NetHack is an open source single-player roguelike video game, first released in 1987 and maintained by the NetHack DevTeam. The game is a fork of the 1982 game Hack, itself inspired by the 1980 game Rogue. The player takes the role of one of several pre-defined character classes to descend through multiple dungeon floors, fighting monsters and collecting treasure, to recover the "Amulet of Yendor" at the lowest floor and then escape.
Roguelike is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player character. Most roguelikes are based on a high fantasy narrative, reflecting their influence from tabletop role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.
Strange Adventures In Infinite Space is a roguelike video game created by the indie developer Digital Eel and released for Windows and Mac on March 15, 2002, by boardgame developer-publisher, Cheapass Games. Releases for Pocket PC and Palm by British developer-publisher Astraware followed. In 2020, the game was updated to run on current computer operating systems of the day. It remains free to download and share.
Dwarf Fortress is a construction and management simulation and roguelike indie video game created by Bay 12 Games. Available as freeware and in development since 2002, its first alpha version was released in 2006 and received attention for being a two-member project surviving solely on donations. The primary game mode is set in a procedurally generated fantasy world in which the player indirectly controls a group of dwarves, and attempts to construct a successful and wealthy fortress. Critics praised its complex and emergent gameplay but had mixed reactions to its difficulty. The game influenced Minecraft, Rimworld, and others, and was selected among other games to be featured in the Museum of Modern Art to show the history of video gaming in 2012.
DRL, short for Doom, the Roguelike, is a roguelike video game developed by ChaosForge based on the first-person shooters Doom and Doom II. It has been in development since 2002, and was released for Microsoft Windows, Linux and OS X. Following a cease and desist notice from "Doom" trademark owner ZeniMax Media, the game's name was changed to DRL in 2016.
Spelunky is a 2008 source-available 2D platform game created by independent developer Derek Yu and released as freeware for Microsoft Windows. It was remade for the Xbox 360 in 2012, with ports of the new version following for various platforms, including back to Microsoft Windows. The player controls a spelunker who explores a series of caves while collecting treasure, saving damsels, fighting enemies, and dodging traps. The caves are procedurally generated, making each run-through of the game unique.
Rock Paper Shotgun is a British video game journalism website. It was launched in July 2007 to focus on PC games and was acquired by Gamer Network, a network of sites led by Eurogamer, in May 2017.
Dungeons of Dredmor is a roguelike indie video game released on July 13, 2011, by Gaslamp Games. A downloadable content (DLC) pack, "Realm of the Diggle Gods", was released later that year. A second DLC, "You Have To Name The Expansion Pack", was released on June 5, 2012, and a third, "Conquest of the Wizardlands", was released on August 1, 2012. The game has extensive support for user-created modifications.
Desktop Dungeons is a single-player roguelike-like puzzle video game developed and published by QCF Design. Released in November 2013, the game underwent a lengthy public beta phase, during which it was available to customers who pre-ordered the game. In the game, players navigate a dungeon filled with monsters before battling a final dungeon boss. The game has qualities of a puzzle as players must find the best methods to use items, spells, and upgrades to reach the final boss without losing too much of their character's health. Desktop Dungeons has been compared to a roguelike but with condensed gameplay. Desktop Dungeons received an award for Excellence in Design at the 2011 Independent Games Festival. The game is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. A video game remake titled Desktop Dungeons: Rewind was announced in 2022 and released April 18, 2023.
UnReal World is a roguelike survival freeware video game set in a fictionalisation of Iron Age Finland. The game was first released in 1992 and continues to receive regular updates as of 2023. The game was released on Steam on 26 February 2016.
Tales of Maj'Eyal is an open-source roguelike video game released for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux in 2012. Tales of Maj'Eyal is available as donation-supported freeware (donationware) from the developers; donations grant some exclusive online features as part of a freemium model. The game may also be purchased through the digital distribution outlets Steam or GOG. The game's TE4 game engine source code is under a GNU GPLv3 license, while the game's assets are licensed for use "with the Tales of Maj'Eyal game only".
Enter the Gungeon is a 2016 bullet hell roguelike game developed by Dodge Roll and published by Devolver Digital. Set in the firearms-themed Gungeon, gameplay follows four player characters called Gungeoneers as they traverse procedurally generated rooms to find a gun that can "kill the past". The Gungeoneers fight against bullet-shaped enemies, which are fought using both conventional and exotic weapons. Enter the Gungeon features a permadeath system, causing the Gungeoneers to lose all obtained items and start again from the first level upon death. Between playthroughs, players can travel to an area called the Breach, where they can converse with non-player characters and unlock new items randomly encountered while playing.
Cogmind is a tactical science fiction roguelike available for Windows developed by Grid Sage Games, a company founded by Josh Ge. Before its Steam early access release on 16 October 2017, it underwent public testing through alpha and beta stages.
A roguelike deck-building game is a hybrid genre of video games that combines the nature of deck-building card games with procedural-generated randomness from roguelike games.
Caves of Qud is an early access roguelike role-playing video game developed by American studio Freehold Games set in an open world that is partially pre-made and partially randomly generated. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic science fantasy setting and is inspired by the pen-and-paper role-playing games Gamma World and Dungeons & Dragons.
Delver is a 2018 first-person roguelike action dungeon crawler video game developed by Priority Interrupt. It was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on February 2, 2018.
Unexplored is a series of two roguelike video games developed and published by Ludomotion. The first game, Unexplored, was released in 2017. The second game, Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy, was released in 2022.
Deep Sky Derelicts is a dungeon crawl video game developed by Snowhound Games and published by Fulqrum Publishing. It combines elements of traditional role-playing video games and roguelike deck-building games. Players create a custom crew, who explore and scavenge derelict space ships. It was first released in 2018 and was ported to consoles in 2020.
