Hello all, this is the first post in a series of posts I’ll be making weekly to drum up some diverse discussion relating to all different aspects of gaming. I figured I would start with what I know, and so the first topic is thus: roguelike games. (If you think any of the below description is wrong or misleading, let me know - that’s part of the discussion!)

The name of this genre is derived from the game Rogue, released in 1980. The exact definition of a roguelike has been a topic of discussion for a long time, but the core tenets are usually agreed upon to be random/procedural generation and permanent death (no saving and continuing a run, you have to start over). Many roguelikes have an additional increased focus on collecting items and assembling a “build” over the course of a run. A “pure” roguelike is often claimed to have no meta-progression (that is, no procedural unlocks) and focus more on the journey than the destination - seeing how far you can get, or how high a score you can achieve, rather than reaching a distinct victory condition (not that these games don’t have victory conditions, but that it isn’t the end-all-be-all). The secondary term “roguelite” is often brought out to describe games that deviate from this. Additionally, the term “traditional roguelike” is sometimes employed to indicate a more strict adherence to the older style of this genre, with grid-based dungeon crawling and high complexity. Ultimately, as with a lot of genres, pinning down a 100% ironclad definition is near impossible, but most people that like this type of game could tell you the general “vibe” at a glance.

Here are some questions and subtopics that I encourage people to discuss:

  • What are some of your favorite examples of roguelike games?
  • What roguelike games do you think stand out in terms of defying the conventions of the genre?
  • Do you find there to be a meaningful difference between the usage of “roguelike” and “roguelite” nowadays? Which do you prefer? Where does the “traditional roguelike” fit into this?
  • Do you continue to play roguelike games after reaching the “end” / reaching 100% completion? Why, or why not?
  • What other genre do you most often enjoy seeing paired with roguelike?
  • Is any game with procedural generation and a run-based structure a roguelike, or is there more to it? Where do you personally draw the line?
  • What have been some of your best runs across all roguelike games? What’s been memorable?
  • Are there any upcoming roguelike games you’re excited for?

Also feel free to bring up anything you like related to the topic! If you have suggestions for future discussion topics, leave them in the suggestion thread.

Additional Resources
  • @complacent_jerboaEnglish
    4•1 year ago

    I think most of the games I’ve liked lately are roguelites:

    • Bullets Per Minute
    • Crypt of the Necrodancer
    • Plate-Up
    • Unrailed
    • Noita
    • Risk of Rain 2

    Except for BPM and Noita, I’d recommend all of these as excellent coop games too. Here are some summary descriptions:

    Bullets Per Minute:

    • first-person shooter dungeon crawler
    • awesome rock soundtrack with a steady beat
    • you have to shoot and reload to the beat

    Crypt of the Necrodancer:

    • top-down 2d dungeon crawler
    • awesome electronic soundtrack with a steady beat
    • you have to attack and move to the beat

    Plate-Up:

    • top-down 2d restaurant simulator
    • episodic gameplay where you try to make it through each day by serving all the customers
    • if any customer waits too long, you lose
    • inevitably gets crazy and chaotic, perfect for a group looking for a hectic and fun coop game
    • devs are based, epic mod support

    Unrailed:

    • top-down 2d rail-building game
    • you start with a train on some rails, with the train always moving forwards
    • the goal is to continuously place rails in front of the train, otherwise you lose
    • similarly to Plate-Up, incredibly chaotic energy, very fun

    Noita:

    • sidescrolling dungeon crawler
    • you mainly fight enemies using wands and spells
    • wands on their own are effectively just a bunch of empty slots; you decide which spells go in them, and in which order
    • this may or may not eventually result in game-breaking shenanigans (or suicidal shenanigans, or both)
    • there are a lot of secrets. like the entire game is a meta-narrative about discovering secrets. question everything.
    • you will die. a lot. half the time to your own wacky spells. this is the way.

    Risk of Rain 2:

    • 3rd-person shooter (some characters are primarily melee, but whatever lol)
    • game consists of a series of stages, each of which has a bunch of enemies, a bunch of chests with items, and a boss you must defeat to progress further
    • also has a decent few secrets. Not on the same scale as Noita, but still quite a few
    • JojoEnglish
      3•1 year ago

      Noita is a game I keep coming back to, it has mod support and SO much to discover by exploring. It’s a good palette cleanser and just a good bit of fun when I need something for a bit between other games.