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I don't like shoot-'em-ups very much, so when Steam rolled out a Shmup Fest event-sale combo ending October 2, I wasn't expecting much. How naive I was, expecting genres to be firmly defined. I'm not a big scrolling shmup guy, but I do have an appetite for more general twin-stick bullet hell combat, and more importantly it turns out shmups on Steam have a lot of crossover with the genre I can't get enough of: roguelikes.
Steam's Shmup Fest is packed to the gills with action roguelikes that I would struggle to associate with even bullet hell, let alone proper, scrolling shmups. There's even a few Metroidvanias in there, which I also won't complain about. Obviously, if you are very into true-blue arcade shmups – games like Mushihimesama or Time Wasters, which to me embody the style of the genre – you won't have to look very hard to find them here. That said, I did want to highlight some of the vaguely shmup-adjacent games that are more likely to appeal to roguelike and broader action fans like me.
- Rabi-Ribi - 70% off at $5.39: a colorful bullet hell Metroidvania with a near-lethal dose of anime girls.
- Soulstone Survivors - 25% off at $7.49: one of the better and more successful Vampire Survivors-likes, with some fascinating Diablo blood in its vein.
- OTXO - 33% off at $10.04: a brutal Hotline Miami descendant with a striking comic art style.
- Voidigo - 25% off at $14.24: one of the newer and highest-rated games on this list, Voidigo is a roguelike boss rush with acid trip art and wonky weapons.
- Enter the Gungeon - 70% off at $4.49: arguably still the GOAT of bullet hell roguelikes. That gungeon ain't gonna enter itself.
- Atomicrops - 80% off at $2.99: you got your farm sim in my bullet hell roguelike! Keep it there; it rules.
- 20 Minutes Till Dawn - 20% off at $3.99: one of my personal favorite Vampire Survivors-likes, and one of the best-reviewed ones on Steam.
- Furi - 60% off at $7.99: I have absolutely no idea why Furi, a crowning twin-stick boss rush, is here at all, but I won't look this gift horse in the mouth.
- Whisker Squadron: Survivor - 20% off at $11.99: this cat-girl Starfox-esque on-rails shooter has gotten great reviews since its launch last month.
- Archvale - 40% off at $8.99: a bullet hell RPG that is just so darn cute.
- Ruiner - 80% off at $3.99: Why is this here? Yet again, I don't know, but this cyberpunk action shooter doesn't kick any less ass than it did in 2017.
These are the best roguelikes you can play today.
