Roguelike Basics
New to traditional roguelikes? Start with just these five things
Roguelikes can feel overwhelming at first. The screen is full of symbols and numbers, and one death sends you back to the start. But if you go in knowing a few rules, they get a lot less daunting.
This guide is for people new to the genre. The examples follow the store description of Dungeon Sookuma, which has a free demo on Steam.
What is a traditional roguelike?
The word roguelike comes from Rogue, a dungeon-exploration game released around 1980. It means a game like Rogue.
These days, to set them apart from 'roguelites', where progress often carries over to the next run after you die, games where you move one turn at a time on a grid and death ends the run are often called 'traditional roguelikes'. The 'Berlin Interpretation', drawn up at a gathering of roguelike developers in Berlin in 2008, is often cited to sum up these traits.
Five things to know
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One step, one turn
Sookuma Time only moves when I move. No need to rush at all, kum.
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Time passes only when you act. It's not a test of reflexes, so when things look dangerous you can take your hands off the keys and think.
In Dungeon Sookuma, too, every step is a turn. Its Steam page lists 'Playable without Timed Input' and 'Keyboard Only Option'.
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Death ends the run
Jjooni If you fall, the next dream starts from scratch. But what you've learned stays with you!
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This is called permadeath (permanent death). In traditional roguelikes you usually can't continue with a character who has died; the next run starts with a new character and a new dungeon. What stays with you is what you've learned.
Dungeon Sookuma's Steam page puts it this way: 'Death ends this dream. The next one will open again.'
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The dungeon is new every time
Sookuma The paths change every run. Don't memorize the map, learn how to handle trouble.
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You don't win by memorizing maps. The layout and contents change every run, so what you learn is not the route but how to handle each situation.
Step into Dungeon Sookuma's dream dungeon and see for yourself how it changes from run to run.
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Items hide their names
Sookuma What's this scroll? Gotta read it to find out, kum.
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You don't know whether the first potion you pick up heals you or poisons you. You have to use it or find another way to identify it, and once you've identified something in a run, it usually shows up by name from then on.
In Dungeon Sookuma, the looks and true identities of potions, scrolls, wands and relics are reshuffled every dream.
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What you see and hear is all you know
Jjooni Make noise fighting and the others come running!
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You can't know what's outside your sight, and the sound of fighting wakes enemies far away. Picking your next move with incomplete information is the fun of the genre.
Dungeon Sookuma highlights limited sight, exploration fog, sound propagation and hidden traps.
Tips for your first run
Think of your first run as a sightseeing trip. Dying is part of learning.
If something feels dangerous, stop before you press the next key. In a turn-based game, thinking time is free.
Test unknown potions and scrolls when your health is high and no enemies are around.
Get in the habit of reading the message log. It tells you what hit you and what you heard.
Don't get surrounded. Back into a corridor and fight them one at a time.
On the way down, keep an eye on your way back. Dungeon Sookuma isn't over until you climb all the way back to the first floor.
Why Dungeon Sookuma is a good place to start
- The demo is free.
- English is one of the supported languages.
- You can play with just a keyboard, with no timed input.
- Auto-explore, automatic pickup, targeting previews and contextual logs cut down on tedious input.
Based on the Steam store description. The Steam page does not say which parts of the full game are included in the demo.
Kongkongi The demo is free, and it's in English too. All you need is a keyboard to jump right in!
Terms that trip up newcomers
- Turn
- The unit of one action you take, such as walking one step or attacking once.
- Permadeath
- The rule that once a character dies, you can't keep playing it.
- Procedural generation
- The game builds the dungeon's layout and contents anew for every run.
- Unidentified
- An item whose true identity hasn't been revealed yet.
- Build
- Your plan for how to combine and grow your lineage, class, gear and skills.
- Branch
- A separate area that splits off from the main dungeon. Find out for yourself what waits there.
The fastest way to learn the rules is to play
The Dungeon Sookuma demo is free. Jump in and treat your first run as one where dying is perfectly fine.