive, challenging dungeons that are likely to kill off the most characters.