Shape of Dreams

Every so often a roguelite arrives that quietly nails its hook so well you look up and realize three hours have vanished. Shape of Dreams is one of those games. Developer Lizard Smoothie, with NEOWIZ publishing, has taken action-roguelite structure, welded on MOBA-style ability play, and wrapped it all in a surreal dreamscape that’s as pleasant to look at as it is to play. The result has struck a chord: it sits at a superb Very Positive on Steam — 94% of 6,000+ English reviews, and 91% across the last 30 days.

Combat that rewards the hands

At its core this is a top-down, skill-shot action game. You aim abilities, you dodge swarming projectiles, and you live or die by precision rather than raw stats. Each of the eight Travelers plays genuinely differently — swift close-range assassins, precise long-range casters, wide-area controllers, supports — so picking a character reshapes the entire run rather than just reskinning it. It’s fast, readable, and the moment-to-moment feel is excellent.

The dodge-and-cast rhythm is the kind that turns “one more run” into a lost evening.

Builds that never settle

The depth lives in the 150+ Memories and Essences you collect and combine to warp your abilities mid-run. The game is upfront that there’s no single winning build — the same Traveler can play completely differently depending on what you find, and the offered choices force you to adapt instead of coasting on a memorized strategy. Layer on nine Lucid Dream modifiers and four difficulty tiers and there’s a staggering amount of variety to chew through across its eight handcrafted worlds and bosses.

Co-op is where it soars

Solo is tense and rewarding, but Shape of Dreams truly ignites in up to four-player co-op. When different Travelers’ builds collide, you get synergies and screen-filling combinations that simply can’t exist alone. It’s chaotic in the best way — the rare roguelite that’s arguably better with friends than by yourself.

Small caveats

It’s not flawless. The MOBA-inspired systems throw a lot at you early, and the sheer number of Memories can feel overwhelming before it clicks. Solo runs, while strong, don’t quite reach the highs of a coordinated group. And worth flagging: it requires agreeing to a third-party EULA on launch. None of these dent the core much.

Verdict

Shape of Dreams is a confident, gorgeous, deeply replayable action roguelite that gives both solo grinders and co-op crews a reason to keep diving back in. At $24.99 (and frequently discounted to around $17), with Turkish fully supported and a wildly generous build system, it’s an easy recommendation — one of the best co-op roguelites you can buy right now.