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 video 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.
Rogue is a dungeon crawling video game by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman with later contributions by Ken Arnold. Rogue was originally developed around 1980 for Unix-based minicomputer systems as a freely distributed executable. It was later included in the Berkeley Software Distribution 4.2 operating system (4.2BSD). Commercial ports of the game for a range of personal computers were made by Toy, Wichman, and Jon Lane under the company A.I. Design and financially supported by the Epyx software publishers. Additional ports to modern systems have been made since by other parties using the game's now-open source code.
Mega Man 3 is an action-platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third game of the original Mega Man series and was originally released in Japan on September 28, 1990. The game was released in North America later in 1990 and in European regions by Nintendo in 1992. Taking place after the events of Mega Man 2, the plot follows the titular hero as he helps his creator, Dr. Light, and a supposedly former enemy, Dr. Wily, collect parts for a peace-keeping robot by defeating several Robot Masters that have gone haywire.
20XX is an indie action platform video game developed by American indie studio Batterystaple Games. The early access version was released for Microsoft Windows on Steam on October 12, 2016, and in full on August 16, 2017. It later launched on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on July 10, 2018, and on Xbox One on July 11, 2018.
ToeJam & Earl is an action game developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) console. Released in 1991, it centers on ToeJam and Earl—alien rappers who have crash-landed on Earth. As they attempt to escape the planet, players assume the role of either character and collect pieces of their wrecked spacecraft. It references and parodies 1980s and early 90s urban culture and is set to a funk soundtrack. ToeJam & Earl's design was heavily influenced by the role-playing video game Rogue (1980) and derived various features from the game, such as the random generation of levels and items. As such, ToeJam & Earl is often considered to be an example of a roguelike game.
Permadeath or permanent death is a game mechanic in both tabletop games and video games in which player characters who lose all of their health are considered dead and cannot be used anymore. Depending on the situation, this could require the player to create a new character to continue, or completely restart the game potentially losing nearly all progress made. Other terms include persona death and player death. Some video games offer a hardcore mode that features this mechanic, rather than making it part of the core game.
ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron is a platform video game developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions and published by Sega in 1993 for the Sega Genesis. The game is the sequel to cult video game ToeJam & Earl, released in 1991. The game concerns two alien protagonists, ToeJam and Earl, both of whom have escaped from Earth, where they had crash landed. After returning to their home planet of Funkotron, the duo discover a number of antagonistic Earthlings have stowed away on the spacecraft and are wreaking havoc across the planet. The player must hunt down these Earthlings and imprison them in jars before sending them back to Earth.
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.
Bravely Second: End Layer is a role-playing video game developed by Silicon Studio for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console and is the direct sequel to Bravely Default. It was published by Square Enix in Japan on April 23, 2015, and by Nintendo in North America, Europe, and Australia in 2016.
Dragon Fin Soup is an action role-playing video game created by the independent development studio Grimm Bros. It is the studio's first title and was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita. It is influenced by roguelike games and uses procedural generation for parts of the game. The game has two modes: Story mode follows a story and is more like a typical role-playing game, while Survival mode skips the story and focuses on the surviving within the game and constrains players with permadeath—once the player character dies, the game must be restarted from the beginning.
Piko Interactive LLC is an American video game publisher based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in early 2013 by Eli Galindo, the company focuses on physical re-releases of games from older video game consoles and digitally released ports to newer systems.
HyperRogue is an independent video game developed by Zeno Rogue. It is a roguelike inspired by the puzzle game Deadly Rooms of Death and the art of M. C. Escher, taking place in the hyperbolic plane.
Windjammers 2 is a 2022 sports video game developed and published by Dotemu. It is the sequel to the 1994 Neo Geo game Windjammers, co-produced by Data East and SNK. Windjammers 2 was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, and Xbox One on January 20, 2022. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the visuals, new content and gameplay mechanics.
Super Mario Maker 2 is a 2019 side-scrolling platform game and level creation system developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the sequel to Super Mario Maker and was released worldwide on June 28, 2019. The gameplay is largely retained from that of its predecessor, in which players create their own custom courses using assets from various games across the Super Mario franchise and share them online. Super Mario Maker 2 introduces new features and course assets, including a single player story mode and new level assets based on Super Mario 3D World.
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.
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is a puzzle video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It is a direct sequel to Puyo Puyo Tetris. The game was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on December 8, 2020 with a Windows version released on March 21, 2021. The game was released to generally positive reviews.
Rogue Legacy 2 is a platform video game developed and published by Cellar Door Games. It is the sequel to 2013's Rogue Legacy, and the game was released for Windows via early access in August 2020. The full version was released in April 2022, for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, followed by a Nintendo Switch port in November. The game was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in June 2023.
Endless Dungeon is a tower defense twin-stick shooter video game developed by Amplitude Studios and published by Sega. The game is a successor to Dungeon of the Endless (2014) and was released on October 19, 2023 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S.
