GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast

Welcome back Wizard, to the ruins of the universe! This week we pick up the coffeebreak hit of the traditional roguelike space Rift Wizard: a solo-dev effort by Dylan White, in which we skitter about pondering orbs of memory and battling all sorts of spritely monsters and mages. Armed with a spellbook a mile long and wild passive skills to boot, we will finally exact our revenge on the evil red wizard Mordred for waking us up from our nap.

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2:46 - game stats

3:48 - one sentence description

4:50 - Graphics philosophy and infernal bargain of visuals vs depth

8:35 - Spellbook complexity and 157 individual spells breakdown

12:46 - UI problems and overwhelming spell selection criticism

16:11 - Information management issues and upgrade visibility problems

23:25 - Spell synergies and Python code accessibility discussion

31:14 - our story begins and spoiler alert warning

41:19 - Enemy variety and creative monster design analysis

50:22 - Final boss Mordred fight mechanics and phases

57:03 - Music discussion and dungeon synth soundtrack evaluation

1:05:13 - Rift Wizard 2 improvements and sequel features

1:07:25 - Controls praise and mouse support excellence

1:12:04 - rankings and final thoughts

1:21:09 - similar games

Scott’s source code dump of all the Rift Wizard spells and skills google sheet can be found here.

Next episode: Remnant from the Ashes

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Jerry Granelli - I Put a Spell on You

Outro music: K. Hoops - Rift Wizard main menu theme

Season 3 is here and we’re turning up the heat levels with the infernal hack-n-slash / visual novel / dating sim Hades! The crown jewel of indie darling developer Supergiant Games, we follow Prince Zagreus and his journey to fight out of the Greek Underworld with the aid all your favorite characters from Greek mythos including a wise-cracking skeleton, a timid snake head housekeeper, an ever-happy smiling boulder, a zombie boat man, among many others! Oh and I suppose there are Olympian gods in there too, each one more ripped and romance-worthy than the last. Maybe you can escape the fires of Asphodel, but what about your fiery passions for your co-workers?

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1:34 - game stats

3:03 - one sentence description

7:48 - Steam popularity rankings and comparison to other games

10:36 - Replay value discussion after years away from game

16:50 - Heat system and difficulty customization mechanics

23:18 - our story begins and spoiler alert warning

32:26 - Meta progression currencies and door selection system

38:23 - Story pacing and character relationship development

54:47 - Ten-ending sequence and Persephone reunion storyline

1:08:05 - Weapon variety discussion and combat mechanics analysis

1:16:00 - Hammer upgrades and build modification complaints

1:25:49 - End game criticism and pacing issues

1:31:39 - Hades 2 wishlist and improvement suggestions

1:32:28 - rankings and final thoughts

1:42:43 - similar games

Next episode: Rift Wizard

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Charles Mingus - When Your Lover Has Gone

Outro music: Darren Korb - Out of Tartarus

The winter special episode is here! This week we turn back the clock 3 months to a number of interviews Scott did with developers and panelists at PAX West here in Seattle. A ton of fun, he got to talk to a lot of really cool and fun people who entertained my nonsense questions. With so many great games played and talked about, we’re already penciling out plans for next year’s possibilities! Check the timestamps below for interviews with friends of all sorts and their games and studios.

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4:18 - Live on the streets!

9:11 - Vampire Survivors tournament champion interview with Alan

14:58 - Slay the Spire board game playtest with Nathan and Erin

22:17 - Barony with Josiah Colborn from Turning Wheel Games

33:56 - “What is a rogue-like?” with Jenna Stoeber and Anica Cihla, see their “What Defines A Soulslike?” panel VOD here

41:30 - Rogue Climber with Christian and Eric from Imaginary Game Studios

46:04 - AO: Containment Breach with Jules aka Prismatix-

49:52 - Ultra Mega Cats

54:36 - Let’s Build a Dungeon with James Barnard from Springloaded

1:02:07 - Rogue Waters with Mateusz Pilski from Ice Code Games

1:07:48 - “What is a game publisher?” with Matthew Palacio from Hooded Horse Games

1:14:24 - ctrl.alt.DEAL with Gwen from Only By Midnight Ltd.

1:17:37 - Show wind down

Next episode: Season 3 kicks off with Hades!

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro/outro music: Vince Guaraldi Trio - O Tannenbaum

Season 2 has come to an end with an impressive slate of top-tier rogue games! If you’ve never listened to the show before, these recap episodes are a great place to start. This year we see how well our new #1 overall rated game of Slay the Spire will hold off contenders like Vampire Survivors and Balatro. We revisit some oldies and goodies with games spanning releases all the way back to 2003! We have some great listener comments sprinkled throughout, including some of the devs from games that we’ve covered. So go get a corndog (grogdog?), a #1 fan foam finger or two, and strap in for our longest, and therefore best podcast episode to date.

Our finalists include:

Balatro

DoomRL

Heat Signature

Into the Breach

Inscryption

Jupiter Hell

Risk of Rain 2

Slay the Spire

Slice & Dice

Star of Providence

Vampire Survivors

World of Horror

Who will take the ultimate prize of the GROGPOD Omegabowl???

! The full tournament bracket with spoiled results can be found here

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1:54 - Tournament plan, categories, and games

7:04 - Wildcard 1: Risk of Rain 2 vs Heat Signature

13:42 - Wildcard 2: Slice & Dice vs Star of Providence

23:48 - Wildcard 3: Balatro vs DoomRL

30:06 - Wildcard 4: Inscryption vs World of Horror

38:57 - Division 1: Slay the Spire vs ???

44:40 - Division 2: Vampire Survivors vs ???

56:20 - Division 3: Jupiter Hell vs ???

1:03:44 - Division 4: Into the Breach vs ???

1:14:40 - Semi-finals 1 — possibly the REAL omegabowl finals here —

1:35:32 - Semi-finals 2

1:43:10 - Grand finals

1:58:24 - Show wind down

Next episode: Roguelike developer interviews from PAX West 2024!

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Scott Schreer - NFL Fox

Outro music: Clark Aboud - Battle with the Champ

Risk of Rain returns and in threeeee deeeeee! One of the most popular rogue games ever closes out season 2 of our podcast this year by dropping into a chaotic swarm of low-poly, monster-infested lands backed by screaming synth guitar sounds. From multiplayer near-victories, to solo-play over confidence, Risk of Rain 2 is a Bundle of Fireworks to send us off into the holiday season for some Bison Steaks and Energy Drinks.

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1:42 - game stats

3:35 - one sentence description

6:32 - Seekers of the Storm DLC problems and negative reviews

9:06 - Gameplay mechanics comparison between Risk of Rain 1 and 2

18:04 - Artifact of Command debate and randomization preferences

24:09 - Co-op multiplayer experience and final boss encounter

26:22 - Map design, scale, and navigation discussion

31:38 - Difficulty scaling and time pressure mechanics

35:39 - Drop pod story and lore explanation

41:22 - DLC content and character unlocks discussion

49:29 - Character variety and playstyle differences

57:49 - Art direction and aesthetic design analysis

1:06:50 - Mod scene popularity and proper save feature

1:14:20 - rankings and final thoughts

1:22:14 - similar games

As discussed in the outro, Scott has recorded a bunch of tutorial videos with Caves of Qud youtuber BigSimple which you can find here! Stay tuned for our coverage on it next season!

Next episode: Omegabowl 2: The 2024 GROGPOD Roguelike Playoffs

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Seatbelts - Tank!

Outro music: Chris Christodoulou - …con lentitud poderosa

Clap! Bow! Clap! Clap! Bow! Not even 6 days of power outage can stop this week’s attempt at exorcising demons of the world, as we visit fictional 198X Japan’s World of Horror. We explore a manga-style 1-bit Shiokawa, where a spooky lighthouse is causing something strage in the neighborhood. Evil Eldritch gods are awakening to turn our shower water into black goo, the townsfolk into bloodthirsty cultists, and even our apartment neighbors against us! Together, we can help solve the mysteries of “Spine-Chilling Story of School Scissors”, “Freaky Feature of Found Footage”, and many other awesomely alliterative manga mystery thrillers. There’s very vew problems a crowbar and kicking can’t solve! Especially when they’re sourced from a happy Shiba Inu dog vendor.

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2:09 - game stats

3:35 - one sentence description

7:07 - Game structure explanation (5 mysteries, bespoke events system)

13:36 - Story setting in 1980s Japan and Old Gods premise

16:42 - Arkham Horror board game comparisons and inspirations

21:05 - UI legibility issues and one-bit art style problems

25:30 - Combat mechanics and enemy health display confusion

31:29 - Game pacing discussion and mystery completion times

33:22 - Save system criticism (losing allies when quitting)

42:53 - Random event system debate (hidden vs revealed outcomes)

56:35 - Combat strategy analysis and dominant stabbing approach

1:04:18 - Combat feedback and visual clarity problems

1:14:18 - rankings and final thoughts

1:25:39 - similar games

Next episode: Risk of Rain 2

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers - Slippin’ Into Darkness

Outro music: World of Horror OST - School Combat

Glitch or Treat! On the final day of Space Halloween we dive deep into an acidy nebula of warring factions in dire need of some liberation. The Foundry, The Glitchers, Offworld Security, and Sovereign are vying for control, but they didn’t account for one thing: you. Enter Heat Signature: the tense, tactical, real-time-with-pause puzzle shooter leveraging the use of teleporters, time-slowing devices, bullet-reflecting shields, and rusty pipe wrenches. Join us as we make embark on Mistake-level missions, crash some space ships (for liberation purposes that is) and stand in awe of the real legends exacting their revenge with only 10 minutes to live!

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1:16 - game stats

3:29 - one sentence description

6:01 - Top-down shooter mechanics and mandatory pause feature discussion

9:25 - Difficulty curve complaints and tutorial vs advanced missions

15:27 - Story setup and nebula liberation campaign structure

24:29 - Mission terminology confusion and character trait system

29:57 - Faction mechanics and nebula map disappointments

38:41 - UI design praise and criticism of system complexity

46:27 - Death mechanics discussion and permissive respawn system

54:11 - Daily challenge mode as game’s crown jewel

1:01:51 - ending spoilers

1:14:52 - rankings and final thoughts

1:21:51 - similar games

Next episode: World of Horror

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Horace Silver - Liberated Brother

Outro music: John Halpart - Quantum Immortality

The dead walk! It’s after midnight and something evil’s attacking your town in Terminus: Zombie Survivors. A turn-based, grid-based, permadeath RPG with open-world survival crafting, Terminus turns the spook factor up for this ghoulish episode with Walkers galore. Barracade that door, cover the windows with some bloody rags and cozy up in a corner of a pharmacy with your favorite roguelike podcast! And though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver! For no mere mortal can resists, the evil of the Terminus! (Vincent Price laughter)

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1:29 - game stats

2:40 - one sentence description

4:56 - Traditional roguelike classification debate and permadeath settings

8:30 - Story setup and city navigation map structure

13:34 - Open world survival mechanics vs linear progression

20:14 - Crafting system complaints and hoarding behavior discussion

28:11 - Multiple ending types and achievement-driven gameplay

36:00 - Timer mechanics discussion (cold weather and resource depletion)

49:05 - Combat effectiveness and weapon durability systems

55:54 - Strategy optimization and character class differences

1:00:26 - UI/UX criticism and controller accessibility praise

1:07:49 - Looting workflow complaints and menu design issues

1:21:04 - rankings and final thoughts

1:33:55 - similar games

1:35:00 - pokemon smash or pass stream with previous guest Daniru17

Next episode: Heat Signature

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Artemis - Lights Away From Home

Outro music: Terminus in-game bgm

Bam! It’s listener request week again and this time we’re blowing the dust out of our SNES cartridges to play Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer! A game with a long legacy of nostalgia and fanning the flames of the Mystery Dungeon franchise from a Dragon Quest spinoff, Shiren also comes in a dual-screen form for the Nintendo DS. So for our first console-exclusive we talk about the 1990s landscape of traditional roguelikes, pokemon mystery dungeon games, dirty cheating by route of save states, and really celebrate the first official foray into the Mystery Dungeon franchise for the podcast. That little monster ringing the bell sound you hear is the summoning for us to cover some more of these games in the future for sure!

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2:02 - game stats

4:38 - one sentence description

18:54 - our story begins

30:09 - dungeon clearing strategy

41:37 - metaprogression

45:00 - ending and late game, NPCs

1:00:28 - pokemon mystery dungeon

1:05:42 - item strategy

1:11:55 - Fay’s puzzle dungeon

1:18:20 - Shiren 6

1:28:04 - rankings and final thoughts

1:46:30 - similar games

Next episode: Terminus: Zombie Survivors

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Joanne Brackeen - Mountain Flight

Outro music: Koichi Sugiyama - Canyon Hamlet

(Play along for now) Ah yes Inscryption! A completely normal game of deckbuilding between you and a crazed lunatic in a desolate cabin. A winner of numerous game awards for … totally normal reasons … we celebrate the end of Spooktember with sacrificing squirrels for blood to feed our science experiment grizzly bears. (Hit the download button) You’re also looking at your podcast feed thinking “ah but this isn’t a roguelike game!” You might be right, but at least a solid third of this game is, and we felt it important and interesting enough to round up to being an honorary inclusion in the conversation. (Rate the podcast 5 stars) That being said, this is a completely spoiler heavy episode! So if by some happenstance you haven’t played it, we strongly recommend you do so before listening. Don’t fiddle with that shackle around your wrist, we have some Transcending to do!

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3:45 - game stats

5:50 - final warning for spoilers!!!

6:44 - one sentence description and honorary roguelike candidacy

15:19 - act 1: our story begins

34:28 - act 2

55:58 - act 3 and finale

1:24:11 - rankings and final thoughts

1:36:00 - similar games

Next episode: Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Dan Wilson - Vessels of Wood and Earth

Outro music: Jonah Senzel - Deathcard Cabin