Verdict: One of the best games of its generation, and the rare roguelike that people who hate roguelikes love. It’s not an apocalypse game, strictly speaking, but it’s the best game we know about failing, learning and trying again, which is close enough.
The setup
Supergiant Games’ Hades, released in full in 2020, casts you as Zagreus, the son of Hades, trying to fight his way out of the Underworld. Every escape attempt takes you through randomized chambers of enemies, and the Olympian gods offer you boons, blessings that change how your attacks and abilities work. When you die, which you will constantly, you wake up back in your father’s house and try again.
What makes it great
Death moves the story forward. This is the game’s masterstroke. In most roguelikes, dying means starting over with nothing. In Hades, every death returns you home, where characters react to how you died, new conversations unlock and relationships deepen. Failure becomes progress, so you never feel like you wasted a run.
The combat is superb. Fast, precise and endlessly varied. Six weapons, each with alternate forms, combined with dozens of boons, mean no two runs play alike, and experimenting with combinations is a joy.
The writing and characters are the best in the genre. The Greek gods are funny, vain, petty and occasionally moving, and the core family story about Zagreus, his father and his missing mother is genuinely affecting. The voice acting is excellent.
It looks and sounds fantastic. Hand-painted art and Darren Korb’s soundtrack, which blends rock and Mediterranean folk, give it enormous style.
The critical consensus agreed: it won the BAFTA for Best Game and became the first video game to win a Hugo Award.
Where it falls short
The structure is repetitive by design, and after dozens of runs through the same four regions, some players burn out before the story ends. Reaching the true ending takes many successful escapes, which feels generous to some and padded to others. And if you dislike fast action combat, the story can’t carry you through.
The survival lesson
Here’s why it belongs on this site. Hades teaches the right attitude toward failure: each attempt teaches you something, small gains add up, and the people around you remember what you’ve been through. Real survival doesn’t give you respawns, but practicing skills before a crisis is the closest thing you get to a second run. Our list of games that build survival habits has more in the same spirit.
Have you escaped the Underworld? Tell us in the comments which weapon got you out.