A brief history of roguelikes

[Morreion]

The Game Archaeologist: A brief history of roguelikes (Massively)

As with adventure games, it appears as though the mobile market has triggered a resurgence in the popularity of roguelikes with both developers and players. I've been stumbling over them left and right for a while now (I'm quite fond of FTL, which takes the roguelike into space), and every time I can't help but think of how this genre is almost the antithesis of an MMO.

Instead of persistent worlds rich in lore, roguelikes favor randomized dungeon crawls with little or no story. Instead of immortal characters that grow with a player over months and years, roguelikes feature permadeath around every corner. Yet there's love for both in many gamers' hearts and perhaps even a few similarities that help to transcend differences.

I find roguelikes fascinating because they are so hardcore, they yank me out of my comfy little leveling bubble, and they force me to use my brains for something more than figuring out whether it's time to use the "2" key once more. So what the heck, let's take a quick trip through roguelikes this week and see where -- if at all -- they connect with MMOs.

[Regolyth]

For mobile, roguelikes make sense. A mobile device isn't a dedicated piece of gaming equipment (although, I suppose for some it kind of is... in a manner of speaking). Games for phones/tablets are meant to be played standing in line at the post office or when you visit grandma's. They're supposed to be fun, quick and entertaining. At least, it's how I see them. I like them, and between you and me, I've been secretly developing one. Hopefully I'll have it done sometime in the near future, at which point I release it on the market (probably Android, but I'll see what I can do with iOS as well).

[Morreion]

Hey that sounds cool, Rego! Let us know when it comes out!

[Regolyth]

If it comes out.