Brogue

Brogue

I’ve become moderately obsessed with Brogue. I wasn’t sure if I’d take to ASCII roguelikes, they seemed a bit impenetrable. I can happily report Brogue is a great starting point. It’s an item-driven roguelike wherein you (@) are trapped on the first level of a dungeon and must descend to the 26th floor and obtain the Amulet of Yendor to escape. There is no character build or lore to learn, you just go.

Within a few minutes I was totally engaged. Short, evocative descriptions set the scene nicely and the game’s symbols quickly become familiar. Each playthrough the potions and scrolls are named differently (in one PT a red potion might give strength and another the red potion makes you invisible) so while there is some cumulative knowledge from trial and error there is also a lot of, “Okay, stand back, I’m going to drink this and see what happens.” You can sneak up on enemies and stab them in their sleep, or hide in a corridor and wait for a wandering enemy to pass and get in a surprise hit. You learn tricks, like the surest way to beat a Jelly (fucking jellies) is to back into a tight space so they can’t spawn behind you. You can recruit allies or go alone. There is no one way to play. I just learned you can even succumb to demonic temptation (enable easy mode).

Typographic symbols are naturally beautiful and Brogue enhances its ASCII with creative and pretty effects, from blazing fire to the pastel haze of confusion. Toads, when touched, may cause you to hallucinate, and everything in the dungeon ceaselessly changes form until the effects wear off. There is a tileset version of the game (bottom screenshot), but I started with the ASCII version and I find it easier on the eyes and more appealing overall.

In his overview of roguelikes, Waltorious notes that these games generate memorable stories, and user-generated stories are the strength of the medium. I remember that time I was backed in a corner, surrounded by jackals, desperately chugging all my unlabeled potions, and just happened to drink a potion of descent, which whisked me to safety. I remember the time I decided to burn a wooden door with a fire staff I’d just found and seriously underestimated how powerful it was, engulfing the entire room in flames. In some ways, this type of player-driven story feels more personal than big cinematic story-based games because so much of this story relies on my imagination, how I’ve come to perceive the dungeon and its inhabitants. I think this is a game I’ll be playing off and on for a long time.

Mobile Roguelikes

I recently discovered bilgincoskun has ported Brogue to Android. It’s a good port and I’ve put it on both my devices. I have trouble playing on my smaller phone screen (not that it stops me from pecking away while at the doctor’s office) but like it on tablet quite a bit and I think this is how I’m gonna play from now on.

I’ve tried a few other ASCII rougelike Android ports and found most difficult to play, as they require use of a soft keyboard, but I did like Pathos: Nethack Codex, the touch controls are intuitive and solid. The ASCII theme tileset is okay, but considering the ask (playable rogueLIKE on Android with ASCII) I have zero complaints. I keep reminding myself no ASCII game can compare to Brogue when it comes to aesthetics, it is, by far, the prettiest.

I had some trouble with controls on Sil, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, and CDDA, though I will give Sil another go. I think a game like CDDA is just gonna be overwhelming without a keyboard at first, to me it’s a “hunker down at the keyboard in your game cave” kinda game. I got some real mileage out of HyperRogue a while back but now I’m burnt out on it and find it too simplistic.

There are roguelikes that only have graphic tilesets that interest me. I won’t dismiss a game like Ananias out of hand, but I am really looking for ASCII games right now.

Finally, Caves of Qud will be ported to Android eventually. They said this year, but who knows.