GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast

Live and Drink! In this extra-special two-part episode, we first examine the deep story, lore, and soundrack to Caves of Qud. Winner of the 2025 Hugo Award for Best Game or Interactive Work, as well as the 2025 Independent Games Festival for Excellence in Narrative, it only made sense for us to break this absolutely massive game out into two parts. We are also joined by special guest and Qud streamer BigSimple! Listen in as we set the stage via the incredible soundtrack brought to us by Craig Hamilton. While there will be heavy spoilers up to a certain point (don’t worry, the ending is safe), simply hearing the story can’t prepare you for experiencing it first hand. Part 2 will be the usual GROGPOD format, focusing more on the gameplay and systems in Caves of Qud, and also back to our closer to 90 minute length. Until then, strap into that ejector seat and get ready to inject some Eater’s nectar!

Find the soundtrack on Steam here

Part 2 focusing on the gameplay mechanics and systems can be found here!

Part 3 of our Qud coverage is an interview with the composer Craig Hamilton which you can find here

You can find the in depth tutorial series we did with BigSimple to learn this massive game here!

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00:00 - Pilgrim’s Path (guest intro, title screen)

11:11 - Mehmet’s Morning (Joppa, Resheph, the gyre plagues, the signal)

26:30 - Overworld (Meeting the Barathrumites)

37:30 - Golgotha (First dungeon)

47:30 - Stoic Porridge (Acceptance into the order, the Baetyl)

56:40 - Lazarus (Bethesda Susa, the trolls, Saad Amus the Sky-Bear, Temple of The Rock)

1:12:30 - Onward (Ezra, Mayor Haddas, Sixshrew, Yla Haj, Zothom the Penitent, Rebekah’s grave, the Earl of Omonporch)

1:26:11 - Imminent II (Ereskigal the sentient computer, the Putus Templar)

1:33:10 - Attack on Grit Gate (Qud tower defense, NPC permadeath)

1:40:40 - Barathrum’s Study (Leader of the order, the mystery of the signal, the Spindle)

1:44:00 - Substrate (Rainbow Wood, scroll bound by a strand of kelp, Pax Klanq, Barathrum’s gamble)

1:59:34 - Among the Tomb of the Eaters (Qud crypts)

2:09:10 - Deeper Eaters (Sultan crypts, Resheph’s sarcophogus, Herododicus, entombment)

2:16:12 - Attenuated Signals, Fractals (Brightsheol, Rainwater Shomer, the Seraph’s dream, the golem)

2:23:20 - Moonstair (Eyn Roj, Ayog-No-Longer)

2:36:10 - Arrival of the Official Party (Final battle with Putus Templar, Girsh Nephilim, ascension)

2:49:10 - Similar stories

2:54:23 - Arrival (Part 1 wind down, preview for part 2)

Next episode: Caves of Qud Part 2: Gameplay and Mechanics

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Caves of Qud OST - Pilgrim’s Path

Outro music: Caves of Qud OST - Arrival

The Age of Men is over. The Time of the Orc has come! The long-lived and highly rated franchise of Orcs Must Die! comes to the rogue world for the first time with its 2025 release of Deathtrap. A game OMD players have waited 4 years to see a sequel finally arrives featuring 4-player co-op maze-building character-quipping action. Join the team of sassy teen #1, wrench arm boy, sassy teen #2, murderous cat, and big lovable bear man to stop the Orcs from getting into those precious portal for… reasons… Look, the special brownies are right over there, just one more mission and they’ll finally kick in, okay?

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1:42 - Game stats

2:43 - One sentence description

4:08 - Game release history & series background discussion

9:27 - Tower defense meets action gameplay hybrid explanation

15:42 - Tutorial experience & new player onboarding critique

22:18 - Trap variety & strategic placement mechanics

28:35 - Hero abilities & character progression systems

35:47 - Multiplayer coordination & Co-op gameplay experiences

42:13 - Map design quality & replayability concerns

49:26 - Difficulty scaling & enemy variety analysis

1:03:18 - Comparison to previous Orcs Must Die games

1:09:36 - Rankings & final thoughts

1:24:40 - Similar games & show wind-down

Next episode: Caves of Qud part 1: soundtrack and story

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Marcus Miller - Trip Trap

Outro music: Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap OST - Order Wisdom

Get in the zone! This week is a game with one wild journey from starting out as Starsiege: Tribes-themed extraction shooter to an original roguelite experience - it’s Deadzone: Rogue, of course! Awaken on a ship to shoot through piles of robots and uncover the mysteries that an unhinged space program influencer billionaire promises folks who sign up for a Mars cruise. What dangers might we face? Or NOT face? Maybe we are all just brains in a vat, if you think about it. Actually… you don’t want to think about it. You’d rather try to find some matcha on this ship instead. What you do you mean there’s no matcha on board? Oh that’s a big drill you have there…

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1:21 - Game stats

2:55 - One sentence description

4:47 - Tribes universe connection & extraction shooter origins

13:05 - Pivot from Star Siege to roguelike format

18:55 - First impressions & new player experience criticism

21:16 - Weapon choices, perks, & augment systems discussion

28:12 - Meta progression concerns & upgrade system critique

34:29 - Difficulty options & enemy health scaling problems

38:56 - Enemy AI behavior complaints & tactical shooter debate

53:10 - Protagonist voice acting & narrative setup

56:42 - Act One story reveal

1:08:01 - Act Three body horror & final boss fight

1:14:50 - Ending choice: self-destruct or escape decision

1:26:42 - Rankings & final thoughts

1:38:40 - Similar games & show wind-down

Next episode: Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Alexa Tarantino - My Ship

Outro music: Deadzone Rogue OST - Luggage Tag

Zyzz up! This week we eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate all sorts of fantasy monsters in huge army blobs with Hero’s Hour! A hobby project by a Danish psychologist, we look deep into the psyche of tutorialization, 4X games as roguelikes, battles rivaling the Pelennor Fields, and cute horsies. Spears shall be shaken! Shields shall be splintered! And your capital will be taken over in 5 turns by a wizard on a pony!

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1:28 - Game stats

3:35 - One sentence description

8:09 - Roguelike classification debate & 4X game genre discussion

15:08 - Tutorial experience criticism & new player onboarding

22:17 - Combat mechanics & auto-battler system explanation

25:22 - Dominant strategies & bodyguard champion meta

33:27 - Puzzle solving nature & replayability concerns

40:44 - Hero recruitment & army management strategies

48:14 - Faction variety & DLC content discussion

53:35 - Developer interview about missing campaign mode

58:12 - Art style & music quality appreciation

1:01:50 - Rankings & final thoughts

1:10:04 - Similar games & show wind-down

Next episode: Deadzone: Rogue

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Wes Montgomery - A Day In The Life

Outro music: Hero’s Hour OST - Decay

Eye see you! This week we gaze upon the wonder of The King is Watching: the kingdom management and goblin horde bashing simulator with a twist - your workers are only productive when you’re watching them. Kind of like being in the office and having your boss fly by your desk twice a day… An artistic feast with a deep level of meta-progression, try to survive wave after wave of horrid beasts and giant horrors from attacking your peaceful castle through the use of magic spells, special king-based powers, and however many magic unicorns you can summon to your defense.

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1:43 - Game stats

3:33 - One sentence description

7:55 - First impressions & tutorial system discussion

11:52 - Advisor Gustav & art design appreciation

17:13 - Prophecy system & wave difficulty selection mechanics

22:29 - Meta progression & strategy optimization criticism

26:59 - Unit types & army composition limitations

33:31 - King vision patterns & strategic differences

39:10 - Building upgrade systems & RNG concerns

45:35 - Battlefield mechanics & spell interactions

55:14 - Spell system effectiveness & boss strategies

58:29 - Meta progression pacing & king unlock issues

1:05:54 - UI problems & upgrade tree navigation confusion

1:15:45 - Music quality & overall game polish

1:14:54 - Rankings and final thoughts

1:20:49 - Similar games and show wind-down

Next episode: Hero’s Hour

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Gene Ammons - Someone to Watch Over Me

Outro music: The King is Watching OST - 002B Village A

Praise the Sun! The Nightlords have invaded the world of Elden Ring and it’s up to you and your trusty co-op Nightfarers to stop them. The biggest roguelike game of 2025 so far, lauded developer FromSoftware’s latest entry takes a stark departure from previous games in the Dark Souls series at a blistering pace. Featuring gigantic bird-man, big-hat sorceress, acrobatic bow boy, yelling drunken pirate, angry Sekiro dog-man, sassy child, French fencer, and John Nightreign himself toting a grappling hook and arm cannon, Elden Ring Nightreign drops you into a wild hybrid of Soulsbourne combat with bosses and enemies drawn from across the series. Listen in as we drop into Limveld from our bird-based battle busses. “Don’t give up, skeleton!” “At last, Fort…Night!”

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1:40 - Game stats

4:44 - One sentence description

6:22 - Hosts’ backgrounds with Dark Souls games

11:13 - Nightreign as departure from traditional Souls formula

21:21 - Game announcement reactions & initial confusion

25:26 - Launch reception & Steam review progression

31:59 - Tutorial walkthrough & first boss encounter

39:26 - Multiverse concept & boss selection choices

43:10 - Round Table Hold hub world navigation

44:16 - Character classes & special abilities overview

54:50 - Remembrance quest system mechanics & issues

1:05:44 - Relic system & meta progression discussion

1:18:45 - Map exploration & routing strategies

1:28:49 - Castle exploration & difficulty scaling

1:41:17 - Boss fights & Nightlord encounters

1:56:01 - Upcoming “Deep of the Night” DLC details

2:06:46 - Rankings and final thoughts

2:22:55 - Similar games and show wind-down

Next episode: The King Is Watching

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: In the Still of the Night - Oscar Peterson

Outro music: Caligo, Miasma of Night - Nightreign OST

It belongs in a museum! For our listener request week and the landmark 75th episode, we cover one of the foundational early roguelikes with Spelunky! Released in 2012 on the Xbox Live Arcade as a full-scale HD remaster of the 2008 freeware hit, Spelunky marked the watershed moment of stealing fire from the Berlin Roguelike gods and applying it to platformers. It’s undeniable legacy looms large, but does the nostalgia factor still stand strong? Will the hosts go hollow trying to make THIS one THE run? I mean, even the great Liz Mutton had to fall on a spike or two, right?

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1:10 - game stats

4:35 - one sentence description

6:14 - Thesis about Spelunky as definitive video game

8:14 - Historical context of roguelike games pre-Spelunky

11:20 - Game difficulty and bounce-off rates discussion

16:14 - Comparing Spelunky difficulty to Dark Souls games

19:35 - Standard run walkthrough and tutorial explanation

28:47 - Controls mastery and engagement requirements

36:25 - Biome progression and level design philosophy

43:07 - Shopkeeper mechanics and vindictive AI behavior

54:02 - Olmec boss fight and final temple challenges

1:06:53 - Hell runs and eggplant challenge explanation

1:28:57 - Spelunky 2 comparison and sequel discussion

1:31:30 - Community feedback and player perspectives

1:41:11 - rankings and final thoughts

1:53:06 - similar games

Next episode: Elden Ring Nightreign

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Herbie Hancock - Thieves in the Temple

Outro music: Eirik Suhrke - Temple A

My kingdom for a horse! This week we play the minimalist, yet deceptively deep tower defense strategy roguelite Kingdom: New Lands. This one-dimensional game is anything but as we dive deep into advanced peasant managing strategy not seen since Warcraft. You have crash landed on an island and must lead it to survival against greedy forest dwelling goblins. Your royal rule by hurling coins at downtrodden beggars is the only thing that stands between you and sailing off into the sunset with your pet wolf and whatever knights you may have paid handsomely to protect you. What else awaits your majesty on the wavey shores to come?

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1:20 - game stats

3:02 - one sentence description

5:17 - Basic gameplay mechanics and controls explanation

8:40 - Game’s origins as Flash project for horse animations

11:25 - Tutorial experience and early game confusion

17:27 - Death mechanics and learning curve discussion

24:56 - Attack patterns and timing strategies

29:25 - Frustration with long run times and restarts

36:29 - Wiki usage debate and game inscrutability

44:10 - Blood moon mechanics and visual/audio cues

54:27 - Farming mechanics and builder management confusion

59:03 - Game’s difficulty scaling and strategic depth

1:07:48 - Portal mechanics and teleportation discovery

1:15:20 - rankings and final thoughts

1:25:03 - similar games

Next episode: Spelunky

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Harold Land - Lands End

Outro music: Amos Roddy - Meadow

Jammin! Summer jammin, that is. Our mid-year summer break featuring the best of roguelike and roguelite music returns featuring some really old games and some really big budget scores. Featuring artists ranging from Makeup & Vanity Set, Noisestorm, Mili, OC Remixers, and shirtless indie devs weilding spears and axes, you have 2 hours of solid roguelike tunes to blast on the UE4 rendered crab rave beach. We’ll turn the clocks backward (as well as our baseball hats) and revisit some certified classics while also shredding and shedding some light on some lesser known titles.

A talking-free version of all the tracks featured today can be found on our youtube playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ShOmyMvd4iiH7UO17MilF87AkzdDG2a

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00:00 - Azure Dreams GBC - Title Theme

04:08 - Cave Noire - Combat Dungeon

09:49 - Toejam & Earl - Toejam Jammin’

17:12 - Fatal Labyrinth - Floors 1-9

21:29 - Tangledeep - Mysteries of Time

30:10 - Moonring - Angels

37:33 - UnReal World - Outro Theme

45:45 - Noita - Beat of the Kosmos

51:18 - Diablo - Tristram

1:02:14 - Shogun Showdown - Hibiku Wastelands

1:08:34 - AK-xolotl - Sakura Pink Inferno

1:13:02 - Quasimorph - Storm of the Formorians

1:19:46 - Roboquest - Metal Hero

1:24:48 - Crypt of the Necrodancer - Mausoleum Mash

1:31:46 - Brigador - Solo Nobre Must Fall

1:38:55 - Synthetik - Hypernoma

1:44:37 - Crab Champions - Ace

1:49:33 - Library of Ruina - String Theocracy

1:56:45 - Slay the Spire - Battle with the Champ

2:03:51 - Show wind down and next episode preview mystery track!

Next episode: Clues in the final outro song for this!

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

The pen is mightier than the sword! This week we crack open that new book smell with a first edition copy of Vellum: the third-person literary hack-and-slash game. We navigate the maze-like stacks, pet some colorful wolf friends, and talk about how many puns is TOO many for understanding a game properly. Don’t be quick to judge a book by it’s steam store page! There’s plenty of spells and quills and swords, but remember: A game a lone a last a loved a long the-

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1:22 - game stats

2:50 - one sentence description

6:47 - Hub world complexity and literary theming commitment

12:37 - Overly complex terminology and ability descriptions

19:04 - Enemy design and literary theme implementation

25:33 - “One more run” phenomenon and replay motivation

29:17 - Positive aspects including UI and visual effects

33:00 - Inscription system and meta progression mechanics

38:26 - Vignette encounters and their effectiveness debate

42:54 - Tome selection system and special level rules

48:07 - Progression gating and attunement level complaints

55:39 - End game content and endless mode discussion

1:01:29 - Boss strategy discovery and magical lamp exploit

1:14:13 - rankings and final thoughts

1:22:08 - similar games

1:24:50 - listener correspondence: does the GROGPOD need a public discord channel?

Next episode: 2025 Summer Music Fest

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: My Little Brown Book - Duke Ellington, John Coltrane

Outro music: Vellum OST - Boss Battle