If you're a sucker for balance, you cannot get better than Desktop Dungeon, which just launched on Steam. That game is balanced down to the last digit. I have won DD before with a single health point remaining, 0 magic points, and all potions used. It's intense.

If you like Rogue-likes, then try Rogue Legacy, which is sort of the FTL take on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Your strategy for FTL is correct. I like to suck the marrow from early sectors, hoarding scrap and dough while routing early baddies. I've still never beaten it, though, and I've been playing since it was dropped on the IGF in 2011!