Nuclear Throne has suddenly gotten addictive

For the last few days I’ve been getting more and more engrossed in Vlambeer’s roguelike twin-stick shooter Nuclear Throne. This is odd to me because when I first acquired the game almost a year ago I played it for maybe an hour and it didn’t really hook me. Now though I seem to spend on average an hour a day playing it, trying to get better each time. I think I know why this has happened.

In the earlier builds of Nuclear Throne you had access to just about every character right from the get-go. While this was good for figuring out playstyles and ideal strategies, it also paralyzed me with choices and options. However when i restarted the game recently, I only had access to two characters at the start, and had to unlock more as I went. Sometimes this happens through normal progression, and sometimes this happens because you found a hidden area. With this added incentive to play (since obviously reaching the end every time is not going to happen) I find it a lot easier to get into the game and keep playing it. It’s only $12 on Steam and it’s definitely worth it if you like fast-paced shooters and also like roguelike elements in games. It’s also another example of a great game made with Game Maker Studio, joining other examples like Risk of Rain, Undertale, and Hotline Miami.