Fight Darkness, Train Girls, Slay the Witch of Ashes in Harsh Top-Down Roguelite “Cinderia” [Gemsupa Roguelike/Roguelite Club #58]

"Roguelike/Roguelite" is a game genre where various elements—such as procedurally generated content and permadeath (where you lose everything once you die)—intertwine, making it a game you can enjoy no matter how many times you play.In this 58th installment of the “Gemsupa Roguelike/Roguelite Club,” we’ll introduce *Cinderia*, a top-down roguelite action game developed by MyACG Studio and published by NPC Entertainment.

Is making monster girls fall in love with you part of a hero’s duties!? The traditional Japanese “Mystery Dungeon”-style roguelike *Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure: The Orb of Power and the Tower of Return – Remastered Edition* [GameSpark Roguelike/Roguelite Club, Episode 57] | Game*Spark - Japanese and International Game Information Site

A special feature introducing the finest roguelike and roguelite games. In this 57th installment, we’ll be introducing the traditional Japanese roguelike *Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure: The Orb of Power and the Tower of Return – Remastered Edition*.

https://www.gamespark.jp/article/2026/10/25/174063.htmlRead more »

What Is “Cinderia”?

This game is a top-down 2D roguelite action game set in a desolate world after everything was destroyed by the “Witch of Ashes.”With mechanics such as clearing out all monsters on a floor to gain various special effects, and combining normal attacks, dashes, and various skills, it shares many similarities with the “Hades” series—a flagship title in the top-down roguelike action genre—and can certainly be considered a “Hades-like” game.

Please note that as of November 15, 2026, this game is currently in Early Access (version V0.6.12b at the time of writing), and the descriptions of game balance and systems provided in this article are subject to change with future updates.

At the start, characters possess a basic attack, a unique skill, and the ability to dash, and players progress through stages by navigating rooms filled with roaming enemies. Enemy attacks always come with a warning, so use dashing and movement to dodge while defeating them.

One of the character progression elements is “Magic Cards.” These are action skills—up to three can be equipped at a time—that serve as powerful offensive tools usable after a set cooldown period (though there are also rare skills that provide ability-boosting buffs). Deciding which skills to focus on in battle is crucial for each run.Although you can only equip three action skills at a time, you can level up your existing skills by acquiring additional “Magic Cards.” Leveling up skills not only enhances their performance but can also completely change how certain skills are used, allowing you to enjoy a different experience every time.

Another major progression element is “Embers of the Cursed Flame”; acquiring these allows you to choose one passive skill from a selection of three. While there is no limit to the number of passive skills you can hold in this game, these skills draw upon dark power, and every time you acquire a passive skill, you accumulate “Taint.”When your cumulative “Taint” reaches 100 points, you’ll be randomly inflicted with a detrimental “Curse,” so you’ll need to balance how many passive skills you acquire based on your current “Taint” level.

However, depending on your progress through the stages, “Purification” events—which can turn “Curses” into beneficial effects—or events that remove curses may occur. Therefore, one strategy is to deliberately and aggressively acquire passive skills with the goal of purifying the curses you’ve been inflicted with.Since almost no “Curse” is fatal on its own (in fact, there’s even an achievement for acquiring 5 “Curses” at once), if you decide to proceed primarily using passive skills, you might as well press forward without fearing the Curses.

A powerful boss enemy awaits at the end of each area. They’ll keep you on your toes with a variety of attack patterns, so give it your all and fight with everything you’ve got. Your mission is to defeat the “Witch of Ashes,” who awaits at the end of all five areas.

If you successfully defeat a boss, it will drop equipment items. Since there’s a limit to how many items you can equip at once, be sure to check whether the item’s effects synergize with your current skills and passives.

After clearing an area, a forge will appear where you can use stones obtained by dismantling unwanted items to upgrade your equipment. Selecting which items to keep and which to discard, as well as enhancing them, are crucial elements for conquering every stage.

However, this game is fundamentally a high-difficulty action title. As is typical for this genre of roguelike action games, opportunities to recover HP are scarce, so you’ll likely die many times until you get the hang of it.

Although getting defeated means you’ll lose the magic cards, passive skills, and items you’ve acquired and be sent back to the starting point, you don’t lose everything. At your base, you can enhance your basic abilities using the “Soul Fire” obtained in stages, and you can progressively unlock new features through “Witch’s Notebook Research” and the “Blacksmith.”You can repeat these enhancements with every playthrough, and the fact that you gradually gain an advantage by building up these elements is truly the essence of a roguelike action game.

Control the four girls and aim to defeat the Witch of Ashes

The game features four playable characters, each of which is unlocked as you progress. The starting character is “Rue,” Little Red Riding Hood. She excels at high-speed close-range attacks, knife throws, and attacks that manipulate shockwaves and shadows.

The basic strategy involves using charge-type skills to dive into the enemy’s midst, then dashing around to their back to land a backstab (since attacks from behind deal bonus damage in this game, dashing around to the back is crucial), but you can also build a long-range attack strategy centered on knife throws.She is a character whose performance truly embodies the game’s fundamentals, making her a fitting default character.

The second playable character is Isdara, the Last Guardian of the Ice Dragon. A slightly melancholic older sister-type character, she specializes in melee combat and excels at counters following a Just Guard, as well as various ice-elemental attacks summoned by the Ice Dragon.

Her signature move is “Guard”: by activating it just before an enemy’s attack, she performs a Just Guard and unleashes a devastating counterattack. The power of these counters is immense—they can usually take down medium-sized enemies in a single hit, and depending on her skill setup, it’s not uncommon for her to deal significant damage to boss-level enemies as well.While it becomes more difficult to land a Just Guard as enemy attacks intensify, she’s a character brimming with romance—the thrill of pulling it off more than makes up for the challenge.

The third character is Rivet, a girl who takes a cannon and ventures underground. In contrast to Isdara, she is a character specialized in long-range attacks, and her unique skill involves long-range firing with her cannon.

She’s a high-damage girl who not only uses a cannon but also sets up traps and automatic turrets, and fires rocket launchers; depending on her skill setup, she’s a character who can fight by laying down a barrage of fire to her heart’s content.Another advantage is that she doesn’t need to be adjacent to enemies, so she’s less vulnerable to melee damage. Take them out from a safe distance and turn them into a honeycomb.

The final girl is Emma, the Forest Princess. While her close-range and long-range attacks are average on their own, she fights using a summoning/pet build—a rare approach in roguelike action games—where she primarily relies on summoning forest creatures.

Her skill set includes abilities to summon various animals, and by building up her summon gauge through attacks, she can overwhelm enemies with a massive swarm of creatures. While she requires a playstyle completely different from the other characters, once you’re hooked on the thrill of overwhelming numbers, you’ll find yourself addicted to the gameplay.

In this game, you control four girls with distinct abilities as you aim to defeat the Witch of Ashes. It’s a roguelike action game that offers exhilarating combat with unique controls for each character, and every run presents a completely different combat style to master—so if you’re interested, I highly recommend giving it a try.

Right after starting the game, many features are locked, and since enemy attack power is quite high, you might find it a bit tedious or unfair at first. However, if you turn on “Fairy Tale Mode” in the options menu, enemy attack power will decrease and the unfairness will be toned down, so I personally recommend enabling this mode(Of course, if you want to enjoy a challenging playstyle where you have to survive high-damage enemy attacks, keep this setting turned off.)

“Cinderia” is currently available in Early Access on PC (Steam) for 2,000 yen.