Vagante is a tricky 2D roguelike, now available as a free public alpha

A public service announcement:

Videogame characters; sure, delving headlong into an unexplored cavern might sound heroic, but caves are the first sign of a roguelike. Remember: if you see a cave entrance, think! Walk on by, and find something safer—a hidden object game or a point-'n-click adventure. No, not the Sierra ones.

With that out of the way, let's take a look at Vagante. It's a... oh, it's a roguelike. I don't know why I bother.

In Vagante, you follow your protagonist through a monster-filled cave; dying, collecting loot, dying, fighting monsters, rescuing fairies and dying. It's a pretty pixel-based platformer with randomly generated levels filled with monsters, traps and unidentified potions. Sometimes good things happen to you. Mostly they do not.

It's still early in the development process right now, but that does mean it's free for all to try. You can download the public alpha from the game's IndieDB page , and browse through its development updates over at the Vagante blog .

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.