SUMMARY
- Roguelike and Roguelite are two genres of gaming that can be confusing to understand and distinguish between.
- Roguelike refers to a set of rules that a game must follow to belong to the genre. The general rule is permadeath and no player advancement.
Run-based video games, such as Hades and Slay the Spirit, have grown in popularity over the past few years. “Roguelikes” and “roguelites” are terms that are occasionally used interchangeably to describe these games. Game types having randomly generated maps and permadeath might be referred to be roguelikes or roguelites respectively.
The relatively early video game Rogue is the source of the term of the “rogue” game genre. In addition to offering permadeath, the 1980 version of the game required players to retrieve an amulet from the end of a dungeon. The player had to restart the game from scratch if a character died, losing whatever improvements or weaponry they had amassed along the route.
Additionally, because the dungeons were produced randomly, each run was unique, requiring players to explore each area and adjust to novel situations. Over time, a number of games have taken inspiration from Rogue, giving rise to the roguelike and rougelite game genres.
What are roguelike games?
While the name “roguelike” has become somewhat of a catch-all, the Berlin Interpretation was developed in 2008 during a development conference, and it characterized roguelikes as having eight distinct design tenets. These include:
- random map generation.
- permadeath, turn-based.
- combat.
- grid-based movement.
- complexity to allow multiple solutions.
- non-modal, for all actions to be performed at any time.
- resource management.
- hack ‘n’ slash combat.
According to the Berlin Interpretation, a game needs to fulfill each of the eight requirements in order to be considered roguelike. Rogue-like games include Dungeons of Dredmor and Brogue, among others. Brogue even cautions players not to let the game’s difficulties deter them from practicing and to keep trying.
What are roguelite games?
The majority of well-known Roguelike games are actually more appropriately referred to as roguelites due to the strict rules outlined by the Berlin Interpretation. Some, but not all, of the Rogue design concepts serve as the basis for gameplay in roguelite games. Even though many games have given the genre new twists, randomly generated areas and permadeath are still essential to roguelite design.
Carry-over progression is a feature added by some roguelites to eventually make runs easier and let players travel farther. For example, Hades has some resources that are used to purchase character improvements that are permanent and do not reset upon death.
Roguelites, which include well-known games like Spelunky, Don’t Starve, Risk of Rain, The Binding of Isaac, and Hades, are becoming more and more popular.
What makes the roguelike and roguelite gameplay unique?
Depending on the player’s goal, roguelike and roguelite games can both be rewarding. Simply by having permadeath, both offer a challenge to the player, but they take distinct approaches to that task.
Since the player’s slate is never completely cleared once a character dies, roguelite games allow for some form of character advancement. As a player advances through the game, the stages get harder, but the player also evolves. The reason roguelites have been more popular in recent years is because of these identical features, which may draw in players who aren’t die-hard roguelike addicts.
Roguelike games, on the other hand, provide a distinct kind of joy because the only way to win is for a player’s skill to advance. Hardcore gamers who enjoy testing their talents on “easy to learn, hard to master” game mechanics find these games to be quite appealing.