By Aimee Rogers 
Every day, thousands of upcoming games compete for attention on Steam, yet only a handful manage to generate enough excitement to climb the wishlist charts and stay there.
While Steam wishlists aren’t a perfect predictor of success, they are one of the clearest indicators of what players are paying attention to right now.
The roguelites currently leading the way are an interesting mix. Some come from established studios, while others have been created by relatively unknown solo developers. What they all have in common is one thing…
A whole lot of people are looking forward to playing them.
Curious to know what’s getting us, and everyone else excited right now? Here’s Steam’s 10 most wishlisted roguelites.
Most roguelites begin with a straightforward, somewhat predictable premise, but Wanderburg isn’t one of them.
This is a game about driving around a giant castle. Yes, you read that right, a giant castle… On wheels.
Beneath the wonderfully ridiculous concept sits a roguelite built around exploration, combat, and gradually transforming your fortress into a rolling engine of destruction. Players travel across a dangerous world, gathering resources, upgrading their castle, and bolting increasingly powerful weapons and defenses onto its walls.
The result feels part city builder, part vehicle combat game, and part roguelite.
Players aren’t wishlisting Wanderburg because it resembles existing hits. They’re wishlisting it because it doesn’t, and that’s a trend you’ll see throughout this list.
Few survival games have remained relevant for as long as Don’t Starve.
More than a decade after the original game’s release, players are still exploring its strange world, discovering new ways to survive, and occasionally being killed by things they didn’t know existed five minutes earlier.
That’s what makes Don’t Starve Elsewhere so interesting.
In a genre where new games appear every week, Klei’s survival series is still one of the most wishlisted upcoming roguelites on Steam.
Elsewhere takes players back into that wonderfully bizarre universe, introducing new locations to explore, new dangers to overcome, and new mysteries to uncover. The distinctive art style remains instantly recognizable, while the constant tension between exploration and survival looks as strong as ever.
Most games spend years trying to build an audience. Don’t Starve built one over a decade ago and somehow continues to keep players coming back for more.
Tears of Metal isn’t interested in small-scale battles. Players take control of a Scottish warrior fighting through enormous medieval conflicts filled with enemy soldiers, brutal melee combat, and enough chaos to keep even the most battle-hardened roguelite fans busy.
Each run allows players to recruit allies, unlock upgrades, and gradually build a stronger force capable of surviving increasingly overwhelming odds.
The premise is remarkably straightforward. Fight, survive, get stronger, do it again. Sometimes that’s all a roguelite needs.
Drunken Goddess Reflux is one of those games that immediately makes you stop and take a second look.
Part action roguelite and part visual spectacle, the game throws players into a world filled with fast-paced combat, flashy abilities, and enemies that appear determined to occupy every available inch of the screen.
Every trailer seems to introduce something stranger than the last. New characters, new powers, new creatures, new explosions.
Yet beneath all the visual chaos sits a familiar roguelite loop built around progression, experimentation, and discovering increasingly powerful combinations.
The result is a game that’s attracting attention for far more than just its unusual name.
Judas might just be the most unusual game on this list. At its core, it’s a first-person shooter from BioShock creator Ken Levine, built around player choice, reactive storytelling, and systems that respond to how players approach each situation.
Every decision has consequences, relationships evolve over time, and the world changes based on player actions.
While it may not fit neatly inside the roguelite genre, many of the ideas feel surprisingly familiar and it does have numerous roguelite elements.
Experimentation, adaptation, finding creative solutions to unexpected problems. Those qualities have always appealed to roguelite players, and they’re a large part of why Judas continues to generate so much interest.
Warhammer Survivors combines two things that already have enormous audiences and that’s the Warhammer universe and survivorlike gameplay.
Players battle their way through huge enemy hordes, unlocking new abilities, collecting upgrades, and slowly transforming into an unstoppable force capable of clearing entire armies.
If you’ve played Vampire Survivors, the formula will feel familiar. The difference is that this time you’re doing it alongside Warhammer’s iconic heroes, monsters, and battlefields.
For fans of either franchise, the appeal is fairly obvious.
Few roguelites have earned the reputation enjoyed by Enter the Gungeon.Years after release, players are still discovering new weapons, synergies, and secrets hidden throughout the original game.
Enter the Gungeon 2 looks set to build on that foundation. The sequel introduces a new visual style, fresh environments, new enemies, and what appears to be an even larger collection of absurd weapons and upgrades.
The original game became famous for its unpredictability, and no two runs felt the same. If the sequel can capture that same magic, it’s easy to understand why so many players have already added it to their wishlist.
Into the Unwell looks like a cartoon that has completely abandoned the concept of normality.
Players explore a bizarre world filled with strange enemies, unusual weapons, and environments that seem to become more chaotic the longer you stare at them.
The game supports cooperative play, allowing friends to tackle runs together while unlocking upgrades and discovering increasingly ridiculous tools along the way.
Every screenshot feels unpredictable, every trailer feels slightly unhinged, and that’s exactly what seems to be attracting players.
Most roguelites place a sword, gun, or magical artifact in the player’s hands. Pax Autocratica gives them an empire.
Instead of fighting monsters directly, players are tasked with managing a political system, balancing competing interests, making difficult decisions, and guiding their nation through uncertain times.
Every choice carries consequences and every run creates a different political landscape. The idea sounds unusual for a roguelite.
Then again, some of the genre’s most interesting games tend to appear in places nobody expects.
KingFish combines fishing, exploration, survival mechanics, and roguelite progression into a surprisingly intriguing package.
Players venture across dangerous waters, gathering resources, upgrading their equipment, and uncovering the secrets hidden beneath the surface.
The further you travel, the more dangerous the world becomes. New discoveries lead to new opportunities, but also new threats.
It’s the kind of game that constantly encourages players to push a little further and see what’s waiting beyond the next horizon. Which is often where the best adventures begin.
Looking through this list, roguelite players have plenty to look forward to. From giant rolling castles and political simulations to medieval warfare and survival adventures, the genre continues to find new ways to surprise players.
Not every game on this list will become the next breakout hit, but judging by the wishlist numbers, every one of them has already captured players’ attention.
Now all that’s left is to see which ones can live up to the hype.