Permaconsequence and PermadeathPermadeath is the idea that, when your character dies, they cannot be brought back to life. Simple, right? Well, no. There are many flavors…Nov 9, 20232Nov 9, 20232
Permadeath considered harmfulTypical video games take 10–100 hours to complete; when something bad happens, e.g., your character is killed, you can just reverse the bad…Jan 4, 20231Jan 4, 20231
What is the difference between Roguelike and Roguelite?Roguelike is a genre primarily defined by its immediate gameplay (just like genres such as platformer or first-person shooter). Roguelites…Apr 9, 20222Apr 9, 20222
What to Say instead of RoguelikeInfluential games sometimes get genres named after them. However, such genre names tend to be unclear. Which feature of the influential…Apr 6, 20211Apr 6, 20211
The Monty Hall problem, but differentSuppose you’re on a game show, and you’re given the choice of three doors: Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goats. You pick a…Feb 14, 20213Feb 14, 20213
H. P. Lovecraft and non-Euclidean geometryAfter creating the first versions of HyperRogue, I have learnt that people often associate non-Euclidean geometry with the works of H. P…Jan 29, 20212Jan 29, 20212
What “Roguelike” MeantSeveral recently released games have rekindled the old discussions on the meaning of the word “roguelike”. This post is an attempt to…Nov 6, 20202Nov 6, 20202
Non-Euclidean geometry and gamesThe term “non-Euclidean” is often used by gamers to mean any kind of game where geometry does not work exactly as in our world. While such…May 1, 20194May 1, 20194
Life, Complexity, and RoguelikesWhile two-player strategy games (Go, Chess) are very important in our culture, and puzzles (both pen-and-paper and computer-based) are…Mar 22, 2019Mar 22, 2019
