Number 7 on my list for 2020 is one of several roguelikes to appear on the top 10, but this one showcases the current greatest potential of a bullet hell roguelike.
#7 Project Starship X
Like many of my picks each year, Project Starship X was definitely overlooked by a lot of people, even me at first. It wasn’t until I saw a recommendation from a game reviewer I follow that I decided to check this one out. As a bullet hell game, Project Starship X hits all the notes of the “screen full of death” design that we know from the genre.
Where it does its own thing is with the roguelike elements. After you win a few times, the game begins to unlock new challenges and situations that can occur. “Mad Events” can randomly appear at any time and help to keep the player on their toes along with the upgrades and powerups randomly chosen as well. The idea of combining Shmup/bullet hell to a roguelike design is still fairly new. The only other examples would be Monolith (which was on a previous year’s list) and the upcoming The Void Rains Upon Her Heart.
What keeps Project Starship X from going higher on the list is that while there is variance, it’s still not enough to make the runs feel genuinely different once you know what you’re doing. The flashing lights and such are very hard on the eyes and does knock it down a few pegs in my opinion, such as with Post Void released this year.
As I will talk about in my upcoming third book focusing on roguelike design, adding roguelike elements to a design can produce very unique designs that Project Starship X is certainly an example of. I can’t wait to see what different take on the genre we’ll see that will hopefully make my 2021 list.
As we move into #6, we have a strange listing of three games taking up the spot.
