Blightstone Review: Fun Overshadowed by Unfair Difficulty

As the clock ticks over into 2026, following a hectic and inspiring year for video games, it's time to look towards what the future holds for the industry. The AAA and indie spaces are coming into 2026 with some great promises for the future, but for right now, it's time to focus on what's in front of us.

Which brings us to Blightstone, a new roguelike strategy RPG from the talented people at Unfinished Pixel. The roguelike genre is not in any sort of dire need, as multiple titles in this style of game release every single year. So, in that sense, I'm always curious about what any particular game is going to do in order to stand out.

Blightstone has a lot of competition in the genre this year, as Slay the Spire 2 and the major expansion for Cult of the Lamb, Woolhaven, are also coming out. It left me a bit worried about Blightstone, as those games are well-established, highly popular games and this is a brand-new IP from a relatively unknown studio.

In many ways, Blightstone hits all the parts of roguelike design and philosophy that works. There's nothing inherently wrong with Blightstone, as it is a perfectly serviceable roguelike experience that you will likely get some enjoyment from if you have any love for the genre.

Not every game needs to be a world-altering shift, but if you're competing in an already crowded genre, it's important to do more than just tick boxes. Blightstone isn't going to change the industry, or even change the roguelike genre, nor does it do a tremendous amount to make itself feel as fun as genre staples like Hades or Dead Cells.

Fight for Your Right to Blight

Blightstone follows similar rules and systems that you may have seen in other roguelikes. You're given some sort of overarching task or goal, which in this case is to reach a boss at the end of the map, which is then beset by randomized tasks, battles and challenges as you make your way to each location.

Death, a familiar and common sight in Blightstone, will reset you back to the beginning with a few bits of saved progress that will help you in your next run. As each run becomes more successful, the amount of equipment and progress you retain increases. Blightstone operates on a similar cycle to other roguelikes, which is both to its detriment and its advantage.

Blightstone is at its most enjoyable during the combat, which I've always felt has been a bit hit or miss in this genre. It's often serviceable, but tends to feel somewhat lacking in my experience with roguelikes. With Blightstone, this team has managed to craft a combat system that feels genuinely enjoyable.

What really stands out about the combat is the environment, and how they use it to inform both the stakes of each encounter and how you should proceed. Environmental hazards like water, fire and explosive barrels play a huge role in certain battle arenas, while other, seemingly innocuous things like barriers and rocks, can also come into play.

Certain characters have ranged attacks, which can be used to blow up battles and deal some impressive-looking splash damage. Telekenesis can be used to toss enemies into things for extra damage, and being able to grab your foes also feels excellent. There's a strong sense of tactile madness to the combat.

Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to evolve beyond that. Each combat encounter starts to feel fairly similar after a while, and while the game does offer optional challenges along the way that will reward you, the difficulty curve of the game is rather steep. It is crushingly difficult in spots, and reaching the end of a map feels next to impossible with the amount of bizarre RNG and traps the game tosses at you pretty frequently.

The road to the boss at the end of the map also tends to get bogged down in a lot of distractions and what feels like filler content. Each run is enjoyable in broad strokes, but the way the game stops and starts you at every turn just doesn't feel great.

The map design is cool, but it's dotted with so many little oddities that it can feel like a slog. This really does a number on the pacing of the runs. It just doesn't have the same flow as its contemporaries have, and considering how brutally difficult it is, there's just no sense of progression that doesn't feel like it gets undercut at every turn.

Fight Night

As I entered each of the battle encounters that are peppered across Blightstone's maps, I found myself excited about combat. It's actually the one part of the game that it not only does well, but feels more immediately and intimately satisfying the more you do it.

Blightstone is a turn-based affair, meaning that you and the enemies are given full range on the battlefield when it's your time to come up to the plate. What makes Blightstone's combat so enjoyable is the strategic element of it, as each character will contribute to each combat encounter differently.

Once you've selected a character, what you can and will do with them depends upon your needs at that given time. Selecting them brings up a menu, and what that menu can do will increase as each run grants you more attacks, weapons and abilities. This is where Blightstone really works and feels good to play.

Finding the right spot to shoot an arrow without hitting a teammate, or to toss an enemy into a lake that you can then zap with electricity, are all part of the game's focus on strategic, smart movements. It's actually quite easy to make one wrong move that cascades into utter destruction, which is the kind of enjoyable difficulty that makes this genre so much fun.

Here's to a Blight Future

Blightstone's world and presentation are something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the art direction and visuals are lovely. The characters have some fantastic detail to them, and they all have some fun banter. This is especially evident in the game's campfire sections, which pop up randomly during your runs.

The mood and atmosphere during these sections feel wonderful. The gentle flicker of a campfire and calm, soothing respite from the dangerous outside world is a great bit of design.

On the flip side, the music in the game leaves a lot to be desired. There's a severe mismatch between the traditional fantasy setting and the game's reliance on out of place, grungy rock and pulsing, almost EDM-like music, is disappointing. I do admire the effort to try something different, but it just doesn't land in any sort of satisfying way.

Each stop does offer some really cool map design and structure, however. The detail in the sprites and tiles is actually quite good, and each little dot that you stop at does look nice. The lack of variety in combat encounters is made up for here, as the environments start to really see some freshening up over time. The battles may feel similar, but at least you'll feel like you're on a crazy road trip in the process.

That being said, the team at Unfinished Pixel does have the skeleton of something cool here. They have an outstanding combat system, as well as some interesting enemy and creature design. The bones feel solid, but the rest of the game's undercooked parts tend to drag most of the experience down.

Blightstone has a solid, strong foundation in terms of its combat and battle mechanics. The use of environmental hazards and interactive battle arenas is what helps the game stand out. The rest of the game feels like something of a slog, however, with some harsh RNG and an inconsistent pace that makes Blightstone feel like it can't get out of the blocks. There's something fun hidden here, but it is sadly overshadowed by a game that feels more interested in punishing you for simple things than allowing you to learn.