Today is the day. Better Luck Next Run, the indie roguelite turn-based JRPG I’ve been building, is officially out now on Steam. It’s a project that came out of my love for both classic 16-bit JRPGs and the roguelite genre that has eaten up so many of my hours lately, between Megabonk, Ball x Pit, and Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road. I figured if I’m going to spend my time playing roguelites anyway, I might as well try to make one.
Better Luck Next Run takes the classic turn-based JRPG formula from the 16-bit era and adds roguelite elements to it. As you navigate a grid-based dungeon, you’ll choose from a variety of different rooms, each with their own shrine upgrades and elemental enemies. The party drafting system pulls from 50 unique characters, each with their own class, weapon type, stats, and playstyle. Across 250 weapons, 100 skills, 50 items, and 10 biomes, the build possibilities are pretty wild, and a standard run takes roughly 30 to 60 minutes. There’s also plenty to unlock past your first clear.
The game launches at $3.99 for the first two weeks before settling at its regular price of $4.99. It’s built in RPG Maker MZ and is a true solo developer project, with Claude Code assisting with programming and refining in-game text like item, skill, and UI descriptions. All visual and audio assets are default RPG Maker MZ assets provided under license, but I’m planning to use a portion of every sale to commission original artwork from real artists to eventually replace the enemy and environment art.
I have absolutely no expectations in terms of sales, but if you’ve enjoyed FullCleared’s content over the years, picking it up is the best way to support the site. You can grab Better Luck Next Run on Steam for PC.
