[EARLY ACCESS] ODDCORE – Replaying January 2026 Releases

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• DEVELOPER: ODDCORP
• PUBLISHER: Scarecrow Arts, Korgi Digital
• PLATFORMS: PC
• GENRE: Shooter / Roguelike
• RELEASE DATE: January 7, 2026  
• STARTING PRICE: 9,99€
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

January 2026 is getting a special treatment from me. I decided to start a series where I replay and cover ALMOST every game that launched that month, revisiting some of them again or discovering something new and giving them a bit more time to properly digest what they bring to the table. The first one I’m diving into is ODDCORE, and honestly, I couldn’t have picked a better opener.

ODDCORE is an incredibly fun first-person shooter built around a roguelike structure that constantly reshuffles the experience. Every run feels slightly different, and even when you fail, you walk away with coins to spend in its retro arcade-style hub. Unlocking new abilities, weapons, and skins that persist across runs gives the game a satisfying sense of long-term progression. It’s the kind of design that makes you think, “Okay, just one more run,” and then suddenly an hour is gone.

A Boomer Shooter Heart with a Modern Loop

At its core, ODDCORE has pure boomer shooter energy. You’re fast, agile, and rarely standing still. Shooting feels responsive and the movement you get from various abilities, such as jumping, dashing, even slamming down mid-air creates a rhythm that’s quite chaotic. It doesn’t waste your time either; after a short and effective tutorial, you’re thrown straight into timed arenas where survival is everything.

In general, you’re travelling through time and space where you have five minutes for each run. You collect soul points by defeating enemies, and once you gather enough, you can teleport to a side hub where meaningful decisions await. Do you extend your run by adding 30 more seconds per soul, or do you cash in those souls for permanent buffs like more health, stronger damage, or improved mobility?

The arenas themselves aren’t just about mindless slaughter. Many come with small objectives, like kill a certain number of enemies, collect special things like moving sunflowers, or clear standing objectives like infested massive mushrooms. These little twists break up the flow just enough to keep things from feeling repetitive, even when the core combat loop remains consistent.

What really sold me on this system is the rhythm of it all. Fight, gather souls, return to the hub, upgrade, repeat. It’s simple on paper, but in practice, it becomes addictive. The loop is so clean and well-paced that even when I had a rough run, I immediately wanted to jump back in and optimize my next attempt.

Variety That Keeps the Chaos Fresh

One of my biggest fears with arena-based roguelikes is monotony, but ODDCORE works hard to avoid it. There’s a generous variety of weapons and gadgets, encouraging experimentation and theory-crafting. Some combinations feel absurdly powerful, others hilariously risky, but that’s part of the charm. You’re constantly tweaking your approach.

The arenas are handcrafted but randomized between runs, although the bosses stay quite the same. You do start recognizing layouts, yet they never played out the same way twice. Add to that a wide lineup of main and side bosses, and you’ve got a steady stream of escalating challenges that keep you engaged beyond the standard waves of enemies.

Between combat segments, you return to the main hub where coins turn into tickets. This is where ODDCORE shows off its playful side. Arcade mini-games like basketball, hammer whack-a-mole, and coin pushers offer a surprisingly calm break from the intensity. They’re not just cosmetic distractions either, they feed back into your overall progression.

Then there’s the diner, where you exchange those tickets for meaningful upgrades for future runs, such as attack boosts, utility perks, even new music. It’s such a clever way to merge theme and mechanics. Instead of navigating dry menus, you’re physically moving through this stylized space.

A Surreal World That Watches You Back

Visually, ODDCORE leans into a surreal, liminal aesthetic that immediately grabbed me. The environments evoke that eerie backrooms-like feeling: strange, slightly unsettling, but never overwhelming. There’s no heavy narrative pushing you forward, yet the atmosphere tells its own quiet story through mood alone.

Being in early access, the game still has room to grow. Unlocking everything takes time and effort, and progression isn’t instant. You’ll need to complete specific challenges, win arcade mini-games, and hit various milestones to gain access to new weapons. Personally, I appreciated that grind as it made each unlock feel earned.

Then there’s the creature. Sometimes, after clearing an arena, you hear his breath. If you see him, you have seconds to react. If he catches you, you’re dragged into his world, stripped of almost all your HP, and cursed with negative perks. No healing, lost soul points, and other nasty surprises. The first time it happened to me, it genuinely caught me off guard.

That mechanic alone injects a constant layer of tension into the experience. Even during long runs, I never felt completely safe. It’s a brilliant way to prevent complacency. The game doesn’t just challenge your aim, it challenges your awareness and adaptability.

The Final Verdict

As much as I love ODDCORE, it’s not flawless. There are moments where the difficulty spikes in ways that feel slightly unfair. If the monster catches you and you lack mobility upgrades, it can feel like your run ends before you even get a chance to respond. That kind of abrupt punishment can sting.

One feature I absolutely love is the ability to import your own music. By dropping tracks into the “ODDCORE Custom Music” folder, you can listen to your personal playlist. Technically, the game runs impressively well. I didn’t encounter major FPS drops or noticeable bugs, which is especially commendable for an early access title.

ODDCORE knows exactly what it wants to be, and that confidence shows. Even in early access, it delivers a rock-solid roguelike structure paired with fast, satisfying shooter mechanics. The progression loop is addictive, the arenas are varied, and the surreal atmosphere gives it a unique identity in a crowded genre.

For me, this was an easy recommendation. If you enjoy roguelikes, arena shooters, or just crave that relentless “one more run” feeling, ODDCORE absolutely deserves your time. It’s fun, stylish, and already impressively well-crafted, and if this is just the beginning, I’m excited to see how far it goes.

Review copy provided by the publisher