There’s been many efforts to define exactly what a “rogue-like” game is. Permadeath is definitely one. A different map every time you play is another. Having to discover each time what the magic items you discover do, that’s one. Descending into a deep dungeon, grabbing a quest item and making it back to the surface in one go, definitely.
Rogue came out of a thriving ecosystem of similar dungeon-exploration games from the late 70s and early 80s. Its simple, quick gameplay was perfect for quick gaming sessions between classes, which is how I first encountered it at the University of New Hampshire back in the day. Universities, back then, were the fertile breeding ground for the progenitors of many computer game genres that we still play today. It was a wonderful time.
Mostly what I remember about Rogue back at UNH was it crashed a lot. It didn’t have fancy colors or symbols back then.
Rogue is mostly remarkable for the genre it helped spawn, setting alight the torch which was a beacon that Hack, Nethack, Angband, Moria, Larn and the generations of RLs that built off from those followed.
80s game company Epyx licensed Rogue from the original authors, packaged it for consumers and sold it as a commercial project. The Atari ST and Amiga had ports which added mouse control and really nice tilesets. The IBM PC port only received a slight color upgrade and the use of an expanded character set to represent items, traps, stairs and so on.
It is this IBM PC port which Pixel Games UK is selling. It’s only three bucks in the Steam store. Pretty cheap?
Well, you’re not really getting anything for it. The IBM PC port was done ages ago; Epyx back in the day only licensed it, and I very much doubt Pixel Games UK is feeding any money back to the original developers.
Secondly, there’s plenty of places where you can play Rogue for free. Want the cool graphics that this version doesn’t provide? Yeah, you can play that for free, too. Want the source code so you can play with it yourself? That can happen — knock yourself out.
Why buy this now? There are no Steam achievements or Steam integration in any way. The game runs in a DOSBox window and so all the limitations of DOS games apply.
It is the original game of Rogue, but nothing more. If it was a port from the better Amiga or Atari ST ports, then it would be worth the money, because those graphics and control schemes added value to the game.
If you’re just looking to get into rogue-likes, you’d probably be better off getting Nethack with a good tile set. Here’s one you can play in the browser. It has graphics, runs great, and you even get a pet.
Rogue’s a hugely influential game, and its descendants sparked a revolution in computer gaming. Unfortunately, this offering does little to justify the price, even when the price is very low. You would be better off spending a couple of hours playing one of the free versions online, and then looking around to appreciate where the genre has come in the intervening forty years.
Probably the same reason why it works to sell people the same game on different platforms, sometimes multiple times: convenience. Not that I would expect this to be patched frequently or at all, but it’s at least not a blatant cash grab like a badly done Remastered Version that promises and underdelivers. I don’t know, I don’t see any harm, but you’re completely right, it’s a little pointles…
Having said that, I’m not a huge fan of Roguelikes, especially the permadeath part, but there’s one I’ve been coming back to from time to time and it’s one of the few mobile games I have installed all the time since I discovered it – that is Shattered Pixel Dungeon (and before that Pixel Dungeon). I wouldn’t say it’s any better, but it has kept me entertained for a run here or there while waiting or sitting on a bus.
But is it convenient? I dunno. I bought it because I had fond memories of playing it on the ST. I was disappointed to see they’d done nothing to update it for modern times.
Not heard of Shattered Pixel Dungeon but I will be checking it out 🙂 Thanks!
Great review. Never would have occurred to me to get this on steam. Thanks for checking it out and satisfying my mild curiosity about it 🙂
I think Angband is my overall favorite of these types of games (i.e., the originals with askii graphics). I even dug through old versions so that I can play either the one with the “modern” combat system or the last version with original Moria combat system as the mood strikes me. I like the variety of races and classes, I like the different spell schools, and I like how straightforward it is to edit the text files that come with it if you want to adjust minor aspects of the game. Nethack is a better game in a lot of ways, but I can never seem to get into it.
I have also played Mangband a few times. It’s technically a MMO!
Angband was the one with an overworld and different dungeons? Always thought that was cool. Larn had a little town at the top, and you could head back to town, sell buy and heal, then head back down. It made it somewhat easier, probably why it was the first one I finished.
It’s been a few years, I was actually thinking of a descendant of Angband, Zangband. Modern versions do have a randomly generated overworld. So for example if you don’t like your starting town you can set off through the wilderness and look for another one.