Risk of Rain 2 was made by Hopoo Games and published by Gearbox. It entered Early Access in March 2019 and reached full release in August 2020 on PC, with consoles following in October 2020; it is on Steam, the Epic Games Store, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch. Its Steam user reviews sit at Overwhelmingly Positive. Gearbox bought the rights in November 2022 and has made the expansions since, which matters for one of the questions below. Most readers are really asking two things: is the base game for me, and which expansions are worth adding? This review answers both first.
Buy, wait or skip
| Your situation | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You like roguelites and shooters | Buy the base game | The time pressure and item stacking are unlike any other roguelite, and the base game alone lasts hundreds of hours |
| You have 1 to 3 friends who want a co-op game | Buy | Four-player co-op is where it shines; dead players return on the next stage, so nobody sits out long |
| You already own it and want more | Buy Survivors of the Void, then Alloyed Collective | The two best-received expansions, with the most new survivors, stages and modes |
| You are looking at Seekers of the Storm | Wait for a sale or a bundle | It works now after many patches, but it is the thinnest and least loved expansion |
| You are price-sensitive | Wait for a sale | The base game and the complete bundle are discounted often and heavily on Steam |
| You want a story or characters | Skip | There is no plot to follow; lore sits in item logs and environment descriptions |
| You need fights to stay readable | Skip or try Drizzle first | Late runs fill the screen with effects and numbers, and that is the reward the game is built around |
| You play mostly on Switch | Buy, knowing the limits | Everything released so far is there, including Alloyed Collective since February 2026, but the announced next expansion lists only current-generation PC and consoles |
Short version: the base game is close to a safe purchase for anyone who likes action roguelites. The expansions are where you should be selective.
What kind of game it is
You pick a survivor, land on a stage and start looting. Chests, drones and shrines cost gold, enemies keep spawning, and the difficulty rises every minute and with every stage you clear. Somewhere on each stage is a Teleporter; you start it, survive a boss and a wave of monsters while it charges, then move on. After the fifth stage you choose: go to the moon and fight Mithrix to win, or loop back to stage 1 with all your items and keep scaling.
Items are the heart of it. Almost every item stacks, many trigger each other, and a run that starts with a pistol can end with a survivor who erases bosses in a second. The game never stops asking one question: is this chest worth the minute it costs? The Beginner Guide explains that clock in real numbers.
Current state: the base game and four expansions
| Package | Made by | Released | What it adds | Our view |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base game | Hopoo Games | 2020 (Early Access 2019) | 11 survivors, Mithrix ending, Eclipse, artifacts | Complete on its own and the best value |
| Survivors of the Void | Hopoo Games | March 2022 PC, November 2023 consoles | Railgunner, Void Fiend, void items, Simulacrum mode, the Voidling ending | The best expansion; buy it first |
| Seekers of the Storm | Gearbox | August 2024 | Seeker, CHEF, False Son, 5 stages, the Path of the Colossus | Playable after long patching, but the weakest |
| Alloyed Collective | Gearbox | November 2025 PC and PS/Xbox, February 2026 Switch | Operator, Drifter, 7 stages, new drones, the Solus Heart ending | Well received; a good second purchase |
| Hallowed Concepts | Gearbox | Announced, not released | Two survivors (Acolyte and Enforcer) and new areas | Too early to judge; current-generation PC and consoles only |
Survivors of the Void was the last expansion made by Hopoo. It adds two of the most popular survivors, purple void items that corrupt their normal counterparts, a new final route to the Voidling, and Simulacrum, an endless wave mode where you fight inside a shrinking safe bubble. It holds a Very Positive Steam rating.
Seekers of the Storm is the expansion people warn about, and the warning was fair. At launch it came with dozens of bugs, items many players found weak, and abilities whose behaviour depended on frame rate. Gearbox publicly said it fell short. Patches followed from September 2024: the first fixed more than forty bugs including the frame-rate issue, December 2024 reworked nearly all items and elites, March 2025 reworked the False Son boss, and May 2025 reworked its survivors. Recent Steam reviews are positive, but the all-time rating is Mixed at around half positive. Its content is smaller than the other two, and its new route, the Path of the Colossus, is the main draw.
Alloyed Collective is Gearbox's second expansion and a clear recovery: Operator commands drones, Drifter turns Junk into temporary power, and seven stages, new drones and a new final boss come with it. Its Steam rating is Very Positive. A December 2025 patch fixed bugs and rebalanced its new bosses.
Only the host needs an expansion. If one player owns it, the whole lobby plays with its stages, items and enemies. Players who do not own it cannot pick its survivors or keep its unlocks.
What it does well
The clock makes every decision matter
The difficulty rises with time, so standing still is never free. Opening a chest across the map costs a minute, and that minute makes every later chest dearer and every enemy tougher. Good runs feel fast because they are fast. No other roguelite we know turns route-planning into the core skill this cleanly. The Loop or Moon guide shows how that pressure changes after stage 5.
Item stacking that becomes absurd
Items stack without caps in many cases, and on-hit items trigger other on-hit items. A second Ukulele, a few more daggers, one red item at the right time, and the run turns from survival to slaughter. The moment a build "clicks" is the reason people keep playing. Which items carry runs, and why some stack exponentially, is in the Item Strategy guide.
Survivors that play like different games
Engineer's turrets copy his items, Loader grapples and punches, Railgunner snipes from a scope, Artificer hovers and casts, MUL-T switches weapons. With 18 survivors across the base game and expansions, you are not learning the same kit again and again. The Survivor Tier List ranks them and lists every unlock.
Long tail after the first win
Looping, the eight Eclipse levels that each survivor climbs separately, artifacts unlocked by codes in Sky Meadow, alternative endings and Simulacrum keep the game going long after Mithrix.
Where it falls short
It teaches almost nothing
Nothing tells you that prices outgrow your income, that starting the Teleporter locks the chests outside its zone, or that a blue portal on stage 5 quietly loops you instead of sending you to the moon. Most players learn those rules by losing runs to them. Drizzle softens it, but a guide is almost mandatory.
Visual clutter
The reward for a good build is a screen full of lightning, missiles, explosions and damage numbers. In late loops this hides enemy attacks, and many deaths come from something you never saw. This is not a bug to be patched; it is the cost of the design.
Uneven expansions
The base game and Survivors of the Void were polished by the original team. Gearbox's first expansion was not, and the patches that fixed it took most of a year. Alloyed Collective restored much of the trust, but buyers should judge each expansion on its own.
Little story
Risk of Rain 2 has lore, mostly in the logbook, but no plot to follow. If you want a reason to keep going beyond your build, it will not give you one.
Solo or co-op
| Solo | Co-op (2 to 4 players) | |
|---|---|---|
| Difficulty | Scales for one | Starts higher and rises faster per extra player |
| Death | Ends the run | You return on the next stage if the team survives |
| Items | Every chest is yours | Chest items drop on the ground and anyone can grab them; teams have to share |
| Teleporter boss reward | One item | One item per player |
| Best survivors | Self-sufficient ones like Loader and Engineer | Supports like Captain and Seeker shine |
| Feel | Focused route-planning | Loud chaos; the best way to play for most people |
Solo is fully supported and every ending works alone. Co-op is the version most players remember, and it forgives mistakes because a death is not the end. The usual friction is item sharing: decide before you start whether you split chests or let each player loot freely.
Common complaints, and how true they are
| Complaint | Is it true? | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| It is too hard at first | Partly; the difficulty comes from not knowing the rules | Start on Drizzle with Commando or Huntress, and read how the clock works |
| The screen becomes unreadable | Yes, in late game and loops | Go to the moon instead of looping deep; it is a trade-off, not a fixable bug |
| Gearbox ruined it | The base game is unchanged in spirit; Seekers of the Storm launched badly | Judge expansions separately; Alloyed Collective was well received |
| The DLC is not worth it | Depends which one | Survivors of the Void yes, Alloyed Collective yes, Seekers of the Storm only cheap |
| Runs feel the same | The stage order pattern repeats | Change survivor, use artifacts, try Eclipse or Simulacrum |
| Updates broke my mods | Big updates often break mods until authors update them | Wait a few days after a major patch before updating a modded install |
Risk of Rain 2 compared with similar games
| Game | Core loop | Players | How Risk of Rain 2 differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Risk of Rain Returns | 2D side-scrolling remake of the first game, same time-scaling idea | 1 to 4, including local split-screen | 3D third-person with far more survivors and content; co-op is online |
| Hades | Isometric action roguelite with a story that advances each run | Single-player only | Faster scaling and bigger builds, real co-op, almost no story |
| Deep Rock Galactic | Co-op first-person mining missions with four classes | 1 to 4 | A roguelite run with item stacking instead of persistent class progression and team roles |
If you want one more game in this space, Hades is the pick for story and readable fights; Risk of Rain 2 is the pick for co-op and for builds that break the game. Risk of Rain Returns is worth it mainly for players who loved the original or want couch co-op. Deep Rock Galactic suits groups who want teamwork and roles more than item chaos.
Related guides
First run and the clock: Beginner Guide. Which items to take and how stacking works: Item Strategy. Who to play and unlock: Survivor Tier List. Whether to loop at stage 5: Loop or Moon.
★Honest Take — a near-perfect base game with uneven add-ons
Risk of Rain 2 earns its 9.0 because the base game is close to flawless at what it tries to do: every minute is a decision, every item changes the run, and four friends in the same lobby make some of the best chaos in the genre. The price, especially on sale, makes it an easy recommendation. The reservations are real. It explains its own rules badly, late runs turn into visual noise, and the expansion story since Gearbox took over has been uneven, with Seekers of the Storm a launch that should not have happened. Alloyed Collective shows the game is still in good hands for now. Buy the base game, add Survivors of the Void, and treat every later expansion as a separate decision.
