Kaguraden: Japanese Folklore Roguelike Hits Switch and PC in 2027

Ever wondered what it'd be like to dive into a roguelike where the dungeons aren't your typical square-grid crawl? A new Japanese folklore-themed RPG called Kaguraden is on the way, and it's shaking up the formula in a pretty interesting way.

The game has been confirmed for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam, with a release window set for 2027. Yes, that's a bit of a wait, but it gives you plenty of time to clear that backlog you've been ignoring.

So what makes Kaguraden stand out from the sea of roguelikes out there? For starters, it leans hard into Japanese folklore for its setting and style. That means you can expect a world steeped in the kind of myth and atmosphere that games drawing from that tradition tend to deliver.

But the real mechanical hook here is the dungeon design. Instead of the square grids you see in most roguelikes, Kaguraden uses hex grids. That might sound like a small detail, but it changes how you think about movement, positioning, and tactics. Hex grids open up six directions of travel instead of four, which can make every step feel a little more deliberate and a lot more interesting.

Roguelikes live and die by their moment-to-moment decisions, and a hex-based layout could give Kaguraden a fresh feel compared to the usual grid-based fare. It's the kind of tweak that veteran genre fans will notice immediately, and it could be a real differentiator when the game finally lands.

Right now, details beyond the platforms, the 2027 window, and that hex-grid dungeon design are still under wraps. No word yet on specific characters, story beats, or how the roguelike loop will play out in full. But the combination of folklore-inspired theming and a non-standard grid system is already enough to put it on our radar.

With a 2027 launch planned across Switch, Switch 2, and Steam, there's a long runway ahead. Expect more info to trickle out as development continues. For now, though, it's a promising tease of something that could stand out in a crowded genre.

What do you think? Does a hex-grid roguelike set in Japanese folklore sound like your kind of adventure, or are you sticking with square tiles? Will you be picking this up when it arrives in 2027?