Pokerogue
New
- Genre Board games
- Players 1
- Session 10 min
- Price Free
- Updated
Turn-based creature battling restructured as a roguelite, which turns out to suit it far better than it has any right to. The usual format assumes you can heal between fights and retreat when a plan fails; here you cannot, so every point of health spent in an easy encounter is health you will not have three fights later. Opponents are randomised, which means the team you assembled for the run has to be adaptable rather than optimal, and resources are scarce enough that a good decision made twenty minutes ago is what wins the fight in front of you. Runs are long, losses are total, and both of those are the point.
| Mouse | Select moves, switch team members and navigate menus |
|---|---|
| Keyboard | Arrow keys and confirm for menu navigation |
| Touch | Tap to select |
How to play Pokerogue
- Spend health deliberately. There is no free recovery, so an easy fight won badly is still a cost.
- Build a team that covers several matchups rather than one that is excellent at a single strategy.
- Save consumables for the fights that will otherwise end the run rather than the ones that are merely awkward.
- Switch out early. Staying in a bad matchup for one more turn is the most common way runs collapse.
- Treat a lost run as information. The route knowledge carries even though the team does not.
Tips
- The strongest single creature is rarely the right pick, because a run is decided by coverage rather than by peaks.
- Status effects are far more valuable when healing is scarce, since they compound over a whole run.
- Plan two fights ahead when spending resources, because the randomiser rarely gives you what you were hoping for.
Questions about Pokerogue
What makes it a roguelite?
Randomised opponents, scarce resources and runs that end permanently rather than reloading.
Can I heal between fights?
Only with limited resources. There is no free recovery point.
How long is a run?
Long. This is a game for a proper session rather than a few minutes.
Does progress carry between runs?
Some does, in the form of unlocks, but a lost run is genuinely lost.
Does it need installing?
No, it runs in the browser.
Is it turn based?
Yes, entirely, so there is no time pressure within a fight.
