Best roguelike for a player new to the genre?

There's been a lot of chat about rogues on these forums lately. Most people - I'm one of them - would recommend Sword of Fargoal as a good place to start, and end, and end, and end, etc...

 

i started with sword of fargoal (on the ipod , played them on my pc on the good old time ) and i can recommend it too

 

This is what you're looking for. There's a nice gentle difficulty slope that teaches you how to play it as you go. Each time you play, your game will get progressively longer. It's easy to pick up and play. Hard to put down though. Great game.

 

Hope you like it, after praising it so highly. I'm sure you'll like it though. Just don't judge it immediately. The very first time I played it, I played for about 5 minutes, didn't die or anything, but didn't really see what was good about it. But the second time I played it, I realized how good it was. As in all rogue games, it becomes more and more strategic, and more and more tense the longer you play. You've put more time into it so you have more to lose, so to speak. So you find yourself in its grip and it becomes pretty tense, more than I thought a game that looked like that could be.

 

Solomon's Keep is an extremely simple, accessible rogue-like that I've been addicted to for the past couple days.

If you have never played a rogue-like before, it will get you accustomed to the basics.

EDIT: At the other end of the spectrum, I have a masochistic affinity for unforgiving games. Are there are roguelikes for the ipod/iphone that really kick your ass?

I haven't played many, so iNetHack is all I can throw out there.

 

having to walk around to regain your health is the one downside about the game, although I don't mind it that much. I see it as part of what makes it tough. You have to avoid getting into fights until you are stronger. I hear, though, that this is going to be tweaked a bit in the coming update.

 

I mean, some people would probably debate that, but if you choose Hardcore mode, it's got the core roguelike gameplay.

Permadeath, levelling, randomly generated items and dungeon levels. It's just kind of a very pared down roguelike.

 

Solomon's Keep isn't a roguelike at all. There isn't even permadeath.

 

SK is also a fun game, but one big difference is that it's a twin-stick. for me that gives it a bit of a different feel. I haven't played it too deeply yet, and not on hard, so maybe I shouldn't be comparing them. From what I've seen of it, I just think of it more as an action game.

 

This recent thread has a lot of good discussion about currently available and upcoming roguelikes if you want a bit more info: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=63703... Of course I've played all of them pretty extensively, and even contributed a bit of time to a couple of the projects!

Sword of Fargoal is definitely one of the more forgiving of the group currently available, and I highly recommend it to people who are looking to get their feet wet. For a more traditional/hardcore challenge a lot of people at this site and elsewhere have nice things to say about Rogue Touch.

Disclaimer: I am the author of Rogue Touch, and of two more upcoming iPhone/iPod roguelikes

 

Fargoal probably is the best for getting into the genre. It's a great game. I find Rogue Touch to be the most challenging, also the most satisfying. Especially after you make a deep run.

Fargoal has difficulty levels, and items are identified upon pickup. Two things that Rogue Touch a bit more challenging.

 

Actually that strategy only works with Fargoal, as most other roguelikes are designed to push you onward at all times and prevent grinding (usually with hunger or threat of starvation). Fargoal is more about exploration and was designed to let you take as much time as you want. The majority of roguelikes are more about staying on the run and the strategic use of your pack items to live as long as possible

 

KushyKush, if you are in a hurry to heal up (in Fargoal), by all means use a healing potion. That's what they're for. If you want to stock up on healing for later, it's better to favour the restoration potions. Also, regeneration spells speed up your healing, as does resting on the temple or wielding a temple shield.