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Welcome to RogueBasin,

the Roguelike information resource that you can edit.

What is a Roguelike?

One does not simply ask "What is a Roguelike".

The term "roguelike" is still growing in popularity to describe any game with procedural content generation, or punishing difficulty, it is important to note that roguebasin is meant to serve as a repository of knowledge mostly for Traditional Roguelikes.

What is a Traditional Roguelike?

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A traditional Roguelike is usually described as a computer game with a strong focus on intricate gameplay and replayability, where the player has an indefinite amount of time in which to make a move, making gameplay comparable more to chess than to reflex-based games like first-person shooters, and where the game provides new content and challenges on every run, using procedural content generation techniques.

There are many other factors one may consider as relevant for traditional roguelikes, including them having an abstract world representation using characters or simple sprites, as opposed to detailed graphics, requiring the player's imagination to come into play (gameplay is more like reading a book than watching a movie). Modern traditional roguelikes often shun this aspect, in favor of accessibility for less hardcore players.

Of course, the best way to understand what Roguelikes are is to download and play one.
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Roguelikes

Many Roguelikes are freely available online. The most influential ones from the 00's decade are known as the Major Roguelikes:

Before their rise in popularity in the late 80s and 90s, the genre was dominated by the Major Classic Roguelikes:

Since the control systems of these Roguelikes are geared towards "expert" players, the novice player may be interested in trying a 'lighter' game like some of the coffeebreak roguelikes or just dive in at the deep end and find a roguelike game to suit you.

Roguelike Community

There are several other important places in the roguelike community that you should consider visiting:


Featured Roguelike: Caverns of Xaskazien II

Caverns of Xaskazien II Screenshot

A rich, graphical roguelike, with loads of animation and dynamic, coloured-per-pixel lighting.

Features

  • 300 distinct monsters with variants
  • Robust AI that differs by monster intelligence level.
  • Raise your own monstrous army to fight for you.
  • 100+ unique booby traps for the unwary, most of which may be set by players to trap monsters, too.
  • 125 base weapons and 75 base armour pieces, each with thousands of possible enchantment combinations and legendary variants.
  • Hundreds of unique magic items, mundane items, potions, scrolls, staves, wands, rods, food items, etc.
  • More than 200 unique spells.
  • and more!



Update featured roguelike | Previously featured

New Roguelike Releases

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Roguelike Development

If you have some ideas for a new Roguelike and would like to give development a go (or are already a seasoned developer) the RogueBasin is here to help you expand the Roguelike genre. A complete list of articles is available, but here are some to get you started:

Contribute

If you'd like to contribute to RogueBasin, simply create an account and log in. Feel very free to edit! We especially need more information added to the games pages and the lists - if you're a developer, consider updating your game's page, and making sure that it (and you) are included in the relevant lists.

If you're an experienced developer, consider writing articles about creating Roguelikes. There are many people new to Roguelike development, and they often need help. It's especially helpful to write articles about problems you have experienced yourself.

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