RoguePod LiteCast

This week on RoguePod LiteCast we add the looter shooter platformer Risk of Rain Returns to the ultimate roguelite tier list.

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Check out the full tier list at roguepod.show

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On this bonus episode of RoguePod LiteCast we dive into the lexicon and talk about roguelikes, roguelites, and the metaprogression that defines them.

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This week we cover the deckbuilder that lets you cheat, Diceomancer with guest JB, the game director from the previously covered Drop Duchy!

We talk Drop Duchy for the first few minutes, if you'd like you can skip to the Diceomancer section starting at 7:48.

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Check out the full tier list at roguepod.show

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On this bonus episode of RoguePod LiteCast we get retrospective about the podcast in celebration of our year of hobby podcasting. We'll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming. Thanks for listening folks!

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On this episode of RoguePod LiteCast, Emily from the indie gaming podast No Small Games helps discuss the Scrabble Balatro-like Birdigo to the ultimate roguelite tier list.

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Check out the No Small Games podcast: https://nosmallgames.com/

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On this episode of RoguePod LiteCast we add the roguelite expedition simulator Curious Expedition to the ultimate roguelite tier list.

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On this episode of RoguePod LiteCast we add the bite-sized strategy roguelite Flocking Hell to the ultimate roguelite tier list.

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This week we're covering another classic in the genre, the 2015 twin-stick shooter Nuclear Throne and adding it to the tier list! We'd both bumped on this back when it first released, will we get sucked in this time?

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Check out the full tier list at roguepod.show!

The answer to the above question is a resounding YES - what an absolute banger of a game. We talk through the development history and reveal just how much we both played this in our two weeks before recording (spoiler: too much) then talk mutations, characters, weapons, crowns, and looping. Why don't we see looping implemented like this in more games? It feels distinct from NG+ since you get a whole new enemy set and the run just flows together so smoothly, we were big fans and it kept us playing for long after this episode record.

Nuclear Throne embodies the "Always Be Playing" philosophy espoused by Derick Yu (Spelunky) that really connects with us in this genre. You get in and you're immediately in the action. You can get through the first levels in less than a minute, and the difficulty ramps up quickly but (almost) always feels fair. This game perfectly embodies the spirit of what I want my roguelites to be and it was an absolute joy to play. If you bounced off it because of the visual style like we originally did back in the day, give it another shot!

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This week we add the 2020 Mega Man Battle Network-like One Step From Eden to the tier list. How will we connect with this having never played any of the MBNN games?

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Check out the full tier list at roguepod.show!

On this episode we talk about the Kickstarter success story that is One Step From Eden and Thomas Moon Kang, the developer behind it. Thomas set out to make a game so he "could play MMBN infinitely" and it is not shy about this inspiration. We discuss the roguelitification of specific games and what makes that work or not, plus the broad appeal (or lack thereof) of this kind of approach to turning a semi-niche game into a roguelite.

This was a bit of a hard one to get into since the game demands so much of you: moving around in real time on the grid while simultaneously managing six different spells with cooldowns plus navigating enemy abilities, but once we were able to get over the learning hump we had a great time with it. The metagame is a bit cookie cutter though there is some cool stuff in there (love bringing in fighting the shopkeeper into a subgenre where we don't expect to see it) but overall we landed very positive on this one. If you are into fast-twitch, quick reaction speed games then this would be a good fit for you.

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This week we add the 2021 autobattler (tower defense?) Loop Hero to the tier list. The metaprogression in this one got a little too glaring for us - do we go all the way to the bottom of the tier list?

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Check out the full tier list at roguepod.show!

Another Devolver Digital published game in the books, on this episode we discuss the four man team Russian team behind Loop Hero and the role that "zero player games" played in inspiring them to put this game together. We then talk mechanics, synergies, bosses, and the concept of building a village as your metaprogression system (among other things).

This is one where Danny is being a bit of a wiener in that he got pretty sucked into this game when it initially released (pre-podcast days) but then was much more critical of it upon revisiting. Once the dopamine factory stopped flowing we felt that Loop Hero was just a layer over a big vertical metaprogression grind - the runs passively make you stronger, and you keep playing until your passive strength gets you over a hump. We want lots of skill expression in our roguelites! Ended up taking a pretty hard hit on the tier list because of this.

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