Knowing the difference between Roguelike and Roguelite can seem frustratingly impossible at times. Many gamers accidentally use the terms incorrectly, which muddies up the true meaning behind the words. They do have distinct meanings that help clearly define genre and expectations for games which are vital for many who are deeply invested in Rogue-inspired video games.
What is the main difference between Roguelike and Roguelite?
Roguelike gamesare those that takedirect inspiration from and style themselves after the 1980 dungeon crawler game, Rogue. Published by Epyx, Rogue was a trailblazer in its style of top-down play, permadeath (permanent death based on a health bar, absence of multiple lives), randomized aspects, andturn-basedgrid gameplay.A Roguelitegame may have some of these features, but it will bemore loosely adapted and only take light inspiration from Rogue.
To break it down further, aRoguelikegame needs to (at least),have these features:
A Roguelite game does not need to have all of the above factors. It only needs to obviously take inspiration and use some of these Rogue game aspects.
Related:What is a roguelike game? General features and examples
Is Roguelite an actual term or is it made up?
This is kind of an odd question, but it does come up in the community, so we wanted to address it. Lots of gaming terms, including Roguelike, are made up. Some gamers will say Roguelite is a fake or made-up term that has no meaning, but this is an overall nonsensical thing to say.Roguelite has a specific meaning that helps give distinctionbetween games that are directly inspired by Rogue and those that are just loosely basing their work on the retro game.
Examples of Roguelike vs Roguelite games
Here are some Roguelike games, meaning they have the key parts of gameplay like Rogue:
Here are some Roguelite games, which are more loosely based on Rogue:
Want to see more awesome game guides? If so, check outSkull and Bones vs Sea of Thieves – Similarities and Differenceson Pro Game Guides.
