An introduction to Roguelike games

Roguelike is a subgenre of the genre Role-playing Game (RPG). Its name originates from a game called Rogue released in 1980 by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman. Rogue is known for its use of PCG, particularly in level creation. The game used a tile-based level generation system, in particular ASCII characters were used to represent tiles.

Image of Rogue (1980) by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman

A tile is a small piece of art, typically depicting land or ground that can be laid out like a game board. Imagine a Chess or Checkers board, but each square can be replaced with a small rectangular picture. In tile-based games, it is typical that the player character only occupies a single tile space at a time. Our Roguelike game will use a tile-based level generator, as well.

Tile sprite sheet from the popular game, Pokemon, developed by Game Freak

Other typical traits and gameplay mechanics of Roguelike games include 2D graphics, random player items, turn-based gameplay, and permanent player character death. Games that mimic the 1980's Rogue have been popular among the indie game market. Roguelike games' use of PCG makes them ideal for easier art asset production and potentially cheaper to develop.