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Dungeon Defenders is back as a co-op roguelike game

Team up with up to three friends to take down the ancient dragon in Dungeon Defenders: Going Rogue, which hits Early Access on Steam today

A huntress takes on a towering Goblin Mech boss in Dungeon Defenders: Going Rogue

The Dungeon Defenders series is making a return today, but with a spin on the classic formula. The latest entry, Dungeon Defenders: Going Rogue, is a co-op roguelike game, and it’s available today on Steam Early Access.

Developer Chromatic Games explains that the roguelike format for Dungeon Defenders: Going Rogue began life as a game mode, but eventually grew into its own game as the team added unique elements to the familiar Dungeon Defenders action. While you’ll be able to play as beloved characters like the squire, huntress, monk, and apprentice and still place towers and traps on the dungeon floor to manage the flow of enemies, there are new threats to face.

Perhaps most notable among the new additions are the boss arenas, where you and your team of adventurers will have to face down increasingly challenging boss monsters as your make your way to the dragon at the end of each run. Chromatic Games CEO Augi Lye tells us that an average run should last around 25 minutes, and you’ll be able to earn new gear and currency on each run that will help strengthen your characters for future adventures.

Here’s the trailer:

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Of course, you can also play solo, and whether alone or as part of a group, you’ll be able to customise your character with loads of gear, loot, and randomly-rolled runes that can power up your attacks or buff defences.

Lye tells us that it’s been great to return to Dungeon Defenders after a decade away, during which time he worked in California with an AI design company.

“It’s awesome. I feel like the luckiest person,” he says, now back in Chromatic’s Florida offices. Lye tells us he’s established a “no crunch, no jerk” policy at the studio, with the goal being to “create a nurturing environment where people are free to express themselves.”

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“The focus is to make something fun: make your work fun, make your art fun,” he says. “I believe everything else follows automatically.”