Yeah, I got it as a freebie in one of the sales a while back.. I can't say I enjoyed it though. I obviously don't have the required skills as I couldn't even get past the tutorial level XD
But I agree that it feels quite roguelike.
Rogue Legacy is the same, other than permadeath and random levels it's not very roguelike at all but it definitely has a feel of roguelike ness about it.

If you have some spare $ millions, you can certainly hire your own team and let them make some NORMAL game (not sure what you have on mind).

But you probably knew about this option, so that's not why I'm replying... I just wonder, whether a casual mobile game about making rope knots suitable for hanging yourself would appeal you... Maybe I would be able to build one in my spare time (with additional knots as DLCs).
The original Rogue *did* have graphics, but only on some platform(s). I'm sure about Atari ST, don't know about others. The most funny thing about it for me, that the ST had the same graphics, which was used much much later for some GUI front-end for nethack, which I did play on PC, I never imagined that graphics is from original...

Yep, I agree that Spelunky captures that "roguelike feel" very well, despite its vastly different style of gameplay. It's surprisingly deep, and full of things to discover. And I think the satisfaction when you finally reach the end of the game for the first time is comparable to winning a roguelike game.

On the other hand, I thought Rogue Legacy felt rather shallow in comparison. It's a fun game too, but didn't quite have the same depth and tension I'd expect of a roguelike ( or -lite ... whatever ).

Thanks. Couldn't have said it better myself. You're not alone, pal.

In my case there are still some reasons to exist, because I have a lot of old games in my backlog which I didn't played in the past or just didn't finished back then. I estimate that with some additional shopping here on GOG I could live till the end of my days without any new releases.

If you've only seen the tutorial then you've seen nothing of the game! Maybe give it another chance some time, if you enjoyed it at all. It's incredibly well made, and full of little details ( and big secrets ) to discover!

With normal you mean weird right, like how they should be made to make you feel something. Well, they come out.. like http://store.steampowered.com/app/491220/Mr_Pumpkin_Adventure/ , but this turned into itch.io now.

I probably will at some point, it didn't completely turn me off it, I just sucked at it and rage quite.

Maybe when I'm more in the mood for that kind of thing I'll be able to stick with it.

Depends on which elements. Some things are on a scale; for example, an RPG with base-building can be a roguelike, but Sim City with no saves is not.

Some things are non-negotiable. The following are all nopes:
- Continuity-breaking and/or consequence-free retries.
- Reliance on low-level human faculties such as vision acuity and reflexes.
- Spoilers. Learning things about the game should not remove the challenge. A choose-your-own-adventure is not a roguelike.
- (real-) Time pressure.
- Grinding, in a narrow sense - I don't mean generic tedium. A single playthrough should not be winnable by repeating perfectly safe actions.

After reading some Nana To Kaoru, I think I understand now. All I want is some petting, while you kids are chasing the latest S&M gear.

If you're not averse to some spoilers (regarding secrets and tricks, that is; there's really no story to spoil), maybe try watching some let's play videos of Spelunky. When I started playing the HD remake early this year (after having also gotten it for "free" during last year's summer sale), I had quite a few hours of experience (on and off over several years, mind you) with the old freeware version, but most of that experience was with dying. I had scarcely ever made it out of the mines (the first 4 levels), and never progressed past the second area. In short I was awful.
Within a couple months of having started to seriously play the new version (for a month or so, it was just something I occasionally played between DCSS runs) -- and with some knowledge and insight gleaned from [<i>Gunpoint</i> dev] Tom Francis' extremely amusing Daily Challenge runs -- I had beaten the game in both of the ways it can be beaten (and finishing video games -- especially very challenging platformers -- is exceedingly rare for me).

I would, however, recommend not watching too many spoilery videos (including the ones I just linked to :P ) until you have some experience with the actual game, as figuring out certain game mechanics oneself can be part of the fun.

I despise permadeath with a passion, so this is great news as I prefer a choice rather than mandating it for everyone, which is incredibly wise for these developers...Unfortunately, it's paid beta...Will wait til it's finished, so wish-listing it now, but will most definitely buy it as it's no longer a deal-breaker!

Mouse movement is a little weird, and not repeatable by holding the button down.

It's anyone guess what will happen when you click on the grid anywhere outside of the 8 d-pad directions. It's pretty common to move diagonally when you mean to move otherwise, or vice versa.

A small tooltip direction arrow for mouse mode wouldn't hurt either.

Love the artwork, sick to death of roguelike... I am ambivalent.

Also why are all the screenshots blurry? Is there a permanent bilinear filter over everything? Can this game display clean, crisp pixels?

I may take a look but only after a full release.