Sulfur takes the extraction shooter, hands it a gun-toting priest, a pit full of goblins, and a frying pan, and somehow lands as one of the most addicting indies I have played in years.
I have played a lot of Sulfur. Like, a lot. More hours than I would comfortably admit in public.
Every session starts the same way. I tell myself one quick run. Then I look up, it is way past midnight, my bag is full of goblin meat and mystery potions, and I am already planning the next dive. The only reason I even stop playing is because I can’t feed my kids that goblin meat (yet).
Sulfur is a first-person roguelite shooter from indie studio Perfect Random with a big dose of extraction DNA. You play a holy man who keeps climbing out of his own grave, dropping into the depths, and dragging whatever he can carry back to the surface. With 1.0 launched on October 28 on PC, PS5, Xbox, and Switch after two years in Early Access, there has never been a better time to jump in.
It is charming. It is goofy. And it punches way above its weight.
The Loop
Sulfur nails the tension that makes extraction shooters tick: everything in your bag is at risk until you get it home. Drop into the pit, push deeper, scavenge everything that is not nailed down, then decide if you want to burn your amulet’s energy to teleport out or roll the dice on one more room.
The difference is that Sulfur swaps the sweaty PvP lobbies for goblins, ghouls, and dark comedy. The pressure comes from your own greed, not some guy camping a doorway. That makes it way more approachable without losing the stakes.
Case in point: one run, I was deep in the depths with a bag full of loot I could not afford to lose. Out of nowhere, a pack of frog ninjas jumps me. I barely clear them out, and then the frog samurai show up. Sexy frog samurai. I do not make the rules. Throw in a handful of random critters piling on from every direction, and I am backpedaling, reloading, and fighting to keep my haul alive while trying not to bust out laughing. That is Sulfur in a nutshell. The stakes are real, the chaos is ridiculous, and somehow both hit at the same time.
And every run feeds the next. A new gun, a new recipe, a weird hat that buffs your stats, and suddenly the next dive plays completely differently. Even the enemies keep it fresh, since you can charm, threaten, or bribe your way past some of them instead of just shooting. That is the hook. You are never just repeating a run. You are always chasing the next upgrade.
The Gear
This is where Sulfur goes from good to great. For an indie, the weapon and equipment variety is wild. The 1.0 release packs in more than 60 guns, and every one of them can be tuned with attachments, oils, and enchantments. Rank a gun up, slap on the right scope, oil it for extra damage, and your trusty starter pistol turns into a completely different animal.
Then there is everything else. Hats, shoes, grenades, armor, and a mountain of loot to sort through. There is always something new to collect, and almost all of it plugs into something you can build.
The crafting is the secret sauce. Potions and food are not just health bars on a plate. You find ingredients, experiment at the cauldrons, and slowly piece together recipes that become part of your build. Cooking up a stack of goblin meat before a big dive should not be this satisfying, but here we are. That loop of collect, craft, and test it out on the next run is what kept me coming back night after night.
The Vibe
Sulfur looks incredible. The art has this storybook, almost cartoon charm that makes everything look cute and cozy. Then you open up a goblin and remember this game has teeth. That contrast is a big part of its personality, and it works every single time.
The music is just as strong. The soundtrack sets the mood perfectly, and it does a ton of the heavy lifting in making the depths feel alive.
But the thing that really sticks is the goofiness. The characters are weird in the best way, from the folks hanging around the church to the goblins you can sweet-talk or shake down mid-run. Sulfur never takes itself too seriously, and that sense of humor makes the brutal moments land even harder. It has a whole lot of heart.
The Verdict
Sulfur is an easy recommendation. If you love the one-more-run pull of a great roguelite but want a shotgun in your hands, this is your next obsession. If extraction shooters have always sounded fun but the PvP scene scares you off, this is the perfect on-ramp.
It is charming, it is addicting, and it has more guns, gear, and recipes than a lot of games with ten times the budget. Perfect Random built something special here, and 1.0 is the moment to dive in.
See you down in the pit.
