What Roguelikes Originally Meant

Text on the meme

What roguelikes originally meant Playing an adventurer in a fantasy world, turn-based, usually exploring a procedural dungeon, with high difficulty and permanent death. What roguelikes mean according to indie devs Any game with a bit of randomness, where death is permanent (optional).

What it means

The meme contrasts the original meaning of “roguelike”—a difficult, turn-based fantasy dungeon game with procedural generation and permanent death—with the broader modern indie-game usage. The punchline is that many indie games call themselves roguelikes even when they only include some randomness and make permanent death optional. EN: The meme contrasts the original meaning of “roguelike”—a difficult, turn-based fantasy dungeon game with procedural generation and permanent death—with the broader modern indie-game usage. The punchline is that many indie games call themselves roguelikes even when they only include some randomness and make permanent death optional.

Objects

fantasy dungeon game screenshot / скриншот фэнтезийной игры в подземелье turn-based game interface / интерфейс пошаговой игры procedural dungeon / процедурно сгенерированное подземелье pixel art dungeon / пиксельное подземелье blue fantasy landscape / синий фэнтезийный пейзаж text-heavy game interface / игровой интерфейс с большим количеством текста card game screenshot / скриншот карточной игры playing cards / игральные карты poker hand / покерная комбинация random number bonus / бонус за случайное число platformer game screenshot / скриншот платформера side-scrolling game / игра с боковой прокруткой forest level / лесной уровень monsters / монстры permanent death mechanic / механика перманентной смерти comparison meme layout / формат сравнительного мема