Binding of Isaac obv

Honestly, I hope it is one playthrough only. It does allow for better storytelling, and it is not really a game you'd want to complete multiple times anyways.

Most games in this genre aren’t platformers. Maybe take a look at Risk of Rain and Downwell. For top down shooters The Binding of Isaac, Enter the Gungeon and Nuclear Throne are v good. FTL and Darkest Dungeon are excellent Rogue likes also.

I'm pretty sure that it's static. It seems way too complex to randomize, lots of small contextual clues concerning people of shared occupation or nationality that you infer identities through.

Personally, I have such a crap memory I would only remember a few of the characters after a year, so if you're like me you can come back to it a few times and enjoy it again.

Is the lack of Steam discoverability hiding a bunch of new indie gems or are we really experiencing a drought of good games? Seems like there should be 4-5 excellent indie games in this vein coming out ever year now but there have only been a few over the last few years like Enter the Gungeon and Darkest Dungeon.

Why are you comparing a masterpiece like EtG to this trash?

Would the first Steamworld Dig qualify as Rogue-like? It isn't as replayable in the way spelunky and rogue legacy have you going through the world many times quickly.

Never got super far into it, but would this qualify as a platformer, or more a bullet hell game?

Yeah I'm dumb and missed the word platformer in the initial question

I’m torn by this post because I love Rogue Legacy but Spelunky is a damn masterpiece (I will stress as always to play the freeware version).

Not a rogue-like but Hollow Knight is a fantastic platformer. Has a similar feel to Rogue Legacy but a bit more precise and challenging but in a fair way.

I think I just like the mindlessly smash things to get a level up style of rogue legacy. it never feels quite the same. I really love it. I didn't play much of spelunky (<2h) but running away from ghosts while going down tombs wasn't exactly fun for me.

2nd hollow Knight suggestion. Worth looking into even with no permadeath/random levels.

20XX might be worth checking out Bc it has some similarities to Rogue Legacy. It’s essentially mega man X reimagined as a Rogue like where you keep your upgrades from previous failed runs a la Rogue Legacy.

Not really all that similiar to dead cells or rogue legacy but you might wanna look at Shovel Knight. I beat it when it first came out and thought it was a little easy. They’ve since added some playable characters and maybe some more stuff I’m unaware of.

You've got some solid input already but as a fan and experienced in the genre I wanted to give you my two cents. Platforming applies sometimes.

Spelunky is an absolute masterpiece, the controls are super fluid and the game has surprising amount of depth and secrets and whatnot. It is really special. The difficulty improves the game longevity but it's incredibly fair.
Also obligatory read: http://spelunky.wikia.com/wiki/YASD

If you don't like it that's fair, but maybe consider giving it another shot, it grows on you over time. I spent 160+ hours in it and it was fantastic.

Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (dlc recommended, at least afterbirth), 466 hours in this one and 100% it all. The newest DLC wasn't too well initially received but it turned out okay in the end I think. This game is absolutely massive with the number of items, characters, combinations, synergies, strategies, levels, endings, enemies, bosses.

Enter the Gungeon since August 2018 my biggest surprise. It used to be a bit tedious and it felt like the game is afraid to let you have fun by being overly difficult. The new Advanced Dungeons & Dragons update improved the game greatly and I found it hugely enjoyable and increased my hours played from ~20 to 80+. Similarly to above the depth here is absolutely massive. Huge number of guns, enemies, secrets, items, bosses. The game is hilarious too with all the puns. Still playing it although my progress is significant at this point.

Nuclear Throne action oriented younger brother of EtG (I know it was released a lot earlier). It looks rough but it's action packed and the gameplay is fluid. Also decent amount of guns and secrets. A lot of characters. Quick runs. 70 hours played.

Hollow Knight is great single player game with a lot more platforming. Excellent boss fights. Metroidvania elements. I like the world (this time hand crafted) and music. Some people don't get the hype so it's not everybody but I think for one playthrough is absolutely great. There are some minor bugs (ha! the pun!). Took me 40 hours to do most of the stuff available at that time (including optional bosses, didn't try for 100% or speedrunning, maybe will come back to it).

Shovel Knight: a throwback to SNES platformers. Great levels and music. I only played it through with a first character (they added more as free (or not, it's complicated) later on). Also handcrafted levels and a lot more platforming. I got solid 10 hours out of it.

I will just mention other games with a lot of platforming that are great:
Guacamelee, Mark of the Ninja, Fly'N, BattleBlock Theater.

Also very different excellent roguelite is rhythm based Crypt of the Necrodancer. Also got almost 70 hours out of it.

Thanks for the huge reply.

Yesterday I tried to play spelunky again and even though I still didn't have much fun, or at least feel like I was having fun, I spent like 2 hours playing and it felt like a lot less. Then I got frustrated because I didn't know how to pass the traps with the spears without triggering them and rage quit

I really love platformers. My favorite games ever are donkey kong country 2 and megaman X2. the ones I played recently and enjoyed were rayman origins and legends (this one is amazing, specially the music levels) and super meat boy. also loved puppeteer. very original game I thought.

Well if we're throwing in regular platformers into the mix, then I can't recommend Celeste enough. Also I think The End is Nigh is on sale somewhere right now if you liked Super Meat Boy it's by the same designer, a bit harder and more frustrating, but still enjoyable if you're into that kind of thing.

My brother has just moved in with me, and I've given him my old crappy laptop to do college work with.

I want to start playing games with him, and have a spare gaming PC he can use if he wants. He not too keen at the moment, although I know he'll love it once he gets into it, especailly stuff like Divinity OS.

Are there any recommendations for cheap/free (as I guess I have to get two copies) co-op games? Preferably ones that will play on a potato laptop to get him started.

My first though was Spleunky, but even that's a little pricey for me at the moment.

Best bet is to probably just pay attention to Steam sales. Next one is the Steam Halloween Sale, Oct. 29 to Nov. 1st. The next big Steam sale after that starts Nov. 21st.

Portal 2 for a co-op game?

"Orcs must die!" is a combination of an action-rpg and tower defense. It's a whole lot of fun. You can get part 1 for 10 Euro and the megapack (includes part 1+2 and all DLC) for ~30 Euro. There is also Orcs Must Die Unchained which is a MOBA take on the game which is F2P.
Alien Swarm is a coop game (3rd person shooter?) with very positive reviews and is available for free on Steam. Never played it though.
If you prefer puzzles instead of action there is always Portal (<10 Euro).

Cool cheers. Puzzle/Rpg sounds good.

Definitely going to get Portal 2 as it's something I've always been meaning to play anyway.

Borderlands/Borderlands 2 get down to like $5 each during Steam sales. Majority of the survival games are co-op.

Oh yeah, Don't Starve Together.

Although that is a pretty unforgiving game, so starting off with it might not be best.

I just finished Mega Man 11 on normal. I got through all the robot masters without buying E-tanks or extra lives in Dr. lights shop. I died on Wily stage 1 5-10 times then went to the shop and bought everything. Marched through the rest of the game easily without dying just tanking everything. Started a new game on hard difficulty and barely could beat the first robot master with mega buster. All enemies drop is bolts I think on hard so I could just buy up everything in the shop and get through it again. Playing a no shop run on hard would take an absurd amount of skill. I’ve recently played some of the older x-series and the level design in MM11 is just masterful in comparison. The double gear system adds a level of complexity that’s unlike anything in the series up until this point and I feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface. If you have any interest in Mega Man at all I think you owe it to yourself to check out the newest entry.