History Main / Roguelike

* ''VideoGame/RedRogue'': A Homage to the TropeNamer involving the now widowed lover of @ guided by his revenant to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor and restore him to life. Unlike the original, it is in a side-scrolling platformer format with no jumping. Combat system derives from a rudimentary casting and enchantment system with dual-wielding a main weapon and a throwable weapon.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rogue}}'', the TropeNamer and TropeMaker. Part of the Berlin Interpretation's canon.

While modern roguelikes are somewhat friendlier, games in the genre still tend to be quite challenging - after all, there is no point in permadeath if it is easy to avoid dying. Still, some modern roguelikes have taken steps to soften the punishment, such as by limiting failures to just the current level, or by allowing the player to carry some of their efforts over to their next playthrough when they die so that they at least have a better chance on future runs.

* {{Macrogame}}: Some aspect of the game carries over from one playthrough to the next, even when the player gets defeated and has to start over. Examples could be a currency that persists beyond death, or items that become available in future playthroughs once unlocked in-game. This was less common in early roguelikes, which fully expected you to restart from the very beginning. In modern roguelikes, it is common for your in-game actions to have at least some indirect effect on how the game will play out next time.

* ''VideoGame/MegaCityPolice'', a [=2D=] shooter heavily inspired by ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' and ''Film/{{Robocop|1987}}''.

Compare VideoGameRandomizer, a type of GameMod which adds roguelike-style randomness to a previously static game. See also RandomEncounters and RandomlyGeneratedQuests, which are types of procedural content that are often incorporated into [[RolePlayingGame Role Playing Games]].

* ''VideoGame/CuriousExpedition2''

* ''VideoGame/BeneathAppleManor'' (UsefulNotes/AppleII, 1978): Predates the TropeNamer; one of the first games with RandomlyGeneratedLevels.

The TropeMaker for the genre is the 1980 video game ''VideoGame/{{Rogue}}'', a terminal-based DungeonCrawling game which popularized the gameplay combination of random level generation and permadeath. ''Rogue'''s design inspired a huge family of dungeon crawlers over the next few decades, which became known as "roguelikes".

The TropeMaker for the genre is the 1980 video game ''VideoGame/{{Rogue}}'', a terminal-based DungeonCrawling game which popularized the gameplay combination of random level generation and permadeath. ''Rogue'''s design inspired a huge family of dungeon crawlers over the next few decades, which became known as "roguelikes"; since the 2000s, the design philosophy of procedural generation and permadeath found its way into many other games as well, and the term "roguelike" began to be applied more generally to such games. See the Analysis/{{Roguelike}} page for more details.

The TropeMaker for the genre is the 1980 video game ''VideoGame/{{Rogue}}'', a terminal-based DungeonCrawling game which popularized the gameplay combination of random level generation and permadeath. ''Rogue'''s design inspired a huge family of dungeon crawlers over the next few decades, which became known as "roguelikes"; since the 2000s, many other games adopted the design philosophy of procedural generation and permadeath, and the term "roguelikes" came to be used on those games as well.

Due to the gradual evolution of term "roguelike", the term nowadays has two different definitions; the definition and usage of the term "roguelike" has also become a [[FlameBait highly contentious issue]] among internet gaming communities, and using the incorrect definition in incorrect contexts can lead to intense arguments.

* "Roguelike" (older definition): A subgenre of turn-based {{Role Playing Game}}s that uses random generation, permadeath, {{dungeon crawling}}, and high-complexity designs in the same pattern as ''Rogue''.
** This is the original definition of the term, and most "Roguelike Communities" specifically about "Roguelikes" ''only'' use this definition. For differentiation, it is sometimes called '''traditional roguelike'''.
* "Roguelike" (newer definition): A genre of video games that uses random generation and permadeath designs similar to ''Rogue''.
** This is the modern definition of the term, used by most of the video game community outside of "Roguelike Communities", including this website. For differentiation, games that only qualify under the new definition (and not the old one) are called '''roguelite'''s.

More information on the term's history can be found on the [[Analysis/{{Roguelike}} Analysis]] page.

* No SaveScumming: Roguelikes typically have OnlyOneSaveFile and do not allow or expect you to reload a save, other than to resume a game already in progress, as this would negate the purpose of {{Permadeath}}.

* No SaveScumming: Roguelikes typically do not allow or expect you to reload a save, other than to resume a game already in progress, as this would negate the purpose of {{Permadeath}}.

** ''VideoGame/ShirenTheWanderer'': The exception.
** [[/index]]''Etrian Mystery Dungeon'', based on the ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' series.[[index]]

** ''Mystery Chronicle: One-Way Heroics'', based on ''VideoGame/OneWayHeroics''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Arknights}}'' have a roguelike mode called "Integrated Strategies".

** ''VideoGame/ChocobosDungeon''
** ''The Nightmare of Druaga'' ([=PS2=])
** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' is likely the one best known in the West.

* ''VideoGame/{{Beacon}}'', an isometric shooter roguelike. Its main gimmick is harvesting genes from fallen enemies, which change your stats and enable mutations that can be as simple as having robotic parts grafted to your chest for better armor to becoming an eldritch fire demon.

* ''VideoGame/CaveNoire'', a 1991 Japanese exclusive Game Boy game from Konami, that centred on 4 distinct rouguelike questlines divided into 10 difficulty levels.

* ''VideoGame/CavesNoire'', a 1991 Japanese exclusive Game Boy game from Konami, that centred on 4 distinct rouguelike questlines divided into 10 difficulty levels.

* ''VideoGame/MegaCityPolice'', a [=2D=] shooter heavily inspired by ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' and ''Film/{{Robocop}}''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Monolith}}'', a roguelike BulletHell