Enter the Gungeon

Enter the Gungeon, released in 2016, is a bullet hell roguelike that throws you into a bizarre, firearms-themed dungeon where everything, from the enemies to the walls, is gun-related. Developed by Dodge Roll, a studio formed by four former Mythic Entertainment employees, and published by Devolver Digital, the game drops you into the role of a Gungeoneer, a character with a personal mission to find the legendary gun that can "kill the past." Each run sends you through procedurally generated rooms filled with bullet-shaped foes, and you'll need to rely on a mix of conventional firearms and absurd, exotic weapons to survive. The catch: permadeath. When you die, you lose everything and start from the first level, but between runs you can visit the Breach, a hub where you can chat with NPCs and unlock new items that will randomly appear in future runs.

Development kicked off in 2014, with lead designer Dave Crooks drawing inspiration for the name "Gungeon" from the soundtrack of the game Gun Godz. The team handcrafted and playtested every individual room, then used procedural generation to shuffle them into fresh layouts each time. The guns themselves were inspired by classics like Mega Man and Metroid, and the level design encourages you to use the environment to your advantage, whether that's dodging behind tables or flipping them for cover.

The game launched on April 5, 2016, for Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, and Windows, and quickly gained a following. By June 2020, it had sold over three million copies. Critics compared it favorably to The Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne, praising the inventive weapon designs and the satisfying challenge. Dodge Roll kept the game alive with several content updates from 2017 to 2019, and later released a spin-off, Exit the Gungeon, in 2019. A direct sequel, Enter the Gungeon 2, is slated for 2026. [edit]

At its core, Enter the Gungeon is a twin-stick shooter where you navigate a series of procedurally generated floors, each packed with bullet-firing enemies and a boss at the end. The dodge roll is your best friend: it grants brief invincibility frames, letting you slip through dense curtains of projectiles. You can also flip tables for temporary cover, a move that sends them flying into enemies if you're lucky. The arsenal is the real star, with over 200 guns ranging from a standard pistol to a weapon that fires actual bees or turns enemies into chickens. Each gun has its own quirks, and you'll need to manage ammo carefully because once a gun runs dry, it's gone for that run.

Rooms are handcrafted but shuffled by procedural generation, so no two runs feel the same. You'll find chests that might hold weapons or items, but beware: some are mimics. Shops offer goods for casings you collect from fallen foes, and secret rooms hide behind cracked walls if you know where to look. The Breach serves as your hub between runs, where you can spend Hegemony Credits to unlock new items and characters for future attempts. Co-op play lets a second player join as a cultist, reviving you if you fall, but only once per floor. The difficulty ramps up steadily, and mastering enemy patterns is key to surviving the later floors. [edit]

The Gungeon sits at the heart of a gun-infested world, a dungeon so named because it's literally built from firearms. You play as one of several Gungeoneers, each with a tragic past they're desperate to erase. The only way to do that is to find the Gun That Can Kill The Past, a legendary weapon hidden in the deepest chamber of the Gungeon. So you descend, floor by floor, battling bullet-kin and gun-toting bosses, all while piecing together the lore through item descriptions and the occasional NPC encounter.

The narrative unfolds through environmental storytelling rather than cutscenes. You'll meet characters like the Blacksmith, who forges the Bullet That Can Kill The Past, and the Sorceress, who sells magical items. Each of the four main Gungeoneers, the Marine, the Convict, the Hunter, and the Pilot, has a unique backstory revealed through their past-killing quest. Defeating the game's final boss and using the bullet allows you to travel back and confront your past, leading to a different ending for each character. It's a clever way to weave replayability into the story, and it's one of the reasons players keep coming back. [edit]