My takeaway is that it's only original Rogue fans that care about the delineation of the terms. Is there a modern (i.e. post 2000s game) that matches the definition of a roguelike as given in the article?

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[–] Abucketofpuppies 88 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (5 children)

Here's how I understand it:

Rogue-lite: has permanent upgrades that persist between runs.

Rogue-like: each run is unaffected by any previous run.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 5 months ago

This is my preferred version. Anything else is overly specific on arbitrary features. It doesn't matter to me if levels are procedurally generated or randomly chosen from 100 different hand made levels, the result is the same.

[–] micka190 23 points 5 months ago

Pretty much, yeah. The genre was called "Rogue-like" because of Rogue, where your runs were all unique. "Rogue-lite" happened when devs wanted to add persistent progress to the game.

[–] Viking_Hippie 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

So basically Kingdom of Loathing is a Roguelite? Neat!

[–] Abucketofpuppies 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Whoa, what a nostalgia trip to pull out of nowhere lol

[–] Viking_Hippie 0 points 5 months ago

It's actually still going strong! I started playing daily again a couple months ago after being away for years and it totally still holds up!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Rogue-like: each run is unaffected by any previous run.

I would tweak this slightly. Each run does not have upgrades that carry over into future runs, but you might unlock new characters to play or items to encounter.

I would call FTL a Rogue-like, but arguably a new run can be affected by a previous run if you've unlocked a new ship design.

[–] Carighan 1 points 5 months ago

Isn't a Rogue-lite just a very small or indie sneaky game? :P