Soldier of Ruins: Temple of Apocalypse

Soldier of Ruins: Temple of Apocalypse forces forward momentum by design, there's no safe room to retreat to and no way to backtrack out of danger, which means every upgrade choice has to account for the harder rooms ahead rather than just the threat directly in front of you.

Because runs are randomized rather than fixed, banking upgrades that improve survivability broadly, health, defense, mobility, tends to hold up better across an unpredictable run than a narrow damage-focused build that only shines against specific enemy types. Dashing through a trap-filled room rather than fighting through it directly is usually the safer call when the objective is just reaching the next room alive. Gobdun covers similarly unforgiving dungeon-crawling roguelike ground with an old-school, no-hand-holding difficulty.