Hades
ROGUELIKE ACTION VIDEO GAME (2020) by SUPERGIANT GAMES. Play as ZAGREUS, son of Hades, attempting to escape the Greek underworld. Isometric hack-and-slash with 6 weapons + 200+ boons from Olympian gods (Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, etc.) each run. Genre-defining ROGUELIKE with rich NARRATIVE built into repeated deaths — dialogue evolves each run. Won BAFTA GAME OF THE YEAR 2021, GDC Game of the Year, + Hugo Award (rare for a game). PS Blog Game of the Year. Praised for accessibility + storytelling in a notoriously punishing genre.
Quick facts
Category
Video Games
Type
Individual
Players
1–1
Duration
~20 min
Where played
indoor
Country of origin
🇺🇸 United States
Estimated origin
2020 full release (Sep 2020 PC/Switch; PS/Xbox 2021)
Olympic
No
Popularity
global
How it works
Objective
Escape the underworld — reach the surface via defeating 4 biome bosses + Hades himself.
Rules
Basic rules
Isometric action combat with light attack, heavy attack, cast, dash
Signature control scheme.
Each run selects from 6 weapons (Sword, Spear, Bow, Shield, Fist, Rail)
Weapon variety.
After each room, choose 1 of 3 boons from a random Olympian god
Roguelike progression.
Death sends Zagreus back to the House of Hades — story advances via dialogue
Narrative continuity.
Beat game 10+ times to see true ending; Heat system adds ongoing challenge
Endless progression.
Scoring
Speedrunning + Heat-count clears + Hell Mode challenges; no traditional scoring system.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Complete first run + escape | Requires 15-40 hours |
| See true ending | 10+ successful escape runs required |
| High Heat clears (32 Heat max) | Peak challenge for speedrunners |
Win condition · Escape the underworld to see credits; true ending after multiple escapes.
Equipment
PC (Windows, Mac, Linux), Switch, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series
Multi-platform
Standard controller or keyboard + mouse
Controller preferred by most
Terminology
- Zagreus
- Player character; son of Hades attempting to escape.
- Boons
- Power-ups granted by Olympian gods each run.
- Heat
- Difficulty modifier — up to 32 levels of stacked challenges.
- Mirror of Night
- Meta-progression skill tree upgrading between runs.
- Bouldy
- Zagreus's boulder companion.
Major competitions
Games Done Quick speedrun events (Hades speedrun regular category)
biannual · Global (charity) · since 2010
Where it is played
Governing bodies
Supergiant Games (developer)
Founded 2009 · San Francisco, USA
Famous names & records
Famous athletes
- TheSphereHunter (streamer, popularized Hades on YouTube)
- Speedrun community (WR ~10min under specific rules)
Frequently asked
Why did Hades win so many awards?+
Hades REVOLUTIONIZED THE ROGUELIKE genre by INTEGRATING RICH NARRATIVE with die-and-retry gameplay. Where traditional roguelikes are pure skill-mastery games, Hades makes DEATH ADVANCE THE STORY — each retry deepens character relationships + reveals more of the Greek mythology. Combined with tight combat + gorgeous art + Darren Korb's soundtrack, Hades broke through to mainstream (2M+ sales) + critical acclaim (BAFTA GOTY, DICE GOTY nominee, Hugo Award for narrative).
Sources & provenance
- Wikipedia — Hades— Wikipedia