Dungreed

Dungreed is a 2D side-scrolling action game with roguelite progression structure. The setup: a quiet, peaceful town was destroyed by a mysterious dungeon, all the townspeople were sucked into it, and you've been sent by the kingdom to investigate. You enter the dungeon to fight endless threats, rescue people, gather resources, and slowly rebuild the town as you progress.

There are no checkpoints inside the dungeon. Die, and your adventurer's items are lost and you're returned to town to start over. The roguelite layer comes from what carries between runs: permanent stat training in town, items and food found in the dungeon that you can equip on subsequent runs, and the gradual rebuilding of the town itself. Each run also unlocks new mechanics for the next attempt.

The dungeon layouts are procedurally generated but intricately designed — handcrafted rooms shuffled into procedural sequences, rather than purely random generation. Themes vary across the depths: prison, jungle, lava zones and more, each with its own enemies, traps and bosses. Weapons range from rusty swords to cutting-edge sniper rifles, with magical items and food pickups filling out the build options.

The pixel art is unusually polished, especially the appetizing food items that you'll be eating constantly to maintain stamina and HP. The training system in town lets you permanently improve stats so subsequent runs start stronger; the rebuild loop gives you reasons to push deeper and bring back more resources. The whole package is one of the more confidently designed 2D action roguelites of its era, with combat tight enough to stand on its own merits.