Risk of Rain (2013)

You play a survivor stranded on a hostile planet after a crash, fighting through its stages in search of teleporters that lead onward and, ultimately, back to your ship. Runs can be played solo or with friends in co-op.

Explore each stage for chests, shrines, and other finds while battling randomly appearing enemies and bosses. Activate the teleporter to face its boss and advance, balancing exploration against a timer that makes enemies stronger and more frequent.

Collect and stack more than 100 items to shape each run, and unlock survivors with different abilities and play styles. Challenges also unlock new items and characters, while item and monster logs reveal more about the world.

Many reviewers enjoy how random item finds can turn a precarious run into a powerful, chaotic build, while the steadily rising difficulty keeps decisions about exploring or moving on tense. They also praise the different survivor abilities, replayable runs, co-op, and atmospheric soundtrack. Some players find the learning curve steep or the original’s controls and systems rough around the edges.