Understanding video games: roguelikes explained

Un peu d'étymologie pour commencer :
Les roguelikes (similar to Rogue) are games built like their ancestor Rogue. Rogue is a video game created in 1980 on BSD Unix4. It was the first video game to adapt the mechanics of the classic role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. It generated unique dungeons for each playthrough, offering an endless new adventure to the player.

Roguelikes, games generated randomly

Roguelikes are randomly generated games, meaning each playthrough is different from the last. The dungeon you explore will have the same name, but its topography will not be the same. The same goes for the items you can discover inside.
Rounds last on average about an hour, two for the longest games.
Don't give up too quickly; your first runs will end in very fast deaths as you get used to the game's mechanics and understand the effect of the items you'll encounter. These games force you to learn from your mistakes.
The gameplay isn't very complicated, but the slightest mistake can be fatal.

They are fantastic games for learning perseverance.

Take an example, and even two:
In Gonner, if you run out of ammunition, you are dead, the run will end very quickly (you will die).
In The Flame in the Flood, you will be asked to survive with the little resources you find, otherwise it is death by starvation.

Roguelike is a fairly generic term; you will find both fast-paced shooter games like Enter the Gungeon, and calmer games like Darkest Dungeon, which puts you in charge of a squad of 4 mercenaries trying to clean up the outskirts of a cursed village with turn-based combat.
For the more strategic (and patient) among you, FTL: Faster Than Light lets you manage the crew of a spaceship across the cosmos to fend off a Rebel attack.

The only real common thread between all these games is that every death is permanent. If your character dies, you can bid them farewell, and their equipment disappears with them. You can save and quit the current game at any time, but that’s all. You will need to make the right choices to see the victory screen. Your save is erased each time you die. However, note that not all die-and-retry games are roguelikes. Random generation is essential to roguelikes; it is precisely the combination of randomness and die-and-retry that makes the genre successful.

To really understand what a roguelike is, here are a few vocabulary terms to know :

Random generation

That’s how roguelike levels are created. No need to memorize the dungeon map by heart, it will be completely different on your next part.

A run

A game, simply put. Roguelikes are short by nature. They theoretically end fairly quickly, if you manage to stay alive.

Die and retry

Die and restart. It is the core concept of roguelikes; you start a run, either you win it, or you lose it. The trap of these games is that very often you jump back into another run right away. You always tell yourself, one more, just one more, like with chocolates.

The items

These are the objects you can pick up (loot). They are permanent upgrades to your equipment. A large part of the roguelike appeal lies in the items; some offer classic trinkets like firearms (or swords, depending on the game). Others, like The Binding of Isaac, offer a whole range of more and more bizarre items.

The shop

The shop is where you can buy all kinds of items in exchange for a few coins. But not only; you also find consumables there.

A consumable

A consumable is a one-use item, like the small keys in Zelda’s dungeons.

What keeps pulling us back to roguelikes is the urge to go further, to see what’s in the next level. In this sense, roguelikes are very close to classic arcade games from yesteryear. If you’re after nostalgia or a new challenge, roguelikes will keep you occupied for a while.