Roguelike Games

Some RPGs, such as the open-source NetHack and Blizzard’s original Diablo, feature a game world that is constantly changing, so that no matter how many times it is played, the dungeons are never the same. These games are called roguelike, because they borrow from the mechanics of the 1980 computer game Rogue. NetHack is a very small game, in fact, so it contains almost no story. But the character upgrades, quests, combat tactics, and mazelike exploration elements of the game are remarkable for its size and keep gamers amused. When Diablo’s creators decided to have their dungeon maps randomly generate each time the player enters them, the game’s entertainment value and overall achievement owed a lot to that choice.