{
"post": {
"title": "Roguelike game with item synergy like The Binding of Isaac.",
"selftext": "I am looking for a game where items seem to interact each other (ex. you shoot 4 tears + your tears are bombs = you shoot 4 bombs!).\n\nI've played a lot of games in similar genre, but many times I was disappointed because items are either simple flat stat power ups, or override each other. Can you give me some suggestions for lesser-known games where items tend to work together to create synergies?",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/gamingsuggestions/comments/12714j9/roguelike_game_with_item_synergy_like_the_binding/"
},
"comments": [
{
"body": "Noita."
},
{
"body": "Risk of Rain 2\n\nDead Estate\n\nGoing Under\n\nForce Reboot\n\nCurveball answer: Vampire Survivors, that gane is made of item synergy",
"replies": [
{
"body": ">Vampire Survivors, that gane is made of item synergy\n\nYet I always end up picking the same exact skills. Flying bibles and garlic on max upgrades and you can sit there for the first 15mins without having to move. \n\n\nAfter that take your pick, none of the rest will matter.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Thats more of a player problem than a game problem.\n\nVampire survivors is largely made so that any weapon can be made good, some just are simpler than others.\n\nIf you find yourself just sticking to the same build always, either force yourself to change it or pick a different difficulty.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "For this reason, I prefer Brotato to Vampire Survivors. It offers a bit more in terms of mechanics."
}
]
},
{
"body": "In my experience, Garlic starts to not do enough damage later on, so I have to go with upgraded Santa Water, which acts similarly to Garlic if you stand still.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Yeah later on the bibles definitely do all of my damage, especially with the area of effect upgrade and projectile speed. Might have to kite the elites a little but everything else just drops."
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I feel the same way. The more roguelites i play the more i think isaac just flat out does this best. I actually think roguelite deck builders come the closest to operating on the same logic, where every powerup clicks together perfectly. Slay the Spire and Monster Train are my faves if you haven't tried those out yet.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Inscryption isn't exactly a roguelite, but it has a unique and interesting system for combining cards that can make for some really OP combos."
},
{
"body": "Yeah, Idk how Binding of Isaac adds as much synergy as it does. You could get three random items that are a .002% chance of a player encountering together and it'll be some unique synergy that has to be hand-made."
},
{
"body": "I quit Isaac because once you start getting to the more difficult challenges, a lot of runs aren't even viable. You *have* to have flying. There are other capabilities you have to have to handle certain bosses. It just becomes a total slog.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "wtf are you talking about? what challenges, the lost and t lost to mother and the beast?, this is what isaac does so well, every run is winneable, is you play any seed good enought you'll end up with crazy builds, you just need to rig, sometimes it's easier sometimes harder but always possible. when you see certain players you see 50 games win streak while playing t lost"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "[Siralim Ultimate](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1289810/Siralim_Ultimate/) is not a rogue-like, but the entire game is about creating synergies with teams. So much so that the entire community uses [this tool](https://berated-bert.github.io/siralim-planner/?b=__________________&s=RE&r=______) to plot out their team builds and search for keywords that will help them synergize. As an example, click on an empty creature slot and search the term \"burning.\" Then, click on annointments -> pyromancer. \n\nFrom those two actions, you can already begin to see how this game is based around creating and abusing crazy synergizing traits and perks that will allow you to create incredibly strong teams of monsters. One of the standard challenges in the game is \"The Gate of the Gods,\" where your team of level 100 monsters have to fight a team of level 1500 monsters with a unique ability, such as \"can only be damaged while afflicted with X debuffs, and you cannot cast spells or attack.\" The main sources of damage for many monsters/teams.\n\nI have both the android version and the steam version, and you can cloud save between them, so it's very convenient to play on public transit or on a walk. The game takes place with 10 minute or less (usually) runs on floor, going down progressively more difficult floors and fighting bosses with unique abilities, unlocking more available creatures and sometimes features as you go. So while not a rogue-like, it covers much the same ground. [Here's an example of a team I'm currently using which I used to beat all 30 of the challenge fights](https://berated-bert.github.io/siralim-planner/?b=f368564f4be64b101b80ca31670bf209770574f06f4621c14340ee6f08f8edb88eb7ee2564017a16937a2dfcdbcb389ebb0a4b9573f7&s=NM&a=INEDSMINISMHENA&r=eb_____), many of which I completed on an additional challenge level (where your creatures are still L100, but foes are L3000-L5000)\n\nThere is also a rogue-like mode in the form of the Arena, where you do drafting of a random selection of creatures in order to try and complete as many increasingly difficult fights as you can. It's really damned challenging to make a great team in this mode, and when you do manage to, it feels really great.\n\nI believe it's on sale for 40% off on the android version and it's an easy recommend. It's basically Path of Exile meets Dragon Quest Monsters, though with 100x the build variety that Path of Exile ever has had. It's made by a single developer who has done an awesome job with it. I recommend it all the time here because I think it's a super underrated gem that I only discovered because I sorted by highest reviews on Steam a couple years ago and I've been in love with the game ever since. I show it to all my software dev friends, PoE-players, and Factorio-addicts, and they all fall in love with it as well.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "i have almost 2000 hours in this game, very nice to see other people plugging it. if you like theorycrafting, interlocking logic, and randomized loot, it is delicious. i've been a fan of the series for a long time, but the ultimate is very real.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Absolutely. Half my playtime was sitting there and overthink my team."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Seconding this recommendation, Siralim is insanely good! It may sound complex, but the game does a very good job in letting you experiment at your own pace\n\nI also suggest skipping to Siralim Ultimate, you don't need to play the other games (it's fine if you want to, but Ultimate is like the final evolution of the series)",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Absolutely agree on both points. I currently have about 250 hours on my save file, and it is only recently that I sat down and learned what every debuff actually does, what being 'resistant' to a debuff means, what class strength does, and what it means for something \"have\" more stats/buffs vs. \"gain\" more stats/buffs. And there's still stuff I don't know, such as singular/magnetic spell gem enchantments and which is better, or start of battle effects order, which matters for some of the more esoteric and advanced strategies that people have shared on the discord. It's crazy interesting how much depth there is in what is mostly a very simple game. \n\nAny player can absolutely succeed for hundreds of hours without going into maximum knowledge for this game - and when you start to get walled, then a little knowledge can really open things up and explodes the game options-wise! My wife beat the main story playing a Necromancer with her entire strategy being 'get a lot of dogs on team.\" Turns out, that's actually kinda a build, because similar creatures have traits that fundamentally work with each other. Love this game so much."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Holy shit thank you for showing me this game. I’m gonna sink at least 100 hours into this"
}
]
},
{
"body": "i recommend ignoring the people saying Hades, Hades has terrible item synergy and all the upgrades act as flat buffs with very few that synergise imo.\n\nnoita has a very unique synergy system where you put spells together and can make wands with very unique properties. \n\ngunfire reborn has some interesting synergies but they are more limited and not to the level of Isaac, but there are good examples like using a fire sword with an item that makes you immune to fire damage and an item that sets you on fire when you set an enemy on fire but you heal some health every time you deal damage when burning.\n\nluck be a landlord is all about synergising items into a slot machine so they give each other, but the synergies are spelled out for you.\n\nslay the spire has really interesting synergies between cards if you don't mind a turn based card based system.\n\nmonster train, while not as good as slay the spire imo, has very fun synergies too."
},
{
"body": "Tiny Rogues is an up and coming pixel art title like Binding. Very much recommend.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Can't say enough good things about Tiny Rogues. Excellent game."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Risk of rain 2"
},
{
"body": "Risk of rain 2. Things like bleed, critical hits, etc. all interact via certain items"
},
{
"body": "If by synergies you mean you like being able to essentially break the game, risk of rain 2 is what you’re looking for."
},
{
"body": "Enter the Gungeon",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Enter the Gungeon never felt like I was finding cool synergies, more just randomly finding a good gun and using it until the game ends. Maybe one piece of cool synergy happens making the gun better but that's it.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I don't know if you played before or after the update about synergies, but when I played some synergies completely change the way a gun work and sometimes even the visual, pretty fun game",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I think the difference here though is that the synergies in Gungeon are specifically programmed in. Like you get this gun and that gun, and they together make a specific, named synergy. \n\nWhere as in Isaac, it's a bunch of systems and math equations interlocking in unexpected ways that can completely break the game",
"replies": [
{
"body": "There are plenty of bullet modifiers that work together like op is describing"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "As you unlock more things you get way more synergies. As I got more runs in, it became rare that I went through a good run (as in I actually had the time/lack of bad luck go get items), I feel like it became rare that I finished a run without finding some kind of synergy, but it's been a while."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Risk of Rain 2\n\nRogue Legacy 2\n\nRounds"
},
{
"body": "Brotato is like a Super low fat version of Binding of Isaac. The items interact and boost eachother and are interesting to weave together, but just not to the levels of rare potential insanity of BoI. Brotato also auto aims and shoots by default which I enjoy...",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Brotato is not binding of isaac. Its more vampire survivor.\n\nFun game. But definitely a different genre.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Yea its got differences for sure. You can also turn off the auto shoot feature which is interesting.."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Gungeon."
},
{
"body": "Hades has some phenomenal synergies.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "This. Even some of the gods will combine their powers to make new abilities"
}
]
},
{
"body": "In Hades there’s duo boons, which are literally made for this, and that’s on top of the regular boons which often form synergies as well"
},
{
"body": "Enter the gungeon has a lot of synergies and rags-to-riches weapons, however I wouldn't bank on getting a syngergy all the time except for machine pistol."
},
{
"body": "Vampire survivors’s only bit of skill ceiling is item combos so I guess that game"
},
{
"body": "Dead Cells, all over the place, especially with the status effects."
},
{
"body": "Enter the gungeon"
},
{
"body": "Run, do not walk, and get Backpack Hero. The whole game is item management. I think this is exactly what you want. Each playable character has different inventory tricks, too.\n\nActually wait, you can play the demo/alpha on itch in a browser:\n\nhttps://thejaspel.itch.io/backpack-hero",
"replies": [
{
"body": "This is the one.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I think so too, not sure why the downvotes.\n\n u/SunpeakGames, ping so you see Backpack Hero. Have fun!"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Do you mean roguelite? That isn't really how roguelikes work. But most roguelites are built around that kind of item synergy. Risk of Rain, Gungeon, Hades."
},
{
"body": "Dead estate exactly"
},
{
"body": "Peglin is a god-tier item synergy roguelike"
},
{
"body": "In terms of just offering a huge playground where you get a shitton of upgrade options and can just mix and match them as you like to look for crazy combos and synergies, I absolutely 2nd Nova Drift!\n\nIt looks like a simple top down space asteroid shooting game, but believe me when I say it's a super fun playground and you have much more control over the upgrades you get than in Isaac.\n\n\nAt its core you have 3 types of gear, your body, your weapon and your shield and you'll find all sorts of upgrades for each that are never just plain dmg increases. Like you can shoot blades that count as constructs and then give your shield to the blades you shoot and whenever you fire, the shields will shoot lasers around them.\n\nOr you can shoot mines that explore, let the mines shoot your own projectiles which starts some chain reactions for screenwide explosions. Or turn your shield into your damage source and use yoir health and shield as ammunition to fire big rays.\n\nOr strengthen your body to literally crash into enemies to destroy them or boost your thrusters to such insane levels that you just burn everything when accelerating.\n\nAnd there's soo much more! \nWhen it comes to the craziness of builds and synergies, this game came the closest (or may have even beaten Isaac) imo!\n\nIt's also still getting more updates, but it's only made by 1 dude, so it takes a while for new stuff to arrive."
},
{
"body": "Risk of Rain 2 doesn't have any hidden synergies, but some things are great together. Transcendence + plasma shrimp will make you constantly fire missiles, for example."
},
{
"body": "[A Robot Named Fight](https://store.steampowered.com/app/603530/A_Robot_Named_Fight/) is roguelite Super Metroid, and the whole roguelite side of it is modeled directly on The Binding of Isaac. Even the unlocks tied to achievements and extra areas you can get. And sometimes you definitely get some crazy synergy builds.\n\nI had one with giant, slow beams with damage auras that killed enemies before they could touch the beams (which would cause the beams to dissipate), plus a helper which constantly gave me damage and beam size bonuses when it ate scrap. I also had powerups which replaced my health with scrap and made all enemy drops scrap. It was pretty on par with some of the wilder builds I've happened into in Isaac.\n\nIt also sometimes hits a dollar or two on sale, so there's that too."
},
{
"body": "It's hard to match Isaac's level of synergy, but a lot of these suggestions are good! I'd like to throw in Monster Train. Even though it's a very different type of roguelike, I find the run variety and discovering wacky combos to be some of the best I've ever played."
},
{
"body": "Not exactly sure what you mean by synergy. But Kenya kinda of describes that. A big open world game that uses a lot of times though is Monster Hunter World or Monster Hunter Rise. They have items in those two games that you can use to restore health, shoots things with explosives with a bow and arrow or crossbow, items that can increase your power in battle or help improve your defenses, items that can heal poison or paralysis, and items to insulate you from cold, heat, wind, water, and electricity. Sometimes you can use items to protect yourself from dragon damage (elderseal) or bleeding effects of one monster too. You can also use items to construct things that improve skills too. Skills like gathering certain specific items like bugs or mushrooms. Check t out Monster Hunter World if you want to."
},
{
"body": "Odd that no one has mentioned Neon Abyss. It's free on xbox game pass, too. The game is exactly like you've described. Tons of power-ups, all which affect either your character or your weapon, with fun synergies to be discovered. Make sure you have the wiki open to look up what all the items do!"
},
{
"body": "Enter the Gungeon"
},
{
"body": "Backpack Hero has a lot of item synergy options. It’s a turntaking game, with basically no story, and it’s a little bit on the easy side unless you use some modifiers."
},
{
"body": "Risk of Rain 2\n\nWatch a video from Woolie and then have a great time"
},
{
"body": "Risk of Rain 2"
},
{
"body": "So idk If someone mentioned it but try Out Revita. Since the Public Beta Patch (which i recommend to set your Game in If you ever think about buying it) you can have some crazy runs with very fun Synergies Like in Isaac.\n\nI think the biggest weakpoint of this Game however is that It Takes some time to reach that Point. You First have to unlock some items before it gets to a good/fun Point. I had a rather meh experience in my First 3-4 hours but after that the Game really changed and opened Up A LOT and nearly every Run i have does have its unique Quirks or fun synergy. Its ridicolously fun and May be a good contenter for Isaac, especially If the full 2.0 Update gets released"
}
]
}