Rogue variants

Group Description

Games deriving gameplay and appearance from the 1980 mainframe game Rogue, later published for home microcomputers by Epyx and inspiring a long legacy of Hack derivatives etc.

There is no exact definition of what constitutes a "Rogue-like" game. But the following characteristics have been preserved through the ages and are considered crucial by the rogue-like community:

1. Turn-based, especially single-action-per-turn.
2. Role-playing game, mostly single character, exploring a fantasy world, often just consisting of one big cave.
3. Top-down text graphics, with text symbols representing players, monsters, items, walls etc. (Modern rogue-likes give you the opportunity to replace them by graphical 2D tile sets or even isometric graphics.)
4. Randomized dungeon and item generation makes each game different.
5. Permanent death. You have only one save game, and it is deleted upon death. If you die, you have to start a new game.
6. Rogue-like games are traditionally freeware, and often open source.