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Relic Hunters Zero Game Cover

About Relic Hunters Zero

Relic Hunters Zero is a single player and multiplayer tactical shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Rogue Snail and was released on August 18, 2015. It received very positive reviews from players.

Relic Hunter Zero is a free to play open source game. You start with 2 characters and can unlock 4 others through gameplay. The game consists of 4 areas with 3 stages each followed by a checkpoint and then a boss battle. "Bounty" you collect from defeating enemies remains through all runs and can be used to by items from checkpoints to permanently add them to your starting base for later runs. Th…

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Games Like Relic Hunters Zero

Looking for games like Relic Hunters Zero? Here are top tactical shooter recommendations with a science fiction focus, selected from player-similarity data — start with Juicy Realm, Relic Hunters Legend or AK-xolotl.

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Reviews

92%Audience ScoreBased on 2,976 reviews
gameplay168 positive mentions
grinding25 negative mentions

  • gameplay

    320 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    53% positive mentions, 43% neutral mentions, 4% negative mentions

    The gameplay is widely praised for its smooth, fast-paced, and addictive twin-stick shooting mechanics, with a variety of characters, weapons, and unlockables that add depth and replayability. While some find it repetitive and short, the challenge scaling, relic system, and multiple modes provide engaging progression, especially notable given the game's free-to-play status. Minor issues like occasional bugs and save system flaws are mentioned but do not overshadow the overall satisfying and well-polished gameplay experience.

    • “The gameplay loop is riveting with tons of unlockables and 6 playable characters, offering great progression!”
    • “Relic hunters zero is a top-down shooter with amazing mechanics and awesome levels; the shooting and movement mechanics go hand in hand.”
    • “The gameplay is smooth, challenging, and addictive with solid controls, varied weapons, and fun mechanics that keep the action engaging.”
    • “Weak mechanics, ugly graphics and it's not even truly free... impossible to recommend.”
    • “The core moment-to-moment gameplay, enemies, and environments were repetitive and dull, so all the extra weapons and goop you can pile on top of it did not appeal to me.”
    • “Attempts the same style of gameplay as Nuclear Throne, although this game ends up being much shorter, much easier, much jankier, and with massively inferior graphics, music, and polish.”
  • graphics

    252 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    56% positive mentions, 41% neutral mentions, 3% negative mentions

    The game's graphics largely feature charming, vibrant pixel art with a distinct cartoon-esque or retro style that many users find appealing and fitting for the fast-paced gameplay. While some criticize the graphics as simplistic, pixelated, or occasionally ugly, most appreciate the unique art style, smooth animations, and bright colors that contribute to an enjoyable visual experience, especially given the game is free. Overall, the graphics are praised for their personality and aesthetic coherence, though a few desire more variety and polish.

    • “Fluid controls, amazing graphics, and smooth gameplay.”
    • “The graphics are so light and charming that you forget you're playing a free-to-play game.”
    • “Relic Hunters Zero is a cute little twin-stick shooter rogue-lite with a distinctively clean art style and a colorful punky edge.”
    • “This features really godawful, lazy pixelcrap "art" instead of real graphics.”
    • “With so little time and effort put into graphics in this game, you would expect at least the gameplay to be flawless and polished, but nope.”
    • “Attempts the same style of gameplay as Nuclear Throne, although this game ends up being much shorter, much easier, much jankier, and with massively inferior graphics, music, and polish.”
  • music

    239 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    60% positive mentions, 35% neutral mentions, 5% negative mentions

    The game's music, predominantly chiptune and retro-inspired, is widely praised for its catchy, energetic, and fitting soundtrack that enhances the fast-paced, arcade-style gameplay. While some users find certain tracks or volume levels repetitive or occasionally irritating, the majority appreciate the vibrant, memorable tunes that complement the pixel art style and overall game atmosphere, often considering the soundtrack a highlight.

    • “The soundtrack is incredible, the gameplay is nearly perfect, and characters are charming and amusing.”
    • “Last but certainly not least is the soundtrack—while the soundtrack isn't exactly groundbreaking, it is good and some of the tracks are memorable, and overall it gives off an energy, slightly crazy, and primarily hectic and frantic vibe, which is very fitting to the game, and I honestly would gladly put down a few bucks for a soundtrack DLC.”
    • “The music is catchy and fun, it definitely adds a lot to the feel of the game and it gets your blood up for some rootin' tootin' shootin'.”
    • “I want to start off with a thing that sticks out the most - awful, broken soundtrack with one song louder/quieter than others and most of them bringing pain to my ears.”
    • “Its a good game, but the music is awful and it gets really annoying.”
    • “- the music (and sound design in general) is extremely grating; if you're still going to play, turn off all audio.”
    • “The music gave me a seizure.”
    • “Music is crude sounding and lacks range, even compared to other chiptune music.”
    • “Would be a great game if it wasn't for that awful level one music.”
    • “Change the level 1 music and this game will get a recommendation, until then this negative review is staying right where it is.”
    • “The music is quite punchy to match gameplay 'attitude'.”
    • “Lastly, the music is really repetitive and could do so much more.”
  • story

    89 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    25% positive mentions, 65% neutral mentions, 10% negative mentions

    The game's story is minimal and largely secondary to its gameplay, featuring a basic premise of relic hunting with little character development or plot depth. While some find the light narrative adequate as a backdrop, many note the story is short, vague, or underdeveloped, with most enjoyment derived from the mechanics and endless modes rather than the campaign. Overall, the story serves more as a simple framing device than a compelling element of the game.

    • “The story involves the crew of relic hunters on the Spaceheart planning to stop the evil General Duke from collecting the legendary relics and taking over the galaxy.”
    • “The framing of the story works and has a nice blend of nostalgia and original ideas to it.”
    • “This game has a great story to it and graphics that will make you love it and keep coming back for more.”
    • “There is only a wall of text that shows up when you start the game and that sums up everything in the story.”
    • “Bland characters, bare-bones sound effects & music, lame tile art (it works and is inoffensive but bland, bland, bland), no story to speak of, no characters to care about.”
    • “Also, the game's overall story is built on very little backstory, as if you are tossed into a fight that you have no idea is going on.”
  • replayability

    58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    52% positive mentions, 43% neutral mentions, 5% negative mentions

    The game offers high replayability driven by multiple characters with unique playstyles, an endless mode, and rewarding progression systems like relics and unlockables. While it is relatively short and some find the lack of randomized levels limits variety, the combination of difficulty modes, persistent unlocks, and a strong community with mods keeps it engaging for many hours. Overall, its replay value is praised despite occasional repetitiveness after extensive play.

    • “Incredible game with literal endless replayability and incredible workshop community!”
    • “There's a ton of replayability, as not only do you have multiple characters, each with a different play style, but also, you get rewarded with each run, even if you fail.”
    • “Relic Hunters Zero: Remix offers great value on replayability by the character roster and campaign, which allows the game to feel fresh even after multiple runs.”
    • “This game is pretty awesome but it tends to get old after a few replays. I'd like the levels to have randomly generated enemies as it would vastly improve the replayability of the game.”
    • “I haven't played a lot yet, but the levels don't appear to be randomly generated, which reduces the replayability.”
    • “-The game can be a bit repetitive and lacks replayability after unlocking most (if not all) of the unlockables.”
  • monetization

    41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    27% positive mentions, 66% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions

    The game is highly praised for being completely free with no microtransactions, ads, or paywalls, offering full access to all content without any monetization barriers. Reviewers appreciate the fair and non-exploitative approach, highlighting that in-game currency is earned through gameplay rather than purchases. This absence of monetization features is considered a major positive, contributing to an enjoyable and accessible experience.

    • “The amount of content is great, the game is very well polished and it doesn't put anything behind paywalls or microtransactions.”
    • “Shortcuts—or as this game calls them, 'checkpoints'—once you at least get to an area (the game is split into four 'worlds') you will be able to unlock the ability to purchase the checkpoint with in-game currency (which, by the way, is earned! No microtransactions are in this game, which is wonderful!).”
    • “No DRM, no microtransactions, no nothing of the sort involving money whatsoever.”
    • “The advertising makes it look like this game has permanent progression but it's misleading.”
    • “I put no microtransactions in the cons because it would be nice to throw down a dollar and get all of the characters since it takes a while, and I put it in the pros because no one likes them.”
    • “I understand that the developers are limited by this being a free-to-play game with no adverts or microtransactions (thanks, by the way), but I would be happy to pay to extend the number of levels.”
  • humor

    31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Users consistently praise the game for its humor, describing it as funny, quirky, and entertaining with amusing characters and playful pixel art. The lighthearted tone, witty one-liners, and quirky sound effects add to an enjoyable and engaging experience that complements the fast-paced gameplay. Overall, the humor is a standout element that enhances the game's charm and replayability.

    • “Arcade and fast paced while the characters are pretty different and have funny playstyles.”
    • “When I got it right you are something like a mercenary but screw it this game is funny and a classic in style, music and concept.”
    • “The music is good, the graphics are fun, bubbly and weird and the sound effects made me laugh.”
  • grinding

    29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    10% positive mentions, 4% neutral mentions, 86% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game is often described as tedious and grindy, especially in endless and achievement-focused modes that rely heavily on RNG and require extensive replaying to obtain vital relics and upgrades. While some players find the grind frustrating and repetitive, others consider it manageable and even somewhat enjoyable due to the game's core gameplay and replayability, though it can lead to long, drawn-out sessions.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “A bit grindy... sometimes.”
    • “One long, tedious grind.”
    • “Grinding through the "endless" and "storm" game modes for achievements is a nightmare; it is completely dependent on RNG giving you vital items early on, and you can die out of nowhere.”
    • “Bosses have extremely high hitpoints and very simplistic patterns—expect long, boring, grindy encounters.”
    • “More farming the same few enemies with the same few guns hoping to get a relic.”
  • stability

    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    13% positive mentions, -1% neutral mentions, 88% negative mentions

    The game exhibits frequent bugs and glitches, including achievement counters not working properly, occasional freezing, and unpredictable enemy behavior, which can hinder gameplay. While it generally runs well even on low-end systems and is free, stability issues like crashes and interface bugs persist. Overall, the game is functional but marked by noticeable stability problems that may frustrate some players.

    • “I know the game might look demanding for anyone not too tech savvy, but it runs great for me on my low-end laptop. Plus, it's free, so why not just try it out?”
    • “Also runs great on low price builds.”
    • “Some of the counters for the achievements are very buggy, so if you are an achievement hunter, be prepared to get well over the required numbers to unlock the achievements.”
    • “This game was quite enjoyable but had serious game glitches that caused many moments where I would be killed due to enemies randomly shooting through walls or behaving unpredictably.”
    • “But every time I die the game freezes and I have to close it using the task manager.”
  • optimization

    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    38% positive mentions, 24% neutral mentions, 38% negative mentions

    The game generally runs smoothly and features automatic optimization for lower-end hardware, providing a good gameplay experience. However, some users report it is poorly optimized and resource-heavy despite its simple graphics. Overall, optimization seems mixed but leans toward functional with room for improvement.

    • “There are tons of rubbish games on Steam which have a price and this one is free, no pay-to-win, high quality in programming (it recognized that my laptop has a low graphic card and automatically optimized the settings for better gameplay).”
    • “Runs smoothly and the gameplay is pretty interesting.”
    • “It is a really fun game and it plays and runs smoothly.”
    • “I'm running a 4790k and a GTX 970, this is an optimization issue, not hardware, and honestly it feels like there is a reason why the game went free to play.”
    • “Definitely not optimized.”
    • “Poorly optimized; needs a lot of resources even though it only has pixel draws.”
  • atmosphere

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    60% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The atmosphere is generally praised for its simplicity and strong artistic style, with music that enhances the mood through atmospheric, non-melodic compositions. However, some users feel it could benefit from a more developed storyline and additional atmospheric depth. Overall, the visuals and audio effectively create an engaging ambiance.

    • “It doesn't have odd mouse movement, or a camera that follows the mouse, it's nice and simple and it has a fantastic atmosphere.”
    • “The music has a cool atmospheric feel, going after chaotic mish-mashes of waveforms rather than catchy melodies.”
    • “In fact, I love both the music and the art style because they really suit the atmosphere.”
  • character development

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Character development features visually striking art and unique character designs, though some find the style chaotic and unconventional, blending quirky influences in an unusual way.

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Play Times

10h Median play time
23h Average play time
6-20h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 13 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Relic Hunters Zero is a tactical shooter game with science fiction theme. Common tags for Relic Hunters Zero include free to play, science, indie and trading.

Relic Hunters Zero is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac OS, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 23 hours playing Relic Hunters Zero.

Relic Hunters Zero was released on August 18, 2015.

Relic Hunters Zero was developed by Rogue Snail.

Relic Hunters Zero has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked Relic Hunters Zero for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Relic Hunters Zero is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Juicy Realm, Relic Hunters Legend, AK-xolotl, Blazing Beaks, The Swords of Ditto and others.