RoguedexPart 3 (Apr 2025) · #11 of 14 in that tierWatch the moment (2:40:47)
RAM: Random Access Mayhem
- Developed by
- Xylem Studios
- Published by
- Xylem Studios, Hawthorn Games
$14.99
The roguelike where you play as the enemies. Take control of your foes, turn them against each other in fast-paced combat, and leap to a new host before your current body breaks down.
Consensus
A78.6/100
Steam players97.9% positiveOverwhelmingly Positive670 reviews
VG Insights estimate ↗≈9.4K copies · ≈$96K gross
What creators say
What players say
A top-down, fast-paced action roguelite by Xylem Studios where you play as a rogue AI that possesses enemy robots, swapping hosts before each one breaks down and turning foes against each other.
Steam players are overwhelmingly positive (about 98 percent of roughly 670 reviews, 'Overwhelmingly Positive'), and the tone of the praise is unusually intense: reviewers compare it to ULTRAKILL and Hades and call it a GOTY-level hidden gem. The game left Early Access (live since Nov 2024) with its 1.0 launch on Sep 15, 2025 at $14.99, and it is still being discussed and patched in 2026 (reviews continue through mid-2026). It is a small-team, low-visibility title, with an estimated 20-50k owners and roughly $115k gross per third-party Boxleiter estimates, and many players wonder why it is not better known. No Metacritic or OpenCritic critic scores were found, so the reception picture is almost entirely player-driven. The main caveat is a steep learning curve and heavy information load that some players bounce off.
Players love
- The core host-swapping loop: every enemy type is a playable body with its own moveset, and using them against each other feels creative and rewarding
- High skill ceiling and emergent 'tech' (momentum, cancels, juggling, trick shots) that players compare to ULTRAKILL-style mastery design
- Each bot feels weighty and distinct when it clicks, with real risk-reward in deciding when to swap
- Two-layer progression: Hades-style meta-progression (Hyperparameters, Adversarial Learning) plus genuine player-skill growth, which reviewers find very addictive
- Soundtrack is widely praised, and a separate OST exists on Steam
- Funny writing, charming characters and surprisingly creative worldbuilding for a robot-apocalypse setting, delivered through a hub town
- Per-bot tutorials/training regimens are described as essential and well made
- Great value at $15, with daily challenge runs and modifiers adding replayability
Common complaints
- Very steep learning curve and high cognitive load: many bots, each with their own tech, all expected to be mastered because you keep swapping
- Early hours before the game 'clicks' are rough; reviewers describe the start as punishing and a real time investment
- Some bots control jankier or more awkwardly than others (Tachi and Epitaph are called intentionally unwieldy)
- Swap/health rules (global health loss when a host dies, penalties for swapping back to the same robot, mite/aphid forms) are confusing and feel inconsistent to some players
- Limited upgrade variety is mentioned even by fans, and certain upgrade paths (e.g. Deadlift) feel underpowered
- Technical issues reported in a minority of reviews and on the Steam forum: crashes after a few minutes, performance problems (devs suggest running the OpenGL renderer), audio bugs, Linux-related bugs
Can feel tedious
- Too much dialogue and humor for some: one reviewer found the writing self-satisfied and obstructive to gameplay
- Several screens to click through before starting another run
- Needing to relearn each bot's moveset, timing and combos after a break; the game punishes time away
- Mandatory-feeling tutorials for each bot create an upfront time cost (one reviewer spent about an hour on tutorials)
- Being forced into under-upgraded hosts because not every host type spawns in every room, so you must spread upgrades across all bots
What's unique
- You have no player character of your own: you are a parasitic AI hopping between enemy robots, each of which is your moveset
- Dying is part of the flow: the game pushes you to swap before a body breaks, and spare hosts are a resource
- Style-based currency system inspired by Devil May Cry and ULTRAKILL rewards flashy play
- Turning enemies against each other (friendly-fire exploitation) is the main tactic rather than a side gimmick
- Hub-town narrative and dry comedic writing wrapped around a bullet-hell-adjacent action roguelite, made by a very small student-origin team (IGF 2024 Audience Choice winner)
Players want
- Better in-game explanation of swap mechanics, the two juice/backup bars and death-to-mite rules, rather than relying on tutorials alone
- Buff weak upgrade trees and add more upgrade variety
- Add alternate areas or paths and more content beyond the current loop, which fans say they would love
- Reduce friction between runs: one critic wants an instant-restart option instead of several screens
- Give town quests more meaningful rewards, as they currently feel like a diversion
- Fix crash and performance issues; a lower-pressure or easier-onboarding mode was implied by reviewers who found the pressure overwhelming
- Trim some of the dialogue so the narrative flows more smoothly (raised by both a fan and a detractor)
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
Steam tags
Early AccessAction RoguelikeBullet HellRogue-litePvEShooterRogue-likeSci-fi2DAction
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Tier list Part 3 (2025)
RAM is a skill-heavy action roguelike where you have no body and instead possess enemy robots, constantly switching between them mid-fight. He finds it hard but fair, with tricky-to-master move sets and surprisingly strong roguelike upgrades. The vibe, music and hub are standouts, though levels and enemies get repetitive. It is early access, so he places it in B tier for now and expects it could rise.
Liked
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