Hades set the 2020s benchmark for narrative roguelites. HAWKER enters the adjacent space in September 2026 with a different shape and a different tonal register. This piece from the team at Tyrian Games compares the two directly, covering what Hades does that HAWKER doesn't, what HAWKER does that Hades doesn't, and who each game is really for. We've tried to be fair to Supergiant because their work shaped the category HAWKER ships into.
TL;DR
- Hades is Supergiant's 2020 isometric action roguelite, built around Greek mythology with escape-attempt structure.
- HAWKER is a grimdark shopkeeper roguelite with real-time action combat and Breton-folklore setting.
- Combat, narrative, and mechanical scope differ substantially across the two games.
- Both commit to character-driven NPC arcs, but through different mechanical frames.
- Players who love Hades will find HAWKER adjacent rather than equivalent.
Quick overview
Hades (Supergiant Games, 2020). Isometric action roguelite with Greek-mythology narrative structure. Escape attempts from the underworld, each attempt generating new dialogue and relationship progress. Team of around 20 developers. Runtime 40-80 hours for full narrative.
HAWKER (Tyrian Games, 2026). Grimdark shopkeeper roguelite with Breton-folklore setting. Thirty-day deadline structure with shop-by-day, hunt-by-evening loop. Team of around 8 developers. Runtime 25-40 hours at Early Access.
Combat
Hades uses isometric twin-stick action with Weapons of the Infernal Arms (sword, spear, bow, shield, fists, rail). Combat is fast, visually flashy, and built around the Boon system which randomises each run's capabilities. The combat feel is one of the most polished in the indie action space, with specific attention to weight, timing, and impact.
HAWKER uses top-down 2D action combat with a dagger plus flintlock weapon pair. Combat is closer to precision-Soulslike than to Hades's high-speed action. The parry system is central. Stamina matters. Positioning matters. Runs are slower and more deliberate.
Verdict: Hades for fast, flashy, system-variety combat. HAWKER for precision-focused, timing-based combat.
Narrative structure
Hades uses escape-attempt structure where each run generates progress regardless of outcome. Dying feeds the narrative. NPCs at the House of Hades comment on your attempts. Relationships develop through repeated interaction. The structure rewards persistent play with narrative depth.
HAWKER uses thirty-day deadline structure where each day advances the calendar and each decision carries consequence. Deaths during hunts send you back to the shop but the deadline continues. NPCs develop through specific encounters at specific days. The structure rewards strategic play with narrative progression.
Both games make death narratively meaningful, but through different mechanisms. Hades normalises death as progress. HAWKER makes death a setback within a fixed timeline.
Verdict: Hades for run-based narrative accumulation. HAWKER for calendar-based narrative progression.
Setting and tone
Hades inhabits Greek mythology with specific creative license. Zagreus's relationships with Achilles, Dusa, Megaera, and others draw on specific mythological figures rendered with contemporary warmth. The tone is reverent-playful, treating the myths seriously while letting characters be warm and funny.
HAWKER inhabits Breton folklore with different creative license. The Hawker's relationships with Duval, Sulon, Malgven, and Belissant draw on specific folkloric and historical traditions rendered with grimdark register. The tone is serious throughout, with less of Hades's warmth leavening the heavier material.
Hades's tone is more accessible. HAWKER's is more demanding. Both are deliberate choices tied to what each game is trying to do.
Verdict: Hades for accessible warmth in serious material. HAWKER for grimdark commitment with cultural specificity.
Shop systems
Hades has no shop in the HAWKER sense. The Mirror of Night and the Pact of Punishment offer progression systems, but they're not shopkeeping. Charon's shop within runs sells Boons and artifacts but doesn't function as a persistent economic space.
HAWKER's shop is the game's central system. Inventory management, pricing, stall arrangement, customer interaction, and mask loadouts all interact with the combat and narrative layers. The shop isn't a feature; it's the spine.
Verdict: HAWKER has a shop; Hades doesn't. If you want shopkeeping, Hades isn't the game for that.
Replayability
Hades's replayability is extraordinary. Weapon variety (six Infernal Arms with four variants each), Boon randomisation, Pact of Punishment difficulty tuning, and the narrative itself which rewards many playthroughs with specific content. Players reporting 100+ hours is common.
HAWKER's replayability is strong but different. Each thirty-day run has different outcomes based on choices, weather patterns, and NPC arcs. Multiple endings. Mask loadout variety. New Game+ with specific variations. Players should expect 40-80 hours for full content consumption.
Verdict: Hades for deeper roguelite-loop replayability. HAWKER for calendar-based replayability with narrative variation.
Art direction
Hades uses 2.5D hand-painted art with specific character portraits during dialogue. The style is clean, colourful, expressive. Art director Jen Zee's work is among the most distinctive in contemporary indie.
HAWKER uses 2D hand-painted art with specific nineteenth-century French illustration references. Darker palette. Less overtly stylised character portraits. The art is specific rather than striking.
Subjective preference. Hades is more likely to be a screenshot you save. HAWKER is more likely to be a world you want to live in.
A first-hand Hawker design note
One specific thing we learned from studying Hades was the importance of narrative progress per unit of player time. Hades rewards every ten-minute run with something: a new Codex entry, a new relationship line, a new artifact. The reward density keeps players engaged even when individual runs fail.
HAWKER's thirty-day structure doesn't support the same run-level reward density. A bad Day 3 doesn't always give you narrative progress. We had to find different ways to maintain engagement.
What we landed on was day-level rather than run-level reward density. Every in-game day delivers something: an NPC interaction, a shop outcome, a weather event, a specific choice-point. Players who have a bad combat day still progress narratively because the shop and NPC systems keep moving. This is the design principle we took from Hades, adapted to our specific structure.
The difference matters. Hades rewards persistence across runs. HAWKER rewards persistence across days. Both structures work but they're tuned to different player rhythms.
Which to play first
If you've played neither: Hades first. It's a more accessible entry point into narrative roguelites, it's been refined since 2020, and the craft is exceptional. HAWKER will be there when you're ready for a different register.
If you've played Hades and want more: Hades II (September 2025) is the direct continuation. If you want a different register, HAWKER is a specific alternative but not a replacement.
If you've played Hades and want something grimdarker: HAWKER is in the conversation. Pathologic 2 and Disco Elysium are also worth considering.
If you prefer management loops over pure action: HAWKER is the better fit of the two. Hades doesn't scratch that itch.
FAQ
Is HAWKER like Hades?
Adjacent but different. Both are narrative roguelites with character-driven NPCs, but combat, structure, and tone differ significantly.
Does HAWKER have Hades's combat?
No. HAWKER's combat is precision-focused and slower than Hades's fast isometric action. Closer to Soulslike sensibility.
Is Hades better than HAWKER?
Different rather than better. Hades has more polish from Supergiant's larger team and longer development. HAWKER has specific commitments Hades doesn't have.
Which has better narrative?
Depends on preference. Hades accumulates narrative through run-based encounters. HAWKER progresses narrative through calendar-based events.
When does HAWKER release?
Early Access September 2026. 1.0 targeted mid-to-late 2027.
Does Hades have a shop?
Not in the HAWKER sense. Hades has Charon's in-run shop and progression meta-systems, but not persistent shopkeeping.
Spoiler wall
This piece covers publicly known content. No HAWKER narrative content sits behind the spoiler line here.
The broader narrative-roguelite category
Hades and HAWKER both exist in the narrative-roguelite category that has grown substantially since 2020. Hades defined the category. HAWKER extends it into a different mechanical space. Other entries like Darkest Dungeon II, Dead Cells (with its narrative patches), Wildfrost, and several upcoming 2026 releases continue to develop the territory.
The category's core insight is that roguelite structure and narrative depth can reinforce rather than conflict with each other. Studios that get this balance right produce games with exceptional replay value and emotional stakes simultaneously. Studios that treat narrative as overlay on roguelite mechanics tend to produce games where neither element does its best work.
HAWKER's thirty-day deadline structure is our attempt to solve this tension. Running the narrative on a calendar rather than on death cycles lets us tell a specific story with specific pacing while preserving roguelite replayability through the variance of each thirty-day run.
Why Hades succeeded commercially and what it teaches
Hades sold millions of units and won major awards. The commercial success taught the industry several specific lessons.
Early Access works for narrative games. Hades spent two years in Early Access, with Supergiant actively developing the narrative during that period. The community was part of the writing process in specific ways.
Small teams can compete with AAA polish. Hades's production values are extraordinary for a 20-person studio. The lesson isn't that every indie can match this; it's that scope discipline plus craft can produce AAA-quality work at indie scale.
Character-driven design beats feature-driven design. Hades's system variety exists to serve its characters. Every weapon, every Boon, every environmental detail connects to specific personalities. This is the design principle that makes the game memorable.
HAWKER has tried to apply these lessons within our different scope. Our Early Access is planned to do similar work to Hades's. Our team is smaller, so our scope is tighter. Our mechanics exist to serve our characters and cultural setting. Whether we achieve Hades-adjacent commercial success is an open question, but the design principles are the ones we've studied.
Music and sonic identity
Worth flagging audio as a point of specific comparison. Darren Korb's music for Hades is among the most distinctive in indie gaming. Each area, each character, each combat encounter has specific sonic identity that reinforces the Greek-mythological register while feeling contemporary.
HAWKER's music draws on Breton traditional instrumentation. Bombarde, biniou, fiddle, and specific vocal traditions. Our composer has worked with specific Breton musicians to record authentic instrument performances that sit alongside the arranged score. The result is sonic identity tied specifically to Brittany rather than to generic fantasy.
Both games treat music as a primary identity element. Hades's commercial success was partly downstream of the soundtrack's memorability; players bought the album as well as the game. Whether HAWKER achieves similar sonic impact remains to be seen, but the commitment to specific-cultural audio is deliberate.
Closing
Hades is the defining narrative roguelite of the 2020s. HAWKER is one of the games that comes after, trying to extend the category in a different direction. Both games are worth playing if the category appeals. Neither replaces the other.
Next read: Narrative roguelites after Hades, or Games like Hades with shops.
Further reading
For related context see narrative roguelites after Hades.