If you’re anything like me, it may have taken you a while before you realized that Rougelike and Roguelite were different words. I want to say it was probably 2020 before I realized people were saying two different terms. Since then, I’ve been attempting to figure out what, if any, difference there is between the terms. Are these genres? Sub-genres? Misnomers? I was determined to internalize some kind of definition.
Allow me a brief history lesson. Because videogames are both a young genre and multimedia experience, naming conventions are a little wacky. When a game comes out that changes or creates a new style, games inspired by it, become called by that name. First person shooters used to be called Doomclones until the genre had enough innovation to gain its own genre names (or with the advent of “boomer shooters,” are these early games their own unique genre?). We’re seeing it happen right now, with the burgeoning genre of bullet heavens, when just a few short months ago they called Vampire Survivor clones. Indie Horror has been stuck in the chokehold of P.T.-clones since 2014, and there hasn’t been innovation of the genre to give it’s own name yet.
So where does that leave Rougelikes and lites? Well, let’s look at the game that spawned the name of the genre. Rogue is a 1980 text based dungeon crawler, originally developed by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman. Dungeons are randomly generated, there is permadeath, and there are a lot of enemies. There are more to it, but those are big ones. In the nearly forty-five years since, roguelike is the accepted genre name for games that broadly feature those three tenants. The most important piece, and what seems to be the defining feature of roguelikes, seems to be the permadeath combined with the randomization. Permadeath specifically means that all upgrades, all experience, everything except your knowledge of the games is wiped out on death, and the route is reset. So games in that (sub)genre include the original Rogue, Slay The Spire, Meteorfall, and Enter the Gungeon.
Roguelites, on the other hand, allow a level of permanent progression that is not lost upon death. Or it’s a sprinkle of that added to a different game style for added freshness. You’ll often have different runs, but in between them, you can slowly accumulate permanent upgrades to augment your game experience. This allows the games to have more traditional RPG flavor, or create room for a more cohesive, in depth narrative to be told. The permanent progression is known as meta-progression. This is where you find games like Hades, Rogue Legacy, Darkest Dungeon and Backpack Hero.
There are also games with everything in between. Here you find Dead Cells, The Binding of Isaac, FTL, Into the Breach, and so many more. These games run the spectrum from barely any met-progression to a fair amount, but without fully embracing permanent upgrades. Overall, what does this mean for you, the potential player of these games? It’s a matter of how important progress versus skill is for you. If you like to see pretty regular progress in your games, I recommend roguelites. If you prefer to get better at the tactics and skill of the game, I recommend roguelikes. If you’ve never played any of these games, and you love replayability, check either subgenre out.
Have you played roguelikes and lites before? What do you consider to be the difference between the two? Let us know below, or or share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.
Featured Image: Epyx, Inc.
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The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of The Boss Rush Network and Boss Rush Media. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, Stephanie Klimov, LeRon Dawkins, and Pat Klein come together with their friends, colleagues, and fellow creators to talk about their week in video games, discuss industry topics, conduct interviews, answer listener questions, and more. New episodes every Monday. Get each episode one week early and more perks over on the Boss Rush Network Patreon page.
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