Risk of Rain

A game by Hopoo Games and Chucklefish for PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Vita, and Switch, originally released in 2013.

Risk of Rain begins with a long cargo ship – known as a “space train” – flying through space. We get a look at the interior of one of the cargo holds and see a fellow with a rather large sword appear and swing his weapon. Suddenly everything is burning and creatures are running around, and cargo begins falling down onto the planet below. You play as a survivor, fighting your way through hordes of enemies on the planet’s surface and using teleporters to move from location to location as the monsters in the area are destroyed.

The player’s character appears as a tiny sprite on a large playfield which soon becomes filled with enemies that spawn in all over the environment. The goal in each level is to locate and activate a teleporter, at which point a boss is spawned into the environment, along with a continuous stream of enemies. Survive for 90 seconds (120 seconds on the harder “monsoon” difficulty) and the enemies will stop spawning. Destroy the boss, and take out any remaining enemies, and you are free to teleport into the next area.

The basic gameplay template is very simple – and even the mechanics are very straightforward: move, jump, climb, and shoot – but the game is tough as nails, and the roguelike elements change everything…

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 2013, Chucklefish, Hopoo Games, Linux, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Vita