What is Roguelike? Understanding the Features and History of this Popular Game Genre
Welcome! In this article, we’ll delve into the roguelike genre, a type of game that has captivated independent game developers and even attracted attention from companies like Sony. If you’re wondering “What is a roguelike?” and “What are the defining characteristics of roguelike games?”, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s explore the history of this genre and then discuss its key features.
# Defining Roguelike: A Combination of RPG and Dungeon Crawling
The roguelike genre blends elements from role-playing games (RPGs) and dungeon crawlers. It’s characterized by high replayability and the challenging aspect of permanent death, where players lose all progress upon defeat. The genre’s definition was formalized during the 2008 “International Roguelike Development Conference” with the creation of the “Berlin Interpretation.”
# The Berlin Interpretation: Defining Roguelike Elements
According to the Berlin Interpretation, roguelike games should possess these key features:
* Random Environment Generation: The game world is randomly generated for each playthrough.
* Permanent Death (Permadeath): Losing the game means losing all progress and starting over.
* Turn-Based: Each player action corresponds to a turn. There’s no real-time pressure, allowing strategic planning.
* Grid-Based: The game is built on a grid of uniform tiles. Each character and monster occupies one tile, regardless of size.
* Non-Modal: Movement, combat, and other actions occur within the same mode of gameplay.
* Complexity: The game should be complex enough to allow different approaches to achieving specific goals. Interactions between items and enemies are important.
* Resource Management: Players must manage limited resources and find uses for newly discovered ones.
* Hack’n Slash: Roguelike games typically involve defeating many monsters. They often adopt a “player versus the world” structure, where enemies don’t interact with each other (no diplomacy or alliances).
* Exploration: Careful exploration of dungeons is crucial. Each playthrough should offer a fresh experience of discovery.
The 2008 conference also suggested that roguelike games should draw inspiration from titles like ADOM (Ancient Domains of Mystery, 1994), Angband (1993), Crawl (Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, 2006), Nethack (1987), and Rogue (1980).
While influential, the Berlin Interpretation has been debated among players and developers. In today’s gaming landscape, it’s increasingly difficult to strictly categorize games. However, many modern roguelike games still incorporate several of these core features.
# The Origin of the Name: Rogue
The roguelike genre gets its name from the 1980 text-based role-playing and dungeon crawler game, *Rogue*. This ASCII-based game was playable even on computer terminals. It was later released on platforms like Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and even Nintendo Switch. *Rogue* is considered a cornerstone of the genre according to the Berlin Interpretation. While often referred to as “Rogue-like,” this doesn’t just indicate superficial similarities; it’s the genre’s specific name. The original *Rogue* is still available on Steam.
# The Rise of Roguelite
Despite some debate and ambiguity surrounding the genre, roguelike games tend to adhere to a consistent formula. This consistency has even led to the emergence of a subgenre: “rogue-lite.” A prime example of a rogue-lite game is *Hades* and *Hades 2* developed by Supergiant Games.
# Roguelite vs. Roguelike: What’s the Difference?
While genres are increasingly intertwined, there are subtle differences between roguelike and roguelite games. Roguelike games that don’t strictly adhere to the Berlin Interpretation often fall into the rogue-lite category. The Berlin Interpretation’s strict rules and boundaries are what define roguelikes. Roguelite, on the other hand, broadens the scope of the genre and loosens those strict lines.
*Spelunky*, released shortly after the Berlin Interpretation, is often credited with significantly contributing to the growth of the rogue-lite genre. It was followed by titles like *The Binding of Isaac* (2011), *Rogue Legacy* (2012), and *FTL: Faster Than Light* (2012). Unlike turn-based, grid-based roguelike games, these are often platformers that incorporate key roguelike elements.
While both roguelike and roguelite games often have RPG elements, they may not fully embody the RPG genre. RPGs also have their own specific conventions, and rogue-like games don’t always meet those requirements.
# Modern Roguelike and Roguelite Games
While some of us might have played the original *Rogue* or pre-PC/console games, we understand that modern games are likely of more interest to our readers. Here’s a list of modern games in both the roguelike and roguelite genres (which often overlap) that you might enjoy.
* Returnal (2021, Housemarque Games)
* Dead Cells (2017, Motion Twin)
* Hades (2018, Supergiant Games)
* Vampire Survivors (2021, Poncle)
* Balatro (2024, LocalThunk)
* Darkest Dungeon 2 (2021, Red Hook Studios)
* FTL: Faster Than Light (2012, Subset Games)
* Caves of Qud (2015, Freehold Games)
* Risk of Rain 2 (2020, Hopoo Games)
* Slay The Spire (2019, Mega Crit)
* Inscryption (2021, Daniel Mullins Games)
* Noita (2019, Nolla Games)
* Loop Hero (2021, Four Quarters)
* Enter the Gungeon (2016, Dodge Roll)
* The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (2014, Edmund McMillen & Nicalis Inc.)
* Hades 2 (2024, Supergiant Games)
This list is just a small sample of the vast roguelike game library. We’ve included some of the most highly regarded games to help newcomers find a starting point. Also, check out our early access review of Hades 2 before you dive in!
We hope this article has answered your questions about the roguelike genre, its characteristics, and some notable games. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask in the comments below. Happy gaming!