Top 15 POWDER Alternative and Similar Games | Dec 2024

Descend into the depths of the dungeon until you reach the foul daemon known as "He who the author cannot spell consistently", or, Baezl'bub. When you have slain Baezl'bub in heroic combat, or, if Baezl'bub dies in any way, retrieve his black heart and bring it to the surface world.

To understand POWDER, you should first understand roguelikes.
"Roguelike" is a term applied to a wide variety of games which share a common inspiration from the game Rogue. A non-exhaustive list of such games would be: ADOM, Nethack, Crawl, Diablo (I & II), Moria, and Angband. My apologies to the many excellent roguelikes I didn't list. What characterizes these games? The exact specifications are a matter of debate - indeed, I may receive hate mail for including Diablo - but I shall try to write a few:
Tactical play. The unit of action is based on the individual adventurer. The game is not twitch oriented (like Quake, rewarding reflexes & well trained actions) nor is it strategy oriented (like Civilizations or Warcraft, requiring working on the large picture)
Based in Hack and Slash. A roguelike isn't primarily about plot development or telling a story. It is about killing things and acquiring treasure.
Random games. A roguelike is a dungeon crawler where no two games are the same. The maps are different, the items are different, there are no guaranteed win paths.
Permadeath. You die, that is it. No restoring a savegame. Good roguelikes delete your save game after loading them. This is compensated by the replayability of the game.
Complex interactions of properties. While the commands for a roguelike are simple, the potential interactions are not. My favourite example is equipping a silver ring as a weapon in order to damage a creature vulnerable to silver, but not one's other weapons. [Editor: This matches the Hack branch of the roguelike tree, not the Angband branch]
Steam rolling monsters. If a critter is in your way, and weak, you shouldn't even notice it is there. ...

1. Pathos:Nethack Codex

Pathos:Nethack Codex Pathos is a roguelike adventure game based on the rule set from Nethack. Choose from 13 classes and journey deep into the dungeon. Descend to hell to defeat your nemesis before escaping the dungeon with all the loot you can carry!......

2. Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon Darkest Dungeon is a challenging gothic roguelike turn-based RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring.Recruit, train, and lead a team of flawed heroes through twisted forests, forgotten warrens, ruined crypts, and beyond. You'll battle not only unimaginable foes, but stress, famine, disease, and the ever-encroaching dark. Uncover strange mysteries, and......

3. Egoboo

Egoboo Egoboo is an open source, cross-platform computer game. It's a three-dimensional dungeon crawling adventure that borrows a lot of elements from the roguelike genre. Egoboo is still under development, but it is fully playable.......

4. Quest of Dungeons

Quest of Dungeons Quest of Dungeons is a turn based dungeon crawler game, a roguelike.An evil Dark Lord has stolen all the light, so your mission is to enter his lair and defeat him. The dungeons layout is procedural so you won't find items/enemies in the same place each time you play.......

5. The Forest of Doom

The Forest of Doom YOU are the hero in Forest of Doom! Explore the sinister Darkwood Forest in Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy classic RPG gamebook!......

6. The Dungeon

The Dungeon The Dark Wizard has returned from his long, evil slumber to mess with the poor town of Villageshire. Once again, he’s stolen their only source of magical protection: the Orb! Now, it's up to a crazy, adventuring hero to fight hordes of deadly monsters to get the dumb thing back......

7. Dubloon

Dubloon A huge pirate RPG adventure game. Spelunk dungeons, battle bosses, and explore a massive ocean of islands.......

8. Angband

Angband Angband is a free, single-player dungeon exploration game. You play an adventurer seeking riches, fighting monsters, and preparing for a final battle with Morgoth, the Lord of Darkness.......

9. Stranded Deep

Stranded Deep Take the role of a plane crash survivor stranded somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Come face to face with some of the most life threatening scenarios that will result in a different experience each time you play. Scavenge. Discover. Survive.......

10. Moria

Moria Moria is a roguelike computer game based heavily on J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings. The game's objective is to kill a Balrog, presumably Durin's Bane, deep within the Mines of Moria. A later port of Moria called Umoria (UNIX Moria) inspired the Angband roguelike game.......

11. The Quest

The Quest The Quest is a turn-based, open-world RPG in the vein of classic dungeon crawlers like The Bard's Tale . Featuring beautiful, hand-drawn graphics, the game casts players in an epic adventure with scores of optional, side quests.......

12. Lands of Lore (series)

Lands of Lore (series) Lands of Lore is a series of role-playing games by Westwood. The games take place in a fantasy world known simply as The Lands. It is populated by many races, the main ones being Humans, Huline, Dracoids, and Thomgog. The most civilized realm of The Lands is known as Gladstone.......

13. Wild Terra Online

Wild Terra Online An MMO life simulator in a fully player-driven medieval world. Players explore, hunt, craft, build, decorate, farm, collaborate, fight, and lay seige to rival buildings and villages.......

14. EvoCreo

EvoCreo Embark on a journey through the world of Zenith. Become the top Evoker by capturing and battling over 130 kinds of Creo!Test yourself in the Arenas, and work your way up to the Coliseum! On the way, you’ll be fighting the sinister plot of the nefarious organization, Shadow Hive!-Over 130......

15. Monster RPG 2

Monster RPG 2 Monster RPG 2 is a fun 2-dimensional Japanese-style Role Playing Game (JRPG). It will appeal to fans of classic console games like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. The game and story are quite simple which is probably what makes the game worth playing. It is not overly dramatic which can......