MetaFilter posts tagged with roguelike

Permadeath. Puzzles. Portals. Pong

boo_radley — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:56:29 -0800

2x0ng (and its predecessor, Xong) is a hybrid roguelikes that has the appearance, sound and mechanics of Atari age games. Levels are randomly generated, and the rules are up to you to discover. Here is a video review for your elucidation. Available for PC, Mac and Linux.

Faster Than Light

Artw — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 15:38:42 -0800

Davis and Ma wrote up a long list of one-paragraph game pitches to prototype. They would be small, manageable games that two people could complete on their own. The game they chose to go with would have to be finished within a year, because that was all they had budgeted for. Among the pitches inspired by board games, roguelikes and all the genres that excited them was a 2D, top-down management game called FTL. The Opposite of Fail - The making of FTL (Previously)

Jumping never felt so deliberate

cortex — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 10:57:01 -0800

Take the twitch out of platforming with Bump, a delightful new little turn-based randomly-generated roguelikelike by clever game dev and creative fellow Aaron Steed. Jump at or on or over things! Collect diamonds with head-bumping! Avoid and/or destroy spikes and bad guys! Try not to die! Die anyway! It's a good time. To crib some helpful clarifying notes on gameplay from RPS's Live Free, Play Hard mention of the game today:

The maps are randomly generated and often seem impossible. They are less daunting if you know certain facts: You can move sideways into stationary spikes, just not on top of them. When you bounce into blocks, you affect everything in that column. Gems turn to points and spikes drill downward (potentially destroying other spikes or clearing paths).

To which I will add: you can while in mid air move sideways safely into spikes your are level with, just as you can walk into them sideways on solid ground. Bump is an entry in the nearly-over-as-I-type-this 7 Day Roguelike challenge, which is a game jam with a very self-explanatory name; it has a website, 7drl.org, which is slow as heck right now but is worth spending some time at in the near future when it is not falling over. Far less satisfying as a game but sort of brilliant to look at and to trace what does work in Bump back to the point of inspiration is Steed's initial failed experiment, Super Mario RL. You may also remember Steed's somewhat less-hurriedly constructed real-time-with-pausing-if-you-prefer roguelike platformer, Red Rogue.

A Roguelike Primer

Artw — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 07:56:04 -0800

Best In Genre for Neophytes and Veterans Alike

Out of ammo, nearly dead, monsters outside. But! I have a can of meat.

cortex — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:47:07 -0800

If Doom and Nethack lived in Estonia and had a baby, it'd be named Teleglitch, a recently released pixelated action roguelike that will completely murder you if you're not very careful about how you explore its procedurally-generated corridors, fighting off former coworkers, crafting spare parts into new stuff and hunting for ammo and food and clues as to what the hell went so terribly wrong at the Militech R&D facility on Medusa 1-C. The game has a 4-level demo (Windows and Linux, Mac too apparently) which will probably kick your ass plenty all by itself. The visuals are intentionally graphically crude at a glance; big blocky pixels and a fixed overhead camera make for screenshots that look like they are from a modified copy of Doom, running on a box not quite up to the job. But in motion, it all works; the figurative looks to the baddies and the items and the world manages, as with much good horror, to put your brain to work filling in the details. The eerie glitchy voids, the claustrophobic line-of-sight visual masking, the live-or-die attention to sound details, and the terse diegetic scraps of story combine to make a legitimately compelling and tense world. Death is permanent, and really easy to stumble into; ammo is scarce, so aiming (or finding other ways to kill bad guys or escape them) is important; crafting found items can turn trash into treasure at vital moments; randomly generated levels have similar key sections but wholly random layouts and item/enemy/secret distributions. It's brutal and brilliant. Rock Paper Shotgun talks a bit more about what makes it so compelling. Games Are Evil talk to developers Test3 Projects. TotalBiscuit offers a charming and somewhat bumbling tour of the gameplay.

It means "The last argument of kings".

boo_radley — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:21:02 -0800

Ultima Ratio Regum is a middle-ground between roguelikes, RPGs and strategy games. It has no fantasy elements and seeks instead to be closer to a realistic history simulator, and a strategy/4x game which just happens to be in ASCII. Combat is rare and deadly – whilst these mechanics are modeled in detail, exploration, trade and diplomacy factors will have just as much effort put into them.

Dred Reckoning

Artw — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:02:51 -0800

I’m about to tell you a story about videogames, kitchens, and internet forums that has a happy ending. Stop laughing, I’m serious. - A woman gamer declares Gaslamp Games's Dungeons of Dredmor forums awesome.

Mercury is an experimental roguelike.

boo_radley — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:00:11 -0800

Mercury is an experimental roguelike. How is it experimental? Let's have the creator, Jason Lantz, explain :

" all the game’s content is winner-generated. That means that the game starts out barren. One class for players to play, one monster to fight, and one item to use. But every round, the top two scoring players use a tool built into the game to make a monster, item or class and then that object is automatically inserted into everyone’s game, and players fight for new high scores in an entirely different game every round."

The Walls Are Shifting...

naju — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:01:55 -0800

What is Spelunky? Well, it's a game that's "as generous as it is bloodthirsty," with "astonishing creativity and spectacular depth." First appearing as a freeware PC game in 2008, Spelunky (previously) is a hilariously brutal and oddly addicting marriage of roguelike, platformer, and puzzler. A new version was released for Xbox Live Arcade on July 4th, with updated visuals and a warbly soundtrack that recall the days of SNES gaming, as well as a deathmatch mode that's been compared to the mayhem of Bomberman. If you're anything like me, you'll get hopelessly consumed. (Trailer. Original freeware version for PC and Mac.)

The Legend of Grimrock

rebent — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 05:32:04 -0800

WTF Is the Legend of Grimrock? It's an old-school dungeon crawler that was released on Wednesday. It has been compared to Eye of the Beholder, Rogue like, or Dungeon Master in style. Create your party of four prisoners and try to find that gosh dang hidden button! reviews:

Stuck in the Trollmire

daniel_charms — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 03:55:09 -0800

Tales of Maj'Eyal (ToME) is a graphical roguelike RPG. It started off in 1998 as an Angband variant (history), but has since been completely rewritten, ditching both the engine and the Tolkien setting. It recently became the first game to win the Roguelike of the Year award for two years in a row (and also the first game to win it more than once). What is it that sets ToMe apart from other roguelikes? The main difference is that it has no potions or scrolls; these have been replaced with 'inscriptions' (runes and infusions) with cooldowns Here's some of its notable features (from the Rogue Basin wiki): Graphical tiles, music and sound effects (all optional) Skill points based character progression organised into talent trees Activated combat abilities with cooldowns and resource management Freeform quests (only very few obligatory quests) Special vault levels Multiple dungeons and towns with a large wilderness Schools of magic-based spell system Lots of very different races, subraces, classes and class specialization, some of which need to be unlocked by doing certain things in-game Unlockable achievements ToME Wiki Download page Rogue

I'll just put this sword in my bag.

Smart Dalek — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 04:51:01 -0800

Cardinal Quest [Flash] is an 8-bit tribute to Gauntlet, Roguelikes and the 2E D&D core rule-set. Open chests, battle opponents and descend the stairs in an effort to find the ~~Amulet~~ ~~Shield~~ ~~of Yendor~~ Malificent Minotaur!

The feat list hurts my brain

JHarris — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:24:45 -0800

Here is Incursion: Halls of the Goblin King, a computer game that adapts the 3rd Edition rules of the Dungeons & Dragons game to roguelikes.

Nethack over the Net

JHarris — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:19:05 -0800

Here is the Nethack server at alt.org, Telnet link, Java client, Flash client. Here is a list of most of the ways to die in the game (dates back to 3.1.3). And here are a lot of Nethack spoilers.

I leave all that I own to my cat Guppy.

eyeballkid — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:54:24 -0800

The Binding of Isaac is a roguelike (or possibly a roguelike-like) that pits a naked crying boy whose only initial weapon is his tears, but can be upgraded with loads of self-mutilating items, against random rooms of disturbingly mutated creatures (may be nsfw) in a quest to kill his mother before she kills him. Jay is Games and RPS (1 | 2) weigh in. Based on a (very very) loose interpretation of The Binding of Isaac. Created by half of the team behind the controller-throwingly difficult Super Meat Boy. Steam link.

Why use 2.5d when 2 will do?

kaibutsu — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:04:43 -0800

The Doom Roguelike is really much better than it has any right to be, and has come a long way over the last four years of development. Its spacey sister is the Aliens Roguelike (previously). Here are some tutorial videos to get you started, and mefi's own JHarris' review of DoomRL from 2007.

The CRPG Addict

kittensofthenight — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:12:23 -0800

The CRPG Addict is playing every PC role-playing came in chronological order. Currently, he's playing Ultima V. The CRPG Addict is sort of like Chrontendo for Computer Roleplaying Games. It's a relatively new blog with a LOT of content. On the right side of the blog is a list of recent and upcoming games. Scroll down for lists of highest rated games, lowest rated and longest played, then popular posts and the author's favorites. The playthroughs vary from a description of gameplay and a few screenshots for a minor, exasperating game, to extended series of posts with many screenshots, videos and scans of supplements. Some posts are overviews of big CRPG issues(Turn-based vs. Real-time combat) or thoughts on a specific genre (Roleplaying and Roguelikes). The List and an explanation of The List. Why? and some ground rules. An explanation of his complicated reviewing criteria, the Game Innovation, Merriment, Likability and Engagement Test, or GIMLET. Good posts on weird games: Swords of Glass, Scavenger's of the Mutant World, The Seven Spirits of Ra, Le Maitre des Ames, Alien Fires: 2199 AD. Discussion of the Pools of Radiance review at Rpg Codex (like 4chan for RPGs, be warned) where the author drops in. And finally a post linking CRPG tropes to TV tropes, in case you were worried about getting to sleep at a reasonable hour.

Goblin Camp

Zarkonnen — Sun, 15 May 2011 09:42:43 -0800

Goblin Camp is akin to a simpler Dwarf Fortress with a mouse-driven interface.

"MY MINIONS HAVE FAILED ME. YOUR DOOM AWAITS IN MY CHAMBER!"

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:41:09 -0800

Friday Flash Fun: Realm of the Mad God is a co-op MMORPG shooter with cute 8-bit graphics. Death is permanent, play addictive. RPG aficionados will be familiar with the concepts of character classes and stats, levelling and equipment of varying effectiveness. In a Roguelike-like twist, death is permanent. So especially if you're a new player, expect to die a lot. However, it's relatively quick to reach the maximum level 20 (again) if you join a "swarm" or "train" of players, as experience points are shared with those nearby. Pew-pew the various monsters, and stay away from the Godlands, a loose term for the (mostly white and dark grey) areas where the "gods", the game's stronger creatures, reside. (The dreaded Medusa is a challenge even for stronger players.) When death looms, bail out to the safe Nexus area (the "lobby") by pressing F5. When all of a realm's minions are disposed of, the titular Mad God Oryx will summon all players to his chamber for a "final" battle. Oryx is the strongest monster in the game and drops some of the best loot. When you've reached level 20, you can refine your character by amassing better equipment or farming the gods for "stat pots", potions which permanently increase your character's stats. Until its death, at least. RotMG is free to play, but "Realm Gold" can be purchased to exchange for extra character slots, space to store loot, and some vanity items like custom-coloured clothing. Tips: • Rare and/or higher-tier items such as top equipment and stat pots are often traded between players, often in quieter areas of the Nexus. As there is (yet) no formal trading system, a trade simply consists of players dropping and picking up the item(s) to be traded. As a result, there is a risk of the other player "scamming" or not following through on their part of a deal, or a third party "ninja" player rushing in and looting the item(s). Lower-tier items are also sometimes traded, but more experienced players will often give them away in the Nexus. Recently a "vault" feature was introduced to allow players to store items. • It is often faster to pick up loot by swapping an item you already have. Some players keep relatively worthless items in their inventory for this purpose. Consumable items such as stat pots, the red hitpoint and blue magic point pots (which only work temporarily), and the more frivolous ones can be consumed by shift-clicking the item on the ground. This can be quicker than picking it up first. • Teleportation is your friend. You can move quickly into the action by clicking a dot on the top-right minimap. But beware: teleporting into a swarm of Medusas is an efficient way to die. You can lock onto other players as well, ensuring their names stay on-screen in the lower right even when they are not nearby. • Every class has a special ability. Exercise it by shift-clicking or pressing the space bar. Aimed abilities are directed toward the mouse pointer. Priests and Paladins can heal: players often ask for healing in the Nexus. Be sure to say thanks! • If you are experiencing lag, reload the page. Press F to see memory usage. Bonus links: Wiki FAQ Glossary Forum Leaderboard Subreddit Load the SWF directly for full-screen mode (this will work temporarily, the SWF url is changed periodically) --------- Realm of the Mad God was originally developed by Wild Shadow Studios for the TIGSource Assemblee competition, where games are developed around submitted art and sound.

How many souls has the dungeon stole?

Artw — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:36:59 -0800

How Rogue Ended Up On The Sofa - a look at the descendants of the classic game, including MeFi's own 100 Rogues.

Robotron Rogue-like

The Devil Tesla — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 09:25:32 -0800

Shoot First is a fast paced top down shooter with randomly generated levels, a kickin soundtrack, and a Spelunky style sense of humor. (via Pixel Prospector)

Double the apocalypse, double the fun

Kattullus — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:24:26 -0800

Do you like the wholesale destruction of everything you cherish? Do you like roguelikes? Then you're in luck because two new roguelikes are yours to play, the zombie-apocalypse city survival fest Rogue Survivor, and the Gamma Worldesque ASCII-Fallout-analogue Caves of Qud. Both are still in beta, both will keep you away from the dinner table over the holidays.

Marvin. I hate Marvin.

vapidave — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 02:02:59 -0800

"This ascension took 143 tries and was damn hard, I tell you. Look at the conducts if you are curious why." A wishless genocideless polyitemless polyselfless illiterate atheist weaponless vegan (ascension) by marvin. "Christian marvin Bressler, aka mrivan on nethack.alt.org, is an excellent player (currently his ascension percentage on nethack.alt.org is 81.4%), and he also maintains the Atari windowport."^ More humiliation is always available here.

"It usually sounds ridiculous when opponents to video game describe them as murder simulators..."

codacorolla — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:53:33 -0800

"Serial Killer Roguelike" is exactly what it sounds like. Here's a video of it in action. Serial Killer Roguelike (wiki on Roguelikes)was originally supposed to be a tribute to the show Dexter but has since moved past that. “Keep in mind that this is a GAME, and that I am not advocating or condoning murder or any of the crimes that take place in it. I feel that the subject of serial killers, specifically the psychological conditions that drive them to do what they do, is one of interest and will hopefully translate into a unique game that has a vast number of potential options for play,” says the developer of the game. Mixed reactions on various online gaming communities. It's one thing to read about a "noble" serial killer like Dexter (for those unfamiliar with the show), and something else altogether to choose to slash someone's throat... even if that someone is an @.

A Vile Force of Darkness Has Arrived!

gamera — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:12:01 -0800

Killer Carp. Magma. Fire-breathing Capital D's. A new version of the cult rougelike/fantasy world sim Dwarf Fortress was released today. It's a windows only download - there should be Mac and Linux versions out in a week or so. Here's what tvtropes has to say about the game. Previously on metafilter: 1 2 3 4