Portugues
The Return of the Rogue
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About the game
You are an "@" in a dungeon drawn with letters and symbols, and the only goal
is to go as deep as you can. There is no amulet to fetch and no final boss: the
game says plainly that you descend "for an unspecified reason". Every level is
a handful of rooms joined by corridors, a set of enemies (rats, knights and
demons, each one tougher than the last) and one staircase, marked with a %.
What keeps the descent interesting is the small reward on each floor. A ?
lying in a room is either a healing potion or a better weapon, and you only find
out by stepping on it: fists, then a blackjack, a knife, a sword, an axe, a
polearm. Killing things gives experience, and every level you gain makes you
heal a little and raises, at random, your strength (more damage and more hit
points) or your dexterity (more reliable hits). Fights are bump-to-attack, one
turn at a time, and enemies act when you do, so a step back or a skipped turn is
a real decision.
It is a game of a few minutes per run. It was written in seven days for the 2022 Seven Day Roguelike Challenge, and it keeps to that scale: a text-mode screen, a message log, a side panel with your level, hit points, experience, strength, dexterity and weapon, and nothing else.
Playing it here
Click Play, then click inside the game once so that it gets the keyboard. Use the arrow keys or the classic roguelike keys to move and to attack. When you die the menu offers a new game. Nothing is saved: every run starts from scratch.
The game runs in the LÖVE framework, compiled to WebAssembly. In this version it starts in a window instead of full screen, and we removed the "Quit" button from the death screen, since there is nowhere to quit to on a web page. The game has no sound.
Controls
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Arrow keys, or h j k l | move left, down, up, right (bump into an enemy to attack) |
| y u b n | move diagonally (up-left, up-right, down-left, down-right) |
| . | skip a turn |
| Enter or Space | choose an item in the menu |
| Page Up / Page Down | scroll the message log |
| - and = | smaller and bigger text |
A few things worth knowing
Step on every ?. A potion heals you and a new weapon replaces the old one
on the spot, so there is no risk in finding out what it is, and a sword or an
axe changes the early fights completely.
Fight in corridors. In a corridor only one enemy can reach you at a time. In the open, two or three of them hit you in the same turn.
Skipping a turn is not always a waste. Enemies come to you; waiting a turn next to a doorway lets you strike the first blow when they step into view.
Make the text bigger. The map can look small on a large screen. The = key makes the letters larger, and - shrinks them again.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a win? No. The only goal is to reach a deeper level than the last time.
Is my game saved? No. The game has no saves, and it starts again after you die.
Does it work on a phone? It needs a keyboard.
Is it free? Yes: it is free software under the GNU GPL, version 3, and the source code of this build is available from this page.
Credits and licence
The Return of the Rogue was made by Bastien Leonard for the Seven Day Roguelike Challenge 2022. The only third-party file is the font Source Code Pro by Adobe (SIL Open Font License 1.1), served unmodified. The game is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 3; the build served here changes only the starting window, a few settings and the Quit button, and its complete source code and the patch are hosted alongside the game. The licence texts are linked from this page.