Roguelike

A subgenre of role-playing games defined by three core pillars: procedurally generated levels that create a unique map layout every run, permadeath meaning your character's death ends the run permanently with no save reloading, and turn-based or real-time tactical gameplay that rewards careful decision-making. The genre takes its name from Rogue, a 1980 dungeon-crawling game by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman developed on UNIX systems. What makes roguelikes so replayable is that no two runs are identical — the dungeon layouts, item placements, enemy types, and random events all change every time you start fresh, ensuring hundreds of hours of distinct play. Pure roguelikes adhere strictly to all original conventions (permadeath, turn-based, grid movement, high complexity) — examples include NetHack, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, and Caves of Qud. The more casual 'roguelite' branch borrows the aesthetic while softening the rules with persistent unlocks. A common misconception is that Hades is a roguelike — technically it is a roguelite because retained currency and hub upgrades survive each death. The best roguelikes reward mastery: a skilled player learns item synergies and threat hierarchies well enough to achieve consistent victories despite the procedural randomness.

Hades is one of the best roguelites ever made — it adds meta-progression on top of the roguelike formula, making each death feel like progress.