Tiny Rogues

About

"Tiny Rogues" is a challenging rogue-lite dungeon crawler with RPG and bullet hell elements, offering over 20 unique floors and 40 boss fights. Players can choose from 34 character classes, each with unique abilities, and collect over 500 equipment items. Leveling up provides access to over 100 unique traits and helpful perks, ensuring a distinct experience in every run.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

97%

Audience ScoreBased on 6,757 reviews

gameplay348 positive mentions

grinding33 negative mentions

gameplay
822 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
56%
2%
The gameplay of "Tiny Rogues" is characterized by a simple yet addictive loop that combines fast-paced action with deep mechanics, allowing for extensive build customization and strategic play. Players appreciate the variety of classes, weapons, and synergies, which contribute to a rewarding experience that encourages experimentation and replayability. Despite some initial complexity and a learning curve, the game is praised for its engaging mechanics, frequent updates, and the developer's commitment to refining the gameplay experience.
- “The gameplay loop is addicting, rewarding, and always fun to come back to.”
- “The class types, abilities, weapon types, and upgrades all feel unique; the gameplay is fast and fun, the build possibilities are vast, and it just feels so polished.”
- “The gameplay is simple but deep; runs are fun and varied, content is plentiful, and meta progression is actually fun instead of the genre standard of an unbearably annoying artificial extension of the game.”
- “There aren't enough explanations for how things are calculated or how some mechanics work (e.g. what are fiends, exactly?); and sometimes you have to make wild guesses on which item or skill choices are better when the calculations get complicated.”
- “The gameplay relies on an absurd amount of stats and values to learn and keep track of, and while it might go overboard in some ways, that sort of gameplay is like crack to me, and I've been looking for an experience as enjoyable as this for some time now.”
- “The mechanics are too light.”
graphics
419 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
59%
3%
The graphics of "Tiny Rogues" are characterized by a charmingly simplistic pixel art style that evokes nostalgia for retro gaming, reminiscent of NES aesthetics. While some players initially find the visuals off-putting, many agree that the minimalist design enhances gameplay clarity and complements the game's mechanics, allowing for an engaging experience despite the lack of high-end graphics. Overall, the art style is well-received for its effectiveness in creating an immersive atmosphere, with many players appreciating the retro vibe and the way it aligns with the game's addictive gameplay loop.
- “The charmingly simple graphical style makes every combat encounter easy to read, making this one of the 'chillest' of the genre.”
- “Don't let the simple graphics fool you; this game is quite nicely done and seems to be inspired by many other roguelikes.”
- “The graphics are simple but very crisp and clear, which is essential for the bullet-hell aspect.”
- “The graphics are cute, but it is sometimes hard to distinguish between enemy and friendly objects (especially projectiles).”
- “The graphics may disturb some people, but the content is gold.”
- “The graphics are simple but it actually works in its favor, trading quality for visibility and thus permitting easy readability without having too much visual clutter.”
music
328 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
44%
2%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its catchy, retro 8-bit style that complements the fast-paced gameplay, enhancing the overall experience. Many players appreciate the clever integration of song titles into achievement names, showcasing the developer's musical taste. While some reviews mention that certain tracks can become repetitive over time, the majority agree that the soundtrack is a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm and replayability.
- “The music is perfect for the vibe, and the sound design is better than it has any right to be.”
- “The music is catchy and genuinely good.”
- “The soundtrack is very catchy, with my favorites being the death track (when you die) and Amon's theme, really nice stuff.”
- “The soundtrack is composed of mostly bland, forgettable, and even annoying generic fantasy adventure songs, but a few new songs were recently added which are amazing to listen to and are reminiscent of the old 8-bit Mega Man games.”
- “The music can get a bit repetitive after more hours put into it, but well that's kind of how any roguelike goes!”
- “The art and music aren't anything special, they do their job and are nothing extraordinary.”
replayability
295 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
35%
1%
The game boasts exceptional replayability, with players praising its diverse character classes, extensive weapon and equipment variety, and the ability to experiment with different builds and strategies in each run. Despite being in early access, it offers a wealth of content and frequent updates, ensuring that gameplay remains fresh and engaging. Many reviewers highlight the addictive nature of the gameplay loop, making it a standout title for fans of roguelikes.
- “Fun and addictive roguelike with tons of replayability thanks to the massive roster of unique classes and weapons/equipment, as well as the stat/trait system and optional modifiers.”
- “The variety of character types and weapons leads to a ton of replayability, and the cinder system to increase difficulty adds new challenges for the runs.”
- “Incredible amounts of replayability, extremely unique classes to unlock, exceptional amounts of build variety, and constantly updated by a dedicated developer.”
- “I think that hurts the replayability, running into the same enemies and rooms over and over.”
- “Good game but after you beat it once on cinder (challenge) level 16 the replayability tanks if you're not an achievement hunter.”
- “This is not necessarily a bad thing - but in combination with the rather low amount of content, it does lack long-term replayability.”
story
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
80%
6%
The game's story is largely considered minimal and underdeveloped, with many players noting a lack of compelling narrative or direction. While there are hints of potential lore and thematic elements, the overall experience feels more like a collection of gameplay mechanics than a cohesive story. Players express a desire for deeper character interactions and more substantial quests to enhance the narrative experience.
- “The story progresses as you beat the game over multiple runs.”
- “Putting in about 28 hours to fully complete the story, I am completely shocked by the quality of the game.”
- “The game seems so simple, and yet every run I'm learning something new and finding out about more story that's available.”
- “The story is non-existent and there is barely an overarching theme, which makes the game feel directionless and more like a mix of random ideas thrown together rather than a unique and focused vision.”
- “The story and narrative haven't been touched on at all yet, while the theme of fantasy and high magic is quickly thrown aside due to the inclusion of modern-day and advanced technology, which makes the game feel directionless and more like a random conglomeration of ideas that the developer wanted to implement but which don't mix well together thematically.”
- “While it has simplistic graphics and no story worth speaking of, it's got solid roguelite gameplay.”
humor
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players highlighting its funny interactions, clever references, and amusing character traits that enhance the gameplay experience. Many reviews note the game's ability to generate hilarious moments through its quirky mechanics and absurd scenarios, making it both entertaining and addictive. Overall, the combination of a charming art style, witty dialogue, and a variety of humorous weapons and builds contributes to a fun and engaging atmosphere that keeps players coming back for more.
- “The graphics are simple, yes, but once you start playing the game, they will simply take a backseat to the addictive, satisfying, and hilarious loop of building up your character, picking up ever increasingly powerful weapons, and cumulatively becoming a harbinger of doom while chewing through room after room and boss after boss.”
- “Playing this game, I barely went a few minutes without going 'hey, that's just like thing from game!' and chuckling about the silly gags and boss dialogue.”
- “Not only is this game really fun and in-depth in its gameplay, but it is undoubtedly hilarious to play.”
grinding
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
5%
87%
Reviews on the aspect of "grinding" in the game are mixed; while some players appreciate the engaging gameplay and meaningful upgrades that make grinding feel rewarding, others find certain elements tedious and repetitive. Many highlight that the game offers a variety of builds and achievements that encourage experimentation, but some aspects, like the cinder system and certain difficulty modifiers, can lead to a grindy experience. Overall, the enjoyment of grinding seems to depend on individual preferences for gameplay pacing and progression systems.
- “Speaking of achievements, they’re not tedious and actually encourage experimenting with gimmicky builds—any build is viable with the tools the game gives you.”
- “The gameplay is precise, crunchy, and addictive; the build crafting and the layers of depth make each run feel different, but it's balanced in a way where I'm not grinding out the 'best' items to win.”
- “Lots of weapons, cool upgrades when you level up, equipment found during a run, and cool permanent progression which is not very grindy.”
- “Bestiary looks like crap, gameplay is underwhelming at best, runs take too long and persistent elements look grindy as hell and unfun.”
- “I'm not interested in wasting my time grinding points for a reward system in an indie game - respect your player base's time.”
- “Horrible grindy upgrade system with no real benefit.”
optimization
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
55%
15%
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it runs smoothly on low-spec machines and receives regular performance updates from active developers, some players experience significant lag and performance hiccups, particularly on less powerful devices. The simplistic design aids in performance, but issues with build optimization and occasional strange performance drops have been noted, especially in high-difficulty scenarios. Despite these concerns, many players appreciate the game's fun mechanics and potential for improvement.
- “The developers are super active and the game is always getting tweaked and performance updates.”
- “The game starts up quickly, runs smoothly and includes plenty of options for visibility and gameplay tweaks.”
- “The performance is solid, it requires super low specs so it will run on nearly all machines, there were no bugs in my playtime.”
- “You kind of have no choice but to play the slow optimization game, taking the 15 minutes of gameplay that makes up a run and stretching it with another half hour of reading text boxes.”
- “Since the last updates, there are too many items that can't be used efficiently together, so optimization of a build became an issue when playing at high difficulty.”
- “And, oddly, when I left the game running in the background on my PC, it actually negatively impacted the performance of my other programs I was trying to run at the time.”
stability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
53%
Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while it runs well on the Steam Deck and lower-end PCs, many users report frustrating glitches and crashes that can disrupt gameplay. Some players have experienced significant bugs, particularly with animations and world tier advancement, but others have noted a lack of major issues and a responsive development team. Despite the stability concerns, the game offers good replayability and potential for improvement.
- “Game runs great on a Steam Deck and has lots of replayability.”
- “Completely bug-free and at a low price.”
- “If you're a Steam Deck user, it runs great and is one of my most played games there.”
- “Very sad to think I have been enjoying this game at cinder 16 only to have all my favorite runs destroyed by random glitches.”
- “Great game, until it freezes and crashes.”
- “Buggy animations result in unfair losses.”
atmosphere
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
29%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive and captivating environment, enhanced by retro graphics and unique boss fights that contribute to a distinct ambiance. Players appreciate the wacky meta progression and numerous references to other video games, which further enrich the overall experience. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, making the game both challenging and enjoyable.
- “Immersive atmosphere - captivating environment.”
- “Good retro atmosphere with simple effective graphics.”
- “Props to the developers for creating such a challenging and atmospheric game.”
monetization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The monetization aspect of the game is generally viewed positively, with players appreciating the absence of excessive microtransactions and the fair pricing model. Many users commend the game for offering substantial content without demanding significant financial investment, while also suggesting that cosmetic purchases could be a viable way to support the developers. Overall, the game strikes a balance between quality and monetization, avoiding the pitfalls of aggressive in-game purchases.
- “Treat yourself to a high-quality game that doesn't demand your life's savings on install or monthly, doesn't come with a billion microtransactions and mass appeal bloat, and has genuinely solid foundational mechanics and expansive content on top of it.”
- “I've seen games with half the content being released as $70 games with $100 special editions including in-game microtransactions and DLCs on launch day.”
- “Hire more devs and toss in some cosmetic monetization (people love buying cosmetics for games like this, where the dev is an obviously talented indie team) to help pay for their dev hours.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, highlighting its ability to evoke feelings of vitality and fulfillment through its wholesome gameplay. The experience of overcoming challenges and the weight of personal responsibility in each defeat contribute to a deep sense of engagement, despite moments of frustration. Overall, the game is praised for its fair mechanics, which enhance the emotional stakes of each encounter.
- “Made me feel alive again.”
- “On my very first playthrough, I got 3 boons that made me feel like I had a chance - now I feel exhausted when I level up because nothing good came out of that ordeal.”
- “Made me feel every death was my fault; even the worst bullet-hell fights are clean and fair.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
While "Tiny Rogues" features diverse character designs that contribute to its replayability, reviewers suggest that a more robust character development system would significantly enhance the overall experience, particularly in light of the game's randomness.
- “Tiny Rogues is a roguelike that keeps me hooked with its incredible replayability and diverse character designs.”
- “The dialogue and character design are impressively authentic, adding depth to the overall experience.”
- “A more robust system of character development would enhance the experience, especially given the randomness of the items and rooms.”
- “The dialogue feels repetitive and lacks depth, making character interactions less engaging.”
- “Character design is uninspired and fails to convey any unique traits or backstory.”