What Makes A Good Roguelike/Roguelite?

Roguelikes: a realm of complexity, unpredictability, and unjustly underrated brilliance. To this day, roguelikes remain my favorite game genre of all time. This is why.

In this video, we venture into the heart of the genre, dissecting its essence from the nature of its randomly generated design to the intricate balance of endless item variations and gameplay potential. Explore the fine line that separates success from frustration in roguelike design; whether it’s the harmonious dance between risk and reward, the intricacies of item synergy and enemy patterns, and the exhilarating feeling of mastering the unpredictable.

Whether you're a roguelike aficionado, developer, or curious observer, this video brings you an unparalleled journey into the heart and soul of a genre that thrives on its complexity, unpredictability, and limitless potential. Hit that play button, join the discussion, and let's celebrate the magic that makes roguelikes a truly unforgettable experience!

=== CHAPTERS ===

0:00 - Intro
0:46 - Background
4:18 - Uniqueness From The Start
6:43 - Risk vs. Reward
9:28 - Diversity
11:31 - Synergies
20:37 - Repeated Level Design
26:16 - Enemy Design
30:46 - Secrets and Unique Encounters
32:46 - Mechanic vs. Stat Changes
39:09 - Charm and Visuals
44:00 - Audio
44:32 - Thank You

=== GAMES SHOWCASED ===

Crab Champions (2023)
Dead Cells (2017)
Have a Nice Death (2022)
Nuclear Throne (2015)
Dead Estate (2021)
Vampire Survivor (2021)
Repetendium (2022)
Enter The Gungeon (2016)
Hades (2018)
Fury Unleashed (2017)
Noita (2019)
Peglin (2022)
Scourge Bringer (2022)
Neon Abyss (2022)
Warm Snow (2022)
Revita (2022)
One Step From Eden (2022)
Wizard of Legend (2018)
Slay the Spire (2017)
The Binding of Isaac (2011)
Blazing Beaks (2017)
Dungreed (2018)
Gunfire Reborn (2020)
Going Under (2020)
Backpack Hero (2023)
Undermine (2019)
Celeste (2018)
Hyper Light Drifter (2016)
Deathʼs Door (2021)
Ori and the Will of the Wisp (2020)
Risk of Rain 2 (2020)
Brotato (2022)
Soulstone Survivors (2022)
Skul the Hero Slayer (2021)
Shovel Knight Dig (2022)
Roguebook (2021)
Voidigo (2021)
Tiny Rogues (2022)
Cult of the Lamb (2022)
Moonlighter (2018)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)
Titan Souls (2015)
Rogue Tower (2022)
The Legend of Bumbo (2019)
Curse of the Dead Gods (2021)

=== MUSIC USED ===

25.3°N 91.7°E | Risk of Rain 
Distrometer | Risk of Rain 
The Painful Way | Hades 
The Grounds | Going Under 
Mantis Battle | FTL 
Forest of Harmony | Skul the Hero Slayer 
After Midnight | Brotato 
Toxic Food Processing Department | Have a Nice Death 
Fungated Funnels | Revita 
Here we go (again) | Dead Estate 
Start a Cult | Cult of the Lamb 
Arcane Refuge (Home) | Wizard of Legend

#Roguelike #Roguelite #GameDevelopment

Thank you for watching and supporting the channel!

JJJreact

[jane_gorelove]

other roguelikes: we're going to put an immense amount of time and effort into creating robust and varied procedurally generated environments
brotato: square 😎

[Auri-uq]

I love how every video about roguelikes ever uses the risk of rain soundtrack cause its just that good

[alt-qy]

We're in the process of making a "Roguelike(like?)" and getting input like this from huge fans of the genre is absolutely invaluable, got a sub here

[iamthehobo]

I like that you do not only cite the most well-known games.

[frayjais]

I'm actually developing a roguelike right now and this video brought up some very good design tips! Thank you for making it! It has certainly influenced my project!

[loafofocean]

This came up on my feed for some reason and hey these analyses type videos are just my jam. Great voice, background music just fits, passionate yet analytic approach that infects the viewer, and incredibly informative (especially for aspiring game devs). Honestly, I listen to these while doing something else but I somehow kept getting distracted and looking at the video and just appreciating every bit. Definitely subscribing and hoping you get more subs and views (the views rn are criminally low)

[mutantbreadslice]

Honestly i think my favourite part of the video was the sheer variety of games you included! The editing and voice over was great, don't get me wrong, but I get so frustrated booting up a video essay like this just to find its filled with the same 3 games. There are a lot of lessons you can learn from the smaller ones too, and im glad that you know that.
I also like the fact that even with the huge games that everyone talks about, you go way more in-depth than just the surface like everyone else seems to do. like with enter the gungeon being the game you used as the opener for enemy design! Its such a specific part about a very popular game that most people wouldn't be able to point out and use as an example of how to do things right, but you were able to do that!
Things like this is a true mark of a professional and not just some random gamer talking about the same 5 games. It gives actual insight to this topic instead of re-iterating what I already know, ynkow?

[nothollowed]

As a concept artist working in AAA, who is now (also) working on solo developing their own project, I found this video invaluable in regards to perspective. You helped me understand things about my approach that I didn't realize. Thank you!

[GauravKumar-jrrd]

As a fan of rougelikes, this is a fun watch. I can't believe how high quality it is but while having such low views. Keep on doing this Pepperhead. I subscribed.

[ViperyProductions]

One of the best roguelike videos I have seen so far, great work.
Regarding Isaac's level design: I have played way over 1500 hours and still find rooms I have never seen before. For me Isaac is the perfect roguelike when it comes to level design, items and general gameplay elements. I think I will never get bored of it.

[deadly_artist]

this ain't just a great video, it's one of the most well thought out, researched and informative analyses on game design I've seen to date. I'm seriously impressed by this.

[KalEth]

Speaking of curses in items, Nethack does some really funny things with cursed items, such as a cursed potion of gain level actually making you go up a level in the dungeon, cursed scrolls of genocide actually create monsters, cursed scrolls of teleportation will levelport you instead of a regular teleport, which is really nice if you have teleport control, etc.

[tristanneumann]

Great video! I love discussions on video game design as you know, particularly the efficiency and simplicity of VFX. Also talking about balance with regards to a genre that has so much randomness is fascinating. Hope this video wasn't so much effort that you can't make more videos like this, I'd love to see deep dives on particular design decisions in games.

[TheBirder]

I am honestly so suprised you didn't bring up risk of rain 2 when you were talking about music, the music while fighting mitrix is some of the best music out there

[TheRealOtatop]

This is a wonderful video! Roguelike/Lites are one of my top 3 favorite game genres, so it's always nice to see like-minded people talking about something we love.

I'm surprised at the lack of a Spelunky(1 or 2) mention, though. It's not my favorite, by any means, but I figured the sheer quantity of hidden content would at the very least earn it a shoutout in the Secrets section of the video :p

[Wraiven]

My favorite genre! It’s been wild to be a huge fan of this kind of game since the days of early Isaac and now we’re seeing so many AAA games implement entire game modes based on them.

[pyryzer]

An incredibly helpful, insightful and overall great video! I will definitely subscribe. It was also nice seeing Revita here as well, it is truly a hidden gem of a game.

[phiphi]

This video single handedly got me playing and addicted to Revita you talked so much about it and I never heard about it prior to this. But I absolutely love the game and it became one of my favorite roguelikes out there

[JingleMallet]

The trick to backpack hero is holding on to multiple items of different major synergies early and then choose one to follow through with depending on what items you find and abandoning the others.

[stinkyratman]

Damn, I was convinced you were a 2M subscribers channel or the like because of the quality of this video. Thanks for the video, very informative ! I hope you keep at it