Roguecraft DX caused a long forgotten memory of a game to surface, but so vaguely that it’s been bugging me for the best part of a week. I can’t remember the name. It definitely wasn’t an Amiga game. My early gaming was done mostly on a Windows 98 computer. So the whole turn-based grid element of Roguecraft was vibing with that. Along with more recent affairs like Desktop Dungeons. But the game I’m thinking of continues to elude me. I think it might have starred an Indiana Jones like fella, pushing perfectly circular rocks around? Who knows at this point. The point, though, is that Roguecraft DX harks back to the older days, when games worked hard to keep things simple.
That can be a double-edged sword, though. A lot of old games were kept simple because they didn’t have the power needed to make it more complex. Everyone would love to simulate a giant dungeon fight with a Shoggoth, but the tech wasn’t there. So these little turn-based games, where everyone just bumps into each other, were the result. Roguecraft DX is an odd duck in that it is a port of a modern game, made for an old console. In the process, it does highlight why the older games were so popular, even if the simplicity does cause some issues along the way.
Don’t Be A Chicken
Roguecraft DX has three modes, with the main one being a fifteen-floor run. You start off on level one, slicing up chickens and weird little tentacle fellas. Then you find a key, open a trapdoor, and go down. As you descend, things get more uncomfortably Lovecraftian, until you meet the final boss. Everything is done on a simple grid, with each action taking a turn. So when you move, the enemies move. When you hit them with a sword, they hit you with a tentacle (or a beak). It’s simple to the extreme. The only stats are health and strength, which have a chance to increase when you clear a room, and everything else is done through consumable potions. Different characters do have different max stats, and the occasional skill, but this functions mainly as a difficulty slider. I quite like that approach.
Simple doesn’t mean easy, however. Death is all but guaranteed. You need to know when to wade in and fight, and when to escape back to the nearest health pickup. It’s quite fun when you get into it. Roguecraft DX is one of those games you play when you’ve got a few minutes here and there. Runs are generally pretty fast, being over in under an hour, and there isn’t enough investment to make death really have a sting. It also embodies the Rogue part of Roguelike. Death is permanent, there is no meta-progression, and the levels and potions are all random. It took me a good while to get my first win, but I found myself engaged throughout. It’s nothing particularly new, but it’s a comfortable package.
Dying To The Die
I do think that Roguecraft DX‘s pursuit of simplicity leans too much into random number generation though. For example, whether you hit an enemy is left to chance – and that chance seems strangely low. It wasn’t uncommon for a basic enemy to whittle down all my health because I just couldn’t hit it. It makes clearing rooms feel incredibly unsatisfying at times. Especially with the Rogue, whose ability causes them to teleport. They get a Backstab power when they do, increasing their damage, but we can’t control where we teleport. So half the time, my guy was just menacing the walls. Finally, there are secret rooms in the levels but they just yield a gold potion. Which half the time just reversed my controls, which isn’t really why I was going around smushing my face against all the walls.
That aside though, Roguecraft DX has a fair bit going for it. Particularly in the presentation. I love me some old school, grid based art. Everything is dripping in personality. True, the enemy designs are nothing particularly original, but I liked how they got more complex as I went down. That and the fascination with chickens is good for a laugh. One of the game modes is to literally play as a chicken, with just two health points. I got turned into a chicken kebab very early on. I’m a little disappointed that the final boss is just a hole full of tentacles, though. Sound design is also top notch. The music throughout is great, and I love the little touches. Like the bigger bats having much louder and deeper flaps than the teeny-tiny ones.
Roguecraft DX – Simple & Old-school
It’s worth noting that the original Roguecraft was made for the Commodore Amiga. In 2024, mind you. That’s some dedication to the consoles of yore. This DX version is a packaged re-release for Steam, though it’s been released on pretty much everything you can think of. You can see some of the old-school sensibilities in there, most notably the loopy difficulty. The constant missing is one thing, but enemies will randomly hit like trucks. One of the heaviest hitters comes in on the fourth floor. A seemingly innocent chicken that mutates in a weird, Lovecraftian blob. It takes off about four hearts, which can instantly kill you if you’re not careful. I want to criticise it, but that’s just how things were.
It’s a game that raises the eternal question of whether new games are better than old games. I admire the simplicity, but I still think I prefer things like meta-progression and building up a character. Roguecraft DX felt a little disposable in that regard. Still, after a long day at work I found myself just chaining together runs. It doesn’t demand that much of you, so the high difficulty went down a lot easier. So, it might be a little basic but Roguecraft DX will easily slot into whatever little bits of free-time you have. It won’t stick with you, but you won’t be bored either.
