Rogue:
Genesia

Rogue: Genesia (2022) is a shooting game where you battle hundreds of enemies at the same time to defend a desperate world. Like Vampire Survivors, you use one stick to control your movement and the other for aiming and struggle not to be overwhelmed by the creeping onslaught of enemies. If you die, you have to start again, but can gain weapons, abilities, and upgrades for your next run. It stands out for the sheer number of enemies, which makes you develop crowd control strategies while keeping an eye on ways through the hoards to safer areas of the arena.

---

You play Rog, a lone hero on a mission to free a mystical world from oppression by monsters and fell creatures. Starting with a few items, you begin your mission, defeating enemies and liberating vast swathes of land. As you grow in strength, you gain more items and weapons, enabling you to take on ever more powerful opponents.

Play revolves around defeating all the enemies in a given area, before moving on to the next and doing the same. You have to balance offensive attacks with not being boxed in and taking damage. As you kill the encroaching hordes, you gain new items, weapons, and magical abilities which work in the background, which you can use to your advantage. You can stop at shops and rest areas where you can regain health. When you die, you have to start from the beginning again, but you keep all your items, meaning every run you can get slightly further. Coming up with and refining your strategy is essential.

The result is a game that requires experimentation with different play styles and permutations. You learn to utilise your weapons and movement in more ambitious strategies to (hopefully) emerge victorious. Getting further each run is what brings players back for more, but requires patience, skill, practice and determination.

---

Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Rogue: Genesia 19 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 9 months ago.