An Ode to My Favorite Genre - BIGsh0t

I was recently asked what my favorite genre in gaming is and at first, I did not know how to answer. I see the strengths and shortcomings of a lot of different genres but did not know if I had a clear favorite. As I started to ponder on it and search through my gaming library, I came to a startling conclusion: roguelikes. I own nearly 10 different roguelikes, and I did not even realize how quickly they were becoming a mainstay in my collection. But what is it about the genre that is so appealing to me? Why have I been purchasing these since my return to gaming?

After taking a near decade hiatus from gaming, I returned to try out the Switch; this is where my exposure to roguelikes began. The uniqueness of the system created the perfect marriage between my available time to game and the short bursts of gameplay that the genre supplies. It was easy for me to pull out my Switch on a lunch break or when I had half an hour and attempt a run in Children of Morta, Enter the Gungeon, or The Binding of Isaac. For those not familiar, the key components of the genre include: procedurally generated levels, brutal starting difficulty, permanent death, discovery and limited retention, and grinding, grinding, grinding. Through time, I have discovered that I enjoy roguelikes because the genre best encapsulates and teaches us about life.

Ever feel like your alarm goes off, you go to work, come home, make dinner, and before you know it you are off to bed to do it all again? Days, weeks, and months can pass by before we even realize it due to just how repetitive life can be. This parallel is drawn in roguelike games because each “run” usually begins with you entering a dungeon of some sort shortly after dying from your last run, just to go through and do it all again. The overall idea, goal, and setting of each run are very similar, but each run is also unique. Same character, slightly upgraded, going through the same setting with a slightly different layout – the treasure room is suddenly hidden behind a different wall, or the exit is in a different corner of the map. This slight variation is part of what brings me joy as I play because hidden underneath the repetitiveness is the ability to explore what makes this run unlike any others I have attempted. I firmly believe the same about our lives: each day can feel so similar, but as we seek for what makes each day unique, as small as that may be, we can find joy and appreciation in exploring what unique opportunities today affords us.

There is a certain excitement that comes with buying a new game: you have researched it, watched gameplay, thought about it throughout the week, and as soon as it downloads you wanted to start it up and get moving on it. That excitement when it comes to roguelikes and roguelites can quickly be diminished because you run into a pit full of monsters with no abilities, no equipment, no upgrades, and you get stomped on right as you are learning how your opposition works. The progress needed to find success must be found and earned on your journey, nothing is given to you. You can have one good run that lasts well over and hour, or you can have a series of forgettable ones that ends in a few short minutes due to an unexpected ambush or not utilizing your build and abilities correctly. Some runs feel super successful and eventful where you cleared a new stage, overcame a difficult obstacle, or obtained a new powerful ability – others leave you empty handed like you never embarked in the first place. Some days we crush it, we brought back hundreds of gold coins to improve ourselves for future runs, we feel great about ourselves, and we are optimistic for what lies ahead and that we can take it on; other days we bring home five coins and feel dejected. It’s like what lies before us is unpredictable, overwhelming, and down right unfair. But no matter how your run went, you made progress and you came out stronger. Some days you come out stronger than others, sure, but each day and run provides meaning and benefit for the next.

This is the reward in the genre, being able to encounter and get stomped on five, ten, twenty, thirty times by the same boss – but you continue to attack it, revisit it, learn its weaknesses and patterns so you could adapt and use the strength you drew little by little each run to squash what seemed unsurmountable the first time you encountered it. Sometimes it isn’t even beating that big bad boss, but it is getting just even a little bit further than you did last time or recognizing an enemy pattern that killed you on your last run and having that knowledge extend your run. The reward comes from realizing that you would not be as overpowered as you are fifty hours into the game if you gave up when you were getting crushed the first ten. There is an extreme sense of satisfaction in seeing weak things become strong and then understanding that growth came from grinding and getting stomped, grinding and coming up short, grinding and getting one room further than you thought possible.

My most rewarding moments in my return to gaming have not been clearing games or getting all of its trophies or achievements, but they’ve been just getting a little further each run I make. I have learned to accept defeat and have come to understand that life and video games should not be breezed through, but that it is okay that they are brutal. We are not going to enter an ever-changing environment and find success right away and that is okay. What is not okay is to give up - giving up forfeits future growth and potential. There will be another day, there will be another run. Never doubt yourself and what you can become.

Roguelikes that I recommend: Enter the Gungeon, Children of Morta, Dead Cells.