Risk of Rain

This is seriously great. The characters all feel very different, and you will find one that feels right to you. My only real complaint is that it can drag on a bit at times and the interface isn't as informative as it could be.

I've sunk dozens of hours into this game, both solo and with friends, and it's a great time I can recommend to anyone with some tolerance for frustration. This is a game in which players are running, shooting, jumping, slashing, dodging, triggering powerful special equipment and getting killed in horrible ways while enemies of varying sizes and natures are spawning all over with ever-increasing frequency and power, often imbued with special powers. It's chaotic, frantic and often hilariously unfair, albeit not without occasional moments of contemplation, walking past monumental backgrounds while an excellent soundtrack plays. + Gameplay feels great + Very challenging, highly skill-based + High variety of characters and items + Great music, visuals and writing + New features still coming - Only a handful of maps - Extremely random difficulty - Hard to learn at first - Fidgety online multiplayer The game is best played via online multiplayer, several friends and proper team tactics. And while it may be tempting to go straight for the boss and finish a run after 30 to 90 minutes of playing, the real challenge lies in re-playing levels with constantly growing difficulty and seeing how long one can last.

The current version as of the time of writing (v1.3.0, released Apr 2016) has a number of crash bugs if you play the Linux version. Notably, a few hours into the game you'll unlock the second playable character and an item called the "Spikestrip". If you obtain and deploy this fairly common item, the game will softlock and you must abandon the run. WINE seems to run the Windows version perfectly, so I'd recommend using that version on Linux instead. Also, be aware (on all versions) that you can pause the game in singleplayer but you cannot save in the middle of the run (a feature, not a bug). A full run should take about 40-70 minutes assuming you do not repeat levels (or die), so be sure to allocate enough time to play!

Risk of Rain is like FTL's younger platformer cousin with the added bonus of multiplayer. Like FTL, this game is difficult and it will take multiple playthroughs before you make any headway. Also like FTL, the journey can be heaps of fun especially if you manage to get some of your friends along for the ride. It's not the most polished of games out there but if you're willing to be patient with its shortcomings Risk of Rain is a game well worth checking out.