The post Galactic Glitch Review: An Addictive Space-Faring Shoot-em-Up Roguelike appeared first on Cheat Code Central.
Looking through my game library to try and pin down which genre is most represented among all the titles, it’s surprising to see that roguelikes come out ahead by a country mile. Deckbuilders, tactics, hack-and-slash action, and more; the roguelike structure applies to just about any genre of gaming, which has in turn created several other subgenres, each of which is just as addictive as the last when done well. The pull of a good roguelike is hard to ignore because they’re A) endlessly replayable and B) consistently rewarding, which makes the hunt for the “next best thing” among new roguelikes a thrilling chase. So when I got the opportunity to sit down with Galactic Glitch, a game I already had my eye on, for its 1.0 release, I jumped at the chance.
Ahead of Galactic Glitch‘s official full release today on June 3, 2025, the title has already garnered plenty of praise not just for its gameplay, but for the many ways that the developer, Crunchy Leaf Games, is continually listening to fan feedback and addressing it in-game. Galactic Glitch is indebted to some heavy hitters in the action roguelike subgenre, but it does enough to stand on its own as a unique experience. Rather than come off as derivative, Galactic Glitch is instead a sum greater than its parts, mixing elements of shmup game design and action roguelike structure and running flawlessly on the Steam Deck as a title practically tailor-made for Valve’s handheld.
Galactic Glitch is Equal Parts Dead Cells and Star of Providence
©CheatCC
The premise of Galactic Glitch does a great job of setting up what to expect from all its other parts. You are the nameless, faceless pilot of a ship that, according to your handler, needs to brave the rapidly decaying galaxy to discover a way for both you and they to escape. Each time you die, your handler can effortlessly resurrect you within the confines of a space station acting as your sanctuary, where you can acquire upgrades, use blueprints to unlock new weapons and equipment, and plot out your progress through the game’s branching biomes. When ready, you head back out into the galaxy and proceed to clear out enemies from room to room, eventually reaching a warp point to the next major biome after clearing a boss.
The two closest touchpoints for Galactic Glitch‘s gameplay loop are the iconic “Roguevania” Dead Cells and the newer bullet hell shmup roguelike Star of Providence. Like Star of Providence, each of Galactic Glitch‘s different rooms is a small, self-contained space in which players will need to maneuver around enemy projectiles while trying to take out targets as fast as possible. But the branching paths from each room, as well as the existence of unlockable ship upgrades that open up branching paths into new biomes, are pure Dead Cells. Moment-to-moment gameplay in Galactic Glitch is what you would expect from a standard twin-stick shooter, but its structure and progression are surprisingly in-depth and branching in a way that immediately calls to mind Motion Twin’s iconic action roguelike.
How Galactic Glitch Nails Its Progression Curve
©CheatCC
Any roguelike worth its weight needs to have rewarding progression both within each individual run and meaningful meta-progression that makes each subsequent run easier than the last. Together, these twin halves of the roguelike progression curve are what ease the pain of the frequent deaths that are part and parcel for the genre, and Galactic Glitch executes them well. The space station sanctuary that players return to after each death can receive expansions by finding helper drones or previous versions of your attack ship scattered throughout the game world, and within the new rooms that you unlock are further opportunities for permanent upgrades to your ship and its abilities in each run.
A branching, node-like skill tree is where players will spend an in-game currency to unlock most of their permanent upgrades, while a room opposite this area in the sanctuary is where you can use any blueprints to unlock new weapons and different mutations of those armaments. To its benefit, Galactic Glitch is never stingy with currency, but the more valuable blueprints are harder to come by, which makes each new unlock feel like a major step forward for each subsequent run. That said, the second weapon I unlocked, the plasma shotgun, carried me through most of the game. You’ll likely find your favorites and stick with them, but the act of finding and unlocking new gear never stops being fun and always encourages experimentation.
What Gets Unlocked in Each Run
Within each biome, players will come across upgrade crates and rift drops from clearing enemy rooms that provide abilities, of which you can initially hold 5 before purchasing a permanent upgrade to carry 6. These abilities are the main modifiers that transform Galactic Glitch‘s combat, and stumbling upon a good loadout early on can do an impressive job of carrying you far in a single run. Some of the best include the ability to spawn helpful drones or have enemies exchange friendly fire, and Galactic Glitch‘s 1.0 launch sees the title add dozens more that weren’t initially available in Early Access.
Physics-Based Combat is the Star of Galactic Glitch
©CheatCC
The tagline for Galactic Glitch mentions “physics-based combat” as one of its defining features, which seems somewhat odd for a twin-stick shooter until you get to see it in action. Along with a standard weapon and any additional abilities that players unlock within a run, the ship in Galactic Glitch has a sort of “gravity tether” that players can use to grab both objects and enemies. With the press of a single button, you can grab smaller asteroids or other floating debris and launch them at foes, grab missiles and send them flying back at attackers, or even use smaller enemy fighters to chip away at the armor or shields of larger, harder-to-take-down foes.
It takes some getting used to, but eventually players will be routinely swapping between their ability to grab and launch objects and their standard weapon, especially after unlocking some of the regular stat bonuses that drop after clearing enemy rifts that provide boosts to health/shield, throw damage, weapon power, or movement speed.
Between all the biomes is a surprising amount of variety in enemy types, but they do each fall into a specific template of behaviors that, with little variation, can fall to the same strategy as their counterparts from other areas of the galaxy. Some larger enemies have armor that players must break to attack a weak point or even shields that require attacking from different angles, but otherwise, most of the foes players take down are predictable in that they simply require outmaneuvering, dodging, and responding with an offensive salvo of your own.
Galactic Glitch’s 1.0 Release Sees it Run Flawlessly on Steam Deck
©CheatCC
One of the main requests that players would make to Crunchy Leaf Games during Galactic Glitch‘s Early Access period would be for the game to receive optimization for play on Valve’s Steam Deck and to become Deck Verified. I’m happy to report that my review of Galactic Glitch was completed entirely on a Steam Deck and that the title ran flawlessly, to the point where I honestly can’t see myself playing it anywhere else. Also of note is that Galactic Glitch is easy on the Steam Deck’s battery, with anywhere from 2.5 to 3 hours of gameplay on a full charge.
Bottom Line
While I haven’t officially “beaten” a full run of Galactic Glitch yet, I have been able to make it to what appears to be the final set of biomes, and it’s been a challenging and thrilling ride through one of the more fun roguelikes I’ve played this year. While I don’t see it becoming one of my regular go-to games in the genre like Slay the Spire, Loop Hero, or Hades, Galactic Glitch is nonetheless an excellent blend of twin-stick shooter and action roguelike that is consistently rewarding and fun to play. The difficulty spikes in certain areas will feel a little frustrating at first until players unlock more meaningful permanent upgrades, but experimenting with new strategies, trying out new weapons, and exploring new biomes is a blast.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
The image featured at the top of this post is ©CheatCC/Crunchy Leaf Games.
The post Galactic Glitch Review: An Addictive Space-Faring Shoot-em-Up Roguelike appeared first on Cheat Code Central.