Best Looter Shooters Out Now

Key Takeaways

• Looter shooters combine FPS style with RPG grinding for rewards and customization.
• Big and small teams alike have produced Looter Shooters of note over the years.
• Games like Zero Sievert and Gaunt Valkyr offer unique twists on the genre.
• Shell Runner stands out with isometric permadeath gameplay and lifelike body customization.

Although they come in many forms, looter shooters have always been popular. It’s a genre that mixes the fast and frantic style of modern First Person Shooter games with RPG grinding for rewards and upgrades to encourage continued gameplay, and it always works.

Who can argue that there’s nothing better than taking down a particularly tough Skagg in Borderlands or Raid Boss in Destiny 2, only to then see it drop a big pile of loot that’s an exotic or legendary class? Plus, being able to mix and match weaponry, armor, and play styles across a wide variety of characters is what sells these games to a lot of people. They offer a massive amount of personalization that lets you feel like your character is your own. It’s a subtle touch that really immerses you and draws you into the world. With that in mind, here are some of the best looter shooter games out now.

Updated November 11, 2024 By Matthew Mckeown: Shoot, loot, die, repeat. That’s the loop of the majority of looter shooters out there, especially the roguelikes, and it’s a satisfying rhythm to fall into. Even more so if the rewards you unlock along the way are particularly tasty.

In general Looter Shooters are a genre that will never get old and there’s always some new attempt at it just around the corner. From the big team developments to the smaller indie crowd, you never have to look far or long to find something good. So with that in mind, here’s an updated look at the best Looter Shooter games out now.

Sulfur

Culling Goblins With A Glock

Take on an old-school fantasy adventure with modern weaponry in Sulfur from Perfect Random. This unique dungeon crawler has all the hallmarks of fantasy roguelikes, but with a spicy dollop of looter shooter shoved into its core.

Find answers to what happened to the world to blend it in such a way, customize your weapons in fine detail, and partake in quests for massive rewards. Overall its a simple concept that’s executed brilliantly and with a low asking price for entry, Sulfur is a looter shooter you don’t want to sleep on.

Zero Sievert

Top-Down STALKER Vibes

An extraction shooter with a difference, Zero Sievert is a solo experience of stress, scavenging, and avoiding radioactive anomalies. In a procedurally generated wasteland filled with loot, you can be king. You just have to make it home first with all your treasures.

The local wildlife is twisted beyond recognition, hostile raiders roam the land and with a bevy of customization options for your gear, guns, and more at your fingertips there’s a lot to get lost in. Every wander in that wasteland is different and it’s very easy to get wiped out if you’re not paying attention. An enjoyable game with a relatively high skill ceiling, Zero Sievert is worth sneaking onto your wishlist.

Combat Complex

Heavy Horde Shooter Action

A lightning-fast action RPG set in the far future, Combat Complex throws everything but the kitchen sink at you. Levels are procedurally generated in this Early Access looter shooter indie game and each one is packed to the brim with alien hordes and tasty loot to snap up.

You’ll be overwhelmed by monstrosities constantly, but thankfully there are traps and other gadgets that let you turn hostile attacks against their casters. In an experience where you’ll be relying on twitchy reflexes at all times, Combat Complex certainly puts you into the deep end of the fight. If you enjoy horde shooters that don’t take it easy on you, then check out Combat Complex.

Gaunt Valkyr

Customize Chaotic Weapons Your Way

A quirky looter shooter that has a lot of hallmarks of Nuclear Throne, Gaunt Valkyr is a free-to-pick-up indie looter shooter on Itch that’s picked up a lot of groundswell. Set in a sci-fi fantasy setting, you’re thrown to the proverbial wolves with the depth of weapons and enemy variety.

There’s over 20 levels to blow through, but each one poses a different and substantially challenging experience. But the real selling point of Gaunt Valkyr is weapon customization. There’s so much possibility on the table, from turning shotguns into sniper rifles, adding extra barrels to miniguns and much more. Tweak the chaos your way in Gaunt Valkyr.

The Forever Winter

A Scrapyard Challenge In The Far Future

An Early Access game that’s been grabbing a lot of attention, The Forever Winter is a post-apocalyptic scavenger with a very distinct concept. You play as a humble scrapper trying to make it through the war that rages on the surface above. But instead of taking part in it, you’re just here to clean up the mess.

Scattered around the various perpetually raging warzones are loot, gear, guns and more just waiting for someone to come and collect it. But, it’s not as easy as it sounds as the war is still going and it’s very easy to catch a stray shot. Keep your head down and make it back with those pockets full, because if you die you’ll lose it all.

Cybercorp

Breaking Bots In The Bleak Far Future

If you’re looking for something oozing in Cyberpunk style and is filled with arcade action then download Cybercorp. This adrenaline fuelled Early Access looter shooter from Megame is a solid game that’s one to watch.

In what the developer refers to as a “smaller scale Destiny”, Cybercorps top-down high octane approach to action is both satisfyingly violent and deep scratch for that loot goblin itch. There’s guns galore, plus your Combat Shell Synth can also be tweaked as you conquer the cities streets.

Cybercorp comes with co-op and it’s highly encouraged to try.

Ash And Adam’s Gobsmacked

Goblin Mode Engaged

An Early Access Indie game from two devs with a great sense of humor, Gobsmacked is Goblin Mode personified. You are a tiny Goblin Gladiator in a very small arena surrounded by a large crowd. Play to the audience and wreck your competitors to get paid, cause chaos, and upgrade your Gobbo.

Smash, shoot and tear apart waves of enemies, turrets and more in the procedurally generated arena. Earn cash for playing to the crowd and unlock permanent upgrades for the arena, yourself or your weapons. There’s plenty of ways to cause chaos and it’s actively encouraged anyway. Put this on your wishlist and keep and eye on it.

If you want big rewards, try to hit those Crowd Pleasure tasks as fast as possible.

Pawn Planet

Everything must go, literally.

In Pawn Planet from Gambol Games you’re the owner of an interstellar Pawnshop and the entire Universe is your Oyster. Run your store, sell your wares, and then take part in daring heists for more junk that you can turn into merchandise.

Despite it being in Early Access, Pawn Planet shows a lot of polish and plenty of charm and potential. Its got some fun Rick and Morty vibes, but the difference is the jokes actually work. Grow your business, customize your store and remember, everything can turn a profit.

It’s worth restoring objects when you can as they can be sold for a higher profit.

Shell Runner

Isometric Permadeath

In 2045 life is cheap according to Shell Runner from Reija. If you’ve got the cash, Death can be shrugged off like the common cold. Unfortunately, you’re now at the bottom rung and you’ll have to battle your way back up to the top.

You do this using your Shell, a lifelike body that’s remote controlled. There’s over 20 to choose from and they all have their own quirks, but if you lose one on a mission, it’s gone for good. A surprisingly solid looter shooter with permadeath, Shell Runner is definitely for the skilled.

The developers have disclosed that the A.I hub companion uses AI generated voice lines. As unfortunate as that is, that’s as far as it goes thankfully.

Cubed And Dangerous

Everything Is Better As A Cube

If you’re looking for a charming yet still challenging looter shooter then look no further than Cubed And Dangerous from Ace High Arcade. This cutesy shooter is a chaotic mix of physic based combat and literal billions of procedurally generated weapons, perks and monsters.

Everything obeys the laws of physics, so it’s very easy to frag yourself instead of a box shaped monster. It’s an anarchic arcade blend that surprisingly works really well, plus the game is on the cheap end and regularly updated. So there’s no reason why this shouldn’t be in your library.

Ruin Dog

An Exciting Alien Arena Shooter

Rama Studio have taken things to the very far future. Humanity is in a golden era and they spend their centuries watching shows featuring live hunts of aliens. You play as a humble alien or bot sent out into the arena to fend for yourself on a put on one hell of a show.

There’s a bunch of unique monsters and bosses to blast and to survive it all you’ll need to mix, match, and upgrade your guns and gear to last to those higher levels. Nowhere is safe, but each character has their own skills and abilities to keep them alive across the various colorful, futuristic, and deadly worlds you’ll encounter.

As a bonus selling point, Ruin Dog is very cheap and has a file size of just four Gigabytes. So it’s not too chunky for your hard drive.

Ants Took My Eyeball

An Unapolagetically Gory Indie Game

A 2D platformer meets Looter Shooter from Bosmic Forge, Ants Took My Eyeball is a sleeper hit you should stick on your radar. The concept is simple, the Ants have your eye, go get it back using whatever you can find, be that gun, bat, and everything in between.

Combat is fast and filled with insects, the levels are procedural, there’s loot literally everywhere and progress is permanent as there’s pseudo-base building. Plus, if you fancy some company there’s co-op available for up to four people at once, so you can really let out some group anger on those pesky Ants.

Ants Took My Eyeball is regularly updated and drip-fed, so the game’s development is pretty healthy.

Noita

Building God Wands

A magical and at times brutal rogue-lite adventure into the Abyss, Noita is all about one thing, wand building. But this is far from your Harry Potter twee crafting scene, this is Noita where your biggest concern is how big you like your collateral damage to be.

There’s a near-infinite combination of wands to find and each one can be tweaked with spells in any arrangement you like, although you’ll need to buy the incantations first. Plus, to get those wands you’ll have to climb, crawl and float through endless tunnels of terror filled with all sorts of environmental hazards and weird creatures. Death means a full restart, so watch where you tread and try not to blow yourself up.

Noita has a very active modding community that’s added all sorts of oddities and helpful quality-of-life additions to the game that are worth checking out.

OMFG: One Million Fatal Guns

A Massive Arsenal At Your Disposal

A Looter Shooter from Gun Hit Wonders that strips it all back to the basics, One Million Fatal Guns has a simple premise, shoot bots, don’t die, get guns. Which works incredibly well for it.

There are over 30 million weapons according to the devs and you’ll wield most of them as you clear out a Space Station that’s been hijacked by robots. Last as long as you can, find some weird weapons, and try to set a high score. It’s not too complicated and enjoyable for a few hours of mindless action, gunplay, and score-attack stylings.

One Million Fatal Guns was made as a student project for educational purposes. So cut it a little slack as it’s an impressive outing for a student team.

Unturned

A Blocky Zombie Apocalypse

A game sporting a lot of Roblox energy, Unturned from Smartly Dressed Games is a Zombie survivor game that meets Looter Shooter that’s been surprisingly popular with the gaming community. Society is ruined, blocky Zombies roam the lands and you’re a blocky-shaped person just trying to survive in it all.

Loot shelters for supplies, approach each interaction with the Undead how you like, craft, forage, and hunt whilst having to deal with other players as there’s plenty of PvP to be had. There are a lot of unique in-game events to keep things alive and interesting, plus a healthy amount of base building to keep the Doomsday Preppers satisfied.

As an extra selling point, Unturned is free to play.

The Brew Barons

Running A Bar With A Biplane

A Ghibli-esque world of bi-planes and giant steamships, The Brew Barons from Lifetap Studios blends dogfights with open-world exploration and running a Berry Brewery. It’s a unique blend that’s satisfying to play as you soar around the skies in fights or hunting for the next harvestable spot.

Pirate organizations rule the skies and the Brewery trade and it’s up to you to make your mark in this cruel world. Your plane is highly customizable and there are plenty of parts that come with their own unique traits and bonuses. Plus there’s plenty of loot to pick up on your adventures around the world and a bar to run back at home.

Brewing is highly recommended to invest your time in as you can get quite creative with the blends. Plus, the more exotic they are, the more money you make.

Godsvivors

Grizzly Combat With Greek Gods

An action-packed blend of Vampire Survivors and Enter The Gungeon, Godsvivors from Titan is a fast-paced rogue-lite game that devolves into a bullet hell shooter incredibly quickly. At your fingertips are a multitude of deadly and downright odd weaponry, all in the hands of one of seven from an entire pantheon of Greek Gods.

They all come with their own unique traits and bonuses that you’ll need to take advantage of in order to stay alive for the 15-minute time limit. There are massive classic Greek monsters as bosses and the games pretty cheap as well so it’s ideal if you’re on a tight budget.

The Gods available to play are Apollo, Ares, Athena, Hermes, Hephaestus, Poseidon and of course, Zeus.

Magicraft

Spell Slinging Simulator

Test your arcane blending abilities in Magicraft from Wave Game. This simple yet incredibly spooky roguelike looter shooter presents you with various dark worlds to explore with the combining of magical spells you find along the way your only defense.

It is Early Access but the game regularly gets big beefy patches from the devs and there’s a Discord to join to track its progress if you’re still not sold. Each run brings random results and there are plenty of creative puzzles to encounter as you blast your way through each dungeon.

Not all spells blend together well. It’s very easy to create something that will just you or render your best spell absolutely useless, so be careful.

The Light Brigade

Old Era Weaponry In A Fantasy Setting

An immersive VR game from Funktronic Labs, The Light Brigade is a tactical fantasy shooter that puts a fun realistic yet still quite arcadey spin on things. You join the Light Brigade, Humanity’s last line against the darkness and it’s up to you to turn the tide for the forces of good.

Wield World War Two era weaponry in tense gun fights against all sorts of soldiers, ghouls, and brutal bosses. There’s everything from old bolt actions to six shooters, semi-automatics, submachine guns, and full auto big boy guns. Each one has realistic loading and you can even use magic whilst you do. There’s a big mystery at the bottom of everything and a near-infinite road in front of you.

There are collectible Tarot Cards in each level that will enhance your runs with extra loot, debuffs, passives, and more.

Nienix: Cosmic Warfare

Learning To Drift, In Space!

There’s a lost legendary artifact known as Nienix, the galaxy is awash in conflict and you, or a group of friends will need to try and survive out there in that violent void. The galaxy is massive and it’s a complete open playground that comes with some RPG mechanics and physics-based combat.

Space drifting strafe runs are encouraged and to make you better at fighting there are endless customizations on offer from parts and other bits of loot dropped from quests, enemies, and as rewards for other tasks. Everything is on offer from soaring around in a small fighter to cruising deep space in a massive battle barge with a fleet at your disposal. Tame the Galaxy your way or bring in your buds and run riot, there’s endless choice in this space-based looter shooter.

Nothing in the Universe is set, space is procedurally generated so expect absolutely anything out there.