What exactly does "roguelike" mean?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by Papa Deuce, Nov 13, 2013.

  1. Papa Deuce

    Papa Deuce Well-Known Member

    May 15, 2013
    578
    0
    0
    I see lots of games that get called roguelike, but they seem like different kinds of games to me. Can you explain?
     
  2. Red1

    Red1 Moderator
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze

    Nov 26, 2010
    2,012
    6
    38
    Pre-occupied
    42.1
    Here's the WikiPedia definition of Roguelike:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike
     
  3. Exact-Psience

    Exact-Psience Well-Known Member

    Jan 12, 2012
    22,664
    2
    38
    The Work-At-Home Guy
    Philippines
    They get called roguelike coz there was a dungeon crawling RPG titled Rogue that was the basis for a lot of modern games nowadays.
     
  4. Bronxsta

    Bronxsta Well-Known Member

    Rogue was an old-school game that laid the foundation for the genre, introducing aspects such as permadeath, randomly generated levels, turn based combat, and extreme difficulty. Thus, the games that followed it's footsteps were "roguelikes"

    Today there's an ongoing debate about the use of the word, with some preferring to only use the term for traditional (i.e. turn-based) roguelikes. I'm a huge fan of the genre and prefer the more inclusive use including games such as Spelunky and Towerclimb (roguelike platformers), Tower of Guns and Fancy Skulls (FPS roguelikes), and action roguelikes like Teleglitch and rogue-"lites" like Rogue Legacy.
     
  5. iPadisGreat

    iPadisGreat Well-Known Member

    Dec 10, 2012
    2,391
    0
    0
    Roguelikes are randomly generated RPGs where you will play by pushing your luck. The closest analogy I have come up with is that it is like visiting the casino. At which point do you retreat from the dungeon with your treasure? The next NPC or trap could kill you.

    Also generally, unlike modern RPGs, Roguelikes generally have no story beyond raid the dungeon to find the Amulet of Yendor. Along the way you find treasure, but you must escape back out to enjoy your treasure.

    Not for everyone...
     
  6. Papa Deuce

    Papa Deuce Well-Known Member

    May 15, 2013
    578
    0
    0

Share This Page