Lucy [she/faer]Roguelikes recommendation thread
Are you tired of streaking Nethack and want to try something new? Or maybe you played a lot of Roguelites and are curious about the older genre? Or you have no idea what I’m talking about and just want to learn about an obscure genre and maybe even play a game?
Well, let me guide you through this surprising big, undeniably nerdy and very well-defined (hehe) genre!
Games for PC
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (DCSS)
Platforms: Linux, Windows, Mac, Android
Licensing model: Open-source
If there’s one game that defines the whole genre for me, it’s DCSS. It’s very complex but also surprisingly easy to get into. The two defining features are of the game are the skill system and its pantheon of gods. Skills comprise your actual build, meaning that each character will be customized to tailor your vision of the character as well to adapt to the stuff they’d found in the dungeon. You will also choose a god to dedicate yourself to, and with 26 gods to choose from, there’s also a variety of ways to utilize that.
Downsides: no sound, no music, no animations. Everything is quiet and static. Also, the game offers a lot of options from the start (specifically, 27 species and 25 backgrounds to choose from), with some guidance but… if you’re easily overwhelmed by a big amount of options, you might be better off looking for another game.
Golden Krone Hotel (GKH)
Platforms: Linux, Windows, Mac
Licensing model: Proprietary
This one isn’t free but it’s really cheap. It has stuff you’d expect from modern games: sounds, music, animations, modern interface, some kinda story even. The game is set in a vampire hotel with your protagonist shifting between human and vampire forms - changing the gameplay accordingly while also switching the NPC’s reactions to you: you fight humans as a vampire and vampires as a human. It is probably the easiest roguelike in the list although it does offer a harder mode.
Downsides: not nearly as deep as other roguelikes, and it’s substantially easier too. Some music doesn’t fit well into the turn-based gameplay being too distracting. Not much information is available online about this game too but there are a guides. And I guess if you find vampires too scary or too lame then you won’t enjoy but I can’t imagine not liking vampires!!!
Infra Arcana (IA)
Platforms: Linux, Windows
Licensing model: Open-source
Survival horror and roguelike gameplay mix in REALLY well! IA is a cosmic horror game about descending into the dungeon of some sort of cult with many eldritch abominations and mad cultists who will try to murder you and drive you insane. Yes, of course this cosmic horror game has ‘sanity’ as a mechanic. As you wonder through the depths you will slowly but surely accumulate stress - and the main way to remove is to progress to the next level (and you cannot go back!). Get too much stress and you’ll start going insane until you have no will to continue. Oh, and mana also kills you!
Downsides: no animations. Saving system is annoying: you can only save when you move to the next level, and you must press ‘save and quit’ instead of ‘continue’ - otherwise the game will NOT save you and you must complete another level before you get the next opportunity to save the game. If you’re super busy this game might fuck you over with this… not to mention that it’s very brutal and there are basically no guides online! Go in only if you enjoy challenge.
Mobile games
Shattered Pixel Dungeon
Platforms: Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, Mac
Licensing model: Open-source
Probably the most polished mobile roguelike out there. Similarly to GKH, it features all the stuff you’d expect from a modern game: sounds, music, animations, some story beats, NPCs you can talk with and do quests for, boss fights… the setting is standard fantasy, and the gameplay is standard broguelike ;) It has classes with their own unique features, magic is contained within wands you must find in the dungeon, your only stats are health and strength (used to qualify for heavy weapons and armor), every piece of equipment might be cursed and traps await on every step!
Downsides: not super complex and fairly predictable (COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING!!), inventory management can be a headache as you’ll need to gather as much useless stuff as possible to sell off in a shop - but it will take awhile til you find one.
spelk
Tipa
Calishat
Jake in the desert
Agent Karyo
