Look, I get it. Some of the most popular games in the past few years have been roguelites. Slay the Spire. Hades. Balatro. It stands to reason that developers of all kinds would want to add roguelite elements to their games, whether it’s because they’re fans of the genre or just because it’s a new gravy train to ride.
That being said, I think it’s fair to say that the genre has become oversaturated at this point. Searching the “roguelite” tag on Steam will show you dozens of games in the genre released in just the last week alone. Platformers, deck builders, beat ‘em ups, shoot ‘em ups – if you can think of a kind of game, chances are pretty good that someone has turned it into a roguelite.
Image Credit: Nintendo (via Romhacking.com)
So, what is it about roguelites that’s made them so wildly popular? I think a big part of it is the fact that on its surface, it seems like a boon to both developers and players.
On the developer side, it makes level creation easier, as they now just need to create a suitable number of elements that can be combined using procedural generation. On the player side, the theoretically infinite replayability of a roguelite makes for a very tempting value proposition – pay once, play forever.
But as with so many other things, roguelite elements are a “sometimes food” – not every player wants them, and not every game needs them.
Personally, I enjoy the occasional roguelite, but I think most games would be better served by dialing back on the roguelite elements and focusing on a more solid, deliberately constructed core experience. What’s a more satisfying challenge to overcome: a handful of obstacles pulled from a list at random, or something deliberately constructed with the player’s experience and capabilities in mind?
Image Credit: Sony (via Fandom)
Another important piece missing from roguelites is a conclusion. Sure, most of them have some sort of end goal for the player to work towards, but in most cases that end goal isn’t really meant to be the end of the game. By design, these types of games are meant to be played essentially forever.
This doesn’t mean that we should abandon roguelites altogether, or that they’re inherently worse than a fully-designed game. But for every great roguelite like Binding of Isaac and Balatro, there are hundreds more that actively damage themselves by shoehorning these mechanics into an otherwise great game (check out Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop for a prime example of this).
All I’m saying is that if you’re making a game, and you’re thinking about making it into a roguelite, ask yourself if it really needs to be a roguelite, and think hard about what you might be giving up by adding these elements.
What do you think? Do you love roguelites? Hate them? Want to tell us about your favorite? Head on over to our Discord and join the conversation!
The Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast About Video Games
The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, LeRon Dawkins, Stephanie Klimov, and Pat Klein, as well as their friends, fellow content creators, developers, and industry veterans come together to discuss their week in gaming, including what they’ve been playing, a randomly chosen rotating weekly segment, the Boss Rush Banter of the week, answer community write-ins, and more. New episodes are released every Thursday. Members of The Boss Rush Network’s Patreon will receive the exclusive Pre-Show at any tier along with other perks.
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