These 5 upcoming roguelike deckbuilders caught my eye because they have big twists on the usual formula

Welcome to the golden age of roguelike deckbuilders. New ones come out on Steam every week, and there are some major roguelike deckbuilders on the horizon: Monster Train 2 is launching on May 21, and Slay the Spire 2 is due out sometime later this year. But it’s not just the big names you should be looking out for: there are a handful of upcoming roguelike deckbuilders that stand out because they’re doing something a little bit different.

If the flood of roguelike deckbuilders releasing every week have all started looking a bit samey to you—heroes on the left, enemies on the right, row of cards at the bottom of the screen—then check out the list below. These roguelikes all caught my eye because they’re putting a refreshing twist on the standard formula.

Here are 5 upcoming deckbuilders to keep your eye on. A few are coming out this month, and several have demos you can try right now.

Shroom & Gloom: Build two decks instead of one

Devolver Digital just announced today it’s publishing Shroom & Gloom from Team Lazerbeam, coming to early access later in 2025. The new roguelike instantly stands out by being in first-person, letting you walk through the underworld tunnels between the locations where you fight and explore. You build two separate decks, one for combat against a host of mushroom monsters, and one used for exploration, letting you dig up new cards, pick locks on chests, and even cook mushroom soup. There’s a demo on Steam you can try out right now.

The Royal Writ: Send your cards to meet their permadeath

In The Royal Writ you’re a king sending your loyal cards into battle against bandits and brigands. You play your cards in rows and each turn they advance against the enemy strongholds, but if a card reaches the end of the row before the battle is won, it’s destroyed—permanently. Along the way you’ll bet on horses, visit the dentist (you can trade your subject’s teeth for relics), and enjoy the colorful tale of a strange little animal kingdom on the warpath. There’s a demo out this week, and the full game is due later in 2025.

Into the Restless Ruins: Build the dungeon, then crawl it

If you like the looks of Restless Ruins, here’s two pieces of great news: there’s a demo you can try today, and the full game launches tomorrow. The twist here is your hand is full of cards depicting rooms and corridors, and you play them to create the very dungeon you’re about to crawl. Put together a maze of chambers, placing rooms that synergize with each other like campfires, libraries, and portals. Then zoom in and battle your way through them in Vampire Survivors-like autobattling fashion.

As We Descend: Dice, deckbuilding, and steampunk strategy

If you’re a fan of strategy, tabletop games, and even city builders like Frostpunk, here’s another deckbuilder coming later in May you should keep your eye on. In As We Descend your city can only survive by tunneling through the planet, and you play cards on each level to explore and obtain scattered resources while trying to win over your own citizens to support your policies. You also battle massive eldritch horrors that want to invade your borders, managing your front line warriors and support ranks. As We Descend launches May 28.

Five More Minutes: A journey through videogame history

Why contain yourself to a single genre like fantasy or sci-fi when there’s a game that lets you play in all of them at once. In Five More Minutes you build your deck as you travel through videogame history, battling through genres like RPG, horror, platformers, and even sports. Mash up your character so you can be part Link from Legend of Zelda and part Chris Redfield from Resident Evil. Your enemies can be ogres, zombies, ninjas, soccer players, and even Tetris pieces in this roguelike ode to videogames.