Roguelite explained: what you need to know about this style of game

In recent years, the roguelite genre has become a phenomenon in the gaming world. Combining intense challenges, engaging progression mechanics and a healthy dose of unpredictability, these games have won over a fair share of fans.

But what exactly defines a roguelite and what can players expect when embarking on such an adventure? Check out more in our article!

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What defines a roguelite?

The term “Roguelite” comes from Rogue, a 1980 game that was responsible for popularizing elements such as procedurally generated dungeon exploration and permanent death.

A roguelite maintains some of these characteristics, but softens certain mechanics to make the genre more accessible and varied. Overall, it’s a game in which you will die several times, but this is necessary so that you can evolve and gain improvements to get further and further.

E o roguelike?

Many people are still confused by the difference between roguelite and roguelike, and that’s completely understandable. In short, the term “roguelike” would be for games more similar to Rogue, mentioned above, while “roguelite” would be for games that soften these mechanics.

There is nowadays a consensus that, for a game to be roguelike, it needs to have 8 mandatory characteristics:

• Random map generation
• Permanent death
• Turn-based combat
• Grid-based movement
• Complexity that allows for many solutions
• Any action can be performed at any time
• Resource management
• Hack’n’slash style combat

In other words, they are much more difficult and punishing games and are now almost scarce in the industry. The truth is that most games in this style are in fact “roguelite”, but for marketing reasons or even popularization, many people still use the term “roguelike” as if they were synonymous.

Main mechanics of a roguelite

In roguelites, permadeath is a central part. But even if the player loses much of their progress after being defeated, they keep improvements that are permanent and unlocks that are valid for the next attempts. In other words, even though you die or are defeated several times, you feel that your character is evolving.

Resources such as items, currencies, and skills are often limited and require careful management to maximize survival.

Exploration in roguelites is marked by the procedural generation of levels, so you won’t have the feeling of repeating the same thing every time you try. Even with different environments and enemies with each attempt, the player is encouraged to explore, discover secrets and adapt to unexpected situations.

Furthermore, the challenges progressively increase, with more powerful enemies and more complex levels as the player progresses. This escalation of difficulty keeps the game exciting and rewards well-crafted strategies and quick decisions.

What to expect from games of this style?

In general, in roguelite games, your objective is to become strong enough to get through all the stages and enemies without dying for good. How this will be done depends on each game, but the basics is that with each attempt you will collect improvements to become little by little stronger.

Generally you collect items like coins, for example, to exchange for better weapons or even better abilities for your character that are permanent, and this makes you advance more and more.

Nowadays there is a great diversity of games in this style, with some better known like Hades, for example. The Supergiant Games game was released in 2020 and already has a sequel close to being released, where you control Zagreus, the son of the god Hades. Your mission is to get out of hell and to do so you will have to face enemies and “bosses” at each stage.

During attempts you can unlock blessings from other Gods, coins to buy improvements such as more life or skill improvements, among other things. Some of these improvements are lost when you die, others accumulate to make you stronger.

Other games that are also successful in this style are Dead Cells, Slay the Spire, Enter the Gungeon, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, among others.

In other words, if you enjoy challenges, progressive rewards and a good dose of unpredictable action, Roguelites are a genre worth exploring. Which is your favorite? Share your experience in the comments!