Roguelike Games
These genre is named after Rogue, a game
developed by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman in the early eighties.
Roguelike games will have some or all of the following characteristics:
- They are RPGs, though usually
light
RPGs. The original Rogue had
no character creation, later derivatives usually introduced a choice
of race and class, but stat increases at level-up remain fixed. You
control a single character only.
- A good part of the game will be dungeon crawling, and these
dungeons are randomly created whenever a new game is started.
- They have turn-based play, but in a unique way that feels very
similar to real-time: Whenever you move, all the NPCs move too.
- Very often the game will have ASCII graphics.
For some, optional graphics were created later (Moria
and NetHack, for example).
- In most cases, the game will be an open source, GPLed project.
Some, however, have been shareware (Alphaman), retail (Ragnarok), or
free, but close-sourced (ADOM).
Most of the games have been situated in a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired world, sometimes with
tongue-in-cheek anachronisms like the expensive camera in
NetHack. The post-apocalyptic Alphaman is
the only exception, still I do not see this as a rule. It is true
for most RPGs.
Articles and Resources
Specific Roguelike Games
Roguelike Games for Download
| Roguelike Games for Amiga |
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| Amiga Hack Lite |
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| Amiga UMoria |
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| Roguelike Games for DOS |
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| Hack 1.03 |
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| Hack 1.21 |
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| Alphaman |
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| Dungeon |
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| IVAN |
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| MAG |
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| Quick Majik |
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| Progue |
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| Ragnarok |
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| Roguelike Games for 16-bit Windows |
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| Angband 2.7.8 |
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| Castle of the Winds |
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| Moria |
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| Roguelike Games for 32-bit Windows |
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| NetHack |
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| Omega |
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| Zangband |
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Links
General Pages
Unfortunately, many of the old roguelike pages are meanwhile gone. Some have
been archived on the Wayback Machine, but not always complete.
Alive
Archived
Homepages of Specific Projects
- SLASH'EM (Super Lotsa
Added Stuff Hack – Extended Magic) is mainly a graphic conversion of
NetHack, featuring a semi-isometric view
vaguely reminiscent of Ultima VI.
Binaries are available for DOS, Mac, Unix and Windows 32.
- Linley's Dungeon Crawl goes back to 1995 and was last updated 2004.
- UnReal World is
a unique graphical roguelikish RPG taking place in the far North ages ago.
It brings you realistic game world with lots of historical traits as well
as northern folklore, beliefs and way of life.
One of the most underrated Roguelike RPGs ever made, The
UnReal World (UrW) is a captivating, but very difficult, role playing
game set sometime in the Iron Age. What sets UrW apart from other
Roguelikes—and most other RPGs for that matter—is the unique
historical setting and realistic factors. The game is set in a very
realistic gameworld, full of elements from Scandinavian mythology and
folklore. Instead of standard AD&D character classes, you play as member
of one of the ten Scandinavian cultures with authentic occupations,
including a fisherman, a hermit, a trapper, or even a tradesman. The
gameworld is huge and is randomly generated each time you play, thus
ensuring virtually unlimited replayability.—Home of the Underdogs
The UnReal World is a Finnish project. It features a combination of rather
simple graphics with photographs at 800×600 and runs on a 486.
