Windblown shows how good roguelikes can be with friends

Windblown's playthroughs show how great roguelikes can be with friends, some of the most beloved roguelikes are single-player - Hades, Balatro, and Dead Cells are all solo titles. But Windblown, the new roguelike from Motion Twin, the studio that created Dead Cells, showed me that playing roguelikes with other people can be fun.

In Windblown, your character, one of some generic kernels like an Axlotl or CamargoDad, is launched into a mystic giant tornado to make your way through different terrain. Like Dead Cells, you can launch two main weapons. I usually have one astrolabe for combat and the other for long-range. But with each weapon, you can also create a scar that uses a special move from the other weapon called an "AlterAttack."

Here's an example. Keep me away from enemies and make me prefer to use the crossbow to attack, pairing it with a huge heavy blade. I rarely use the blade alone; instead, I use its AlterAttack that rips the earth in a straight line to attack enemies. This turns a run into a steady rhythm of shooting arrows and using AlterAttack at exactly the right time, and so far with my five quarters with the game, I haven't grown tired of this pattern.

Windblown just launched in Early Stock, and you can already stock up on more than one credit, meaning there are so many combinations to be had without being put together. And with four different biomes to visit on a run, there's plenty to see, too.

All of this would make Windblown part of my regular roguelike journey to the Society I use to relax at the end of a long day. But the game's multiplayer is what makes Windblown the game I keep an eye on every time I turn on my Steam Deck.

Windblown's multiplayer lobby, which you'll join fairly early on, lets you play a full run-through with a team of up to three people. You can use voice and text chat to communicate, but it's not required; I didn't use them at all, instead restricting myself to four in-game combinations. I also like that you can name your lobby. I created a lobby titled "Help me get my first win" and immediately added two allies who would help me get started with Whirlwind. (Unfortunately, we didn't get a win.) When I play solo, I find that I'm somewhat tolerant and steady as I avoid the game's aggressive enemies and evade their attacks and use positioning tactics I've thought of. With the help of a team, battles happen faster and become enjoyable explosions of light, color, sound, and damage. It's a lot of fun to team up with other people to take down the beleaguered masses, and knowing they'll have your back in tough times is great.

There are still plenty of great roguelikes out there to challenge; Hades II just got a big update, Balatro is nearly unplayable (especially now that it's on mobile), and I wanted to get back into Shogun Showdown, which I think everyone is doing. Windblown needed more than Motion Twin Dynasty to stand out, but so far, the multiplayer is the main attraction that keeps me coming back.