Risk of Rain 2. The Best Indie Games of 2020

Paul Wozniak

September 30, 2020

The Best Indie Games of 2020.

Risk of Rain 2

Bold changes to the new installment of the series turned out to be a great idea.

Developer: Hopoo Games
Genre: roguelike
Release date: August 11, 2020;
Platforms: PC (early access on consoles)
Steam opinions: 96% positive

What kind of game is this?

In 2013, a studio made up of two students released their debut production, Risk of Rain – a pixel-art roguelike. The game didn't immediately become a hit, but the authors eventually decided to create a sequel. However, they decided to release the sequel as early access first, to collect from players. And they demanded a different graphical setting – and so, Risk of Rain 2 is a fully three-dimensional adventure. Otherwise, the game follows the original quite closely. We travel to more locations, fight ever stronger opponents and collect new items and improvements, making our character an even more efficient killing machine.

What made the players like this game so much?

It didn't take much for Risk of Rain 2 to succeed. The previous entry in the series was popular with players who liked roguelike games, and early access allowed the developers to show that the changes they were making didn't hurt the game. The slightly altered gameplay attracted new people, while keeping the existing fans around. Frequent updates along with improvements eventually led to the official debut of Risk of Rain 2. And since then (i.e. since August 11), the production has still been very popular.