Recommend me some "real" roguelikes.

[persian pink]

Among the recent trend of action-flavored roguelikes, Binding of Isaac, FTL and Spelunky reign supreme. Everyone knows that.

Where do I start with the roguelikes that stay true to the old definition, though? I want some that are complex, sure, but not frustratingly so. This means no Dwarf Fortress.

I *have* played the original Rogue, a version that according to the website I downloaded it from was the final officially updated version. I was shocked by how playable the game was. You'd expect something so dated to be cumbersome, but there wasn't a long period to learn the controls. Of course, I didn't make much progress but I don't blame that on the game.

However, the game did seem a tad simple. So, I'm wanting some roguelikes that sit on a happy middle ground between simple and complex. Over the years, I've been intrigued by Brogue, Powder, DoomRL, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, and maybe Nethack/Angband/ADOM.

Basically, if you could choose only let's say... five of these games (or another really really great one of your choosing) then which would they be?

[walwb]

Another "rogue-lite" that isn't necessarily a "hardcore rogue game" is Desktop Dungeons. It has elements of the rogue and puzzle genre, and it also has a huge completion/skill cap (much higher than BoI). It may not be quite your game, but it is free to try the alpha version on the dev's website, and if you enjoy the "spirit" of the game and want 100s of extra hours of play then you can purchase the full version on steam. I am also in the search of good rogue/roguelikes as well and it can be quite challenging to find good and hard games. Goodluck with your quest!

[persian pink]

While I love Desktop Dungeons, that's not really what I'm wanting.

[glass]

Wazhack, tales of maj'eyal, rogue's tale

edit: oh ya, how could i forget Sword of the Stars: The Pit

[гнида]

Wazhack

[persian pink]

Any other ideas?

[Jushujums]

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, DoomRL, and Brogue are all no-brainers. I'd also recommend you check out UnReal World and Infra Arcana if you're looking for something a little different. UnReal World has a fairly steep learning curve, but it is a very ambitious wilderness survival game that's been refined over decades and is still being improved upon by it's lone developer, with the help of his dedicated forum members.

Infra Arcana is an expertly-designed horror-roguelike that features almost every significant Lovecraftian monster, along with plenty of dynamite and tommy guns, which is pretty much all that needs to be said about it.

There are lots of others too, but you asked for five, so there's my five. Give 'em a try!

[Misery1ndex]

Dungeons of Dredmor is really good. If achievements is your kinda thing, theres a ton of them to get,which some of them are pretty awesome and well thought out. Like for example,dying to a diggle lol

[Malignant]

Zangband 2.2.8 is a great variant of Angband and the best game of all time for me

you can get it from here : ftp:/ftp.sunet.se/pub/games/Angband/Variant/ZAngband/zangband-2-2-8-win.exe

oh yeah.. it's an open source game so free and no piracy involved downloading it :d

[MrCorvington]

Traditionaly a console gamer here:

Honestly, if you have a Wii, you should check out Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon. Stay's very true to classic Rogue formula. It's the most forgiving game I've played that sticks to the formula, but that doesn't make it a cake walk or less fun.

And if you like Roguelikes you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't play Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer. It's offically released on the Nintendo DS in America, but there's also an excelent fan translation for the orginal Super Famicom relase if you're okay with emulation.

Last but not least, the game that got me started on Roguelikes when I was a kid a long long long time before I ever knew what Rogue was; Fatal Labrynth for the Sega Genesis is an awesome game. Spent hundreds of hours playing it as a kid.

[RGB]

try the mobile app pixel dungeon.

[negatus]

Originally posted by Malignant:

Zangband 2.2.8 is a great variant of Angband and the best game of all time for me

you can get it from here : ftp:/ftp.sunet.se/pub/games/Angband/Variant/ZAngband/zangband-2-2-8-win.exe

oh yeah.. it's an open source game so free and no piracy involved downloading it :d

I'm curious why you're recommending an older version of Zangband. Did something get "broken" in later versions?

[persian pink]

After doing some research, my final list didn't deviate a whole lot from the first one. I took out some of the ones that looked too frustrating and I'm left with Brogue, DCSS, Powder, DoomRL, Infra Arcana, and Sil.

[Tanadora]

Rogue Legacy is pretty entertaining. Upgrades are persistent between runs, but your character (and traits) may change each run through the castle!

[persian pink]

Rogue Legacy sorely disappointed me. The need to spend money on your castle/weapons/abilities made the game feel like a massive grindfest. Not to mention, the inherited traits were often not very interesting. Game has great music and art, anyhow.

[uuuhdavid]

Originally posted by persian pink:

Rogue Legacy sorely disappointed me. The need to spend money on your castle/weapons/abilities made the game feel like a massive grindfest. Not to mention, the inherited traits were often not very interesting. Game has great music and art, anyhow.

Risk of rain.