I have been hearing a lot about Roguelike games lately and have not played any of them myself (the closest thing though not an RPG was the Dracula in London DOS game I used to love. I only say it's similar since it does use ASCII for the graphics). This topic does give me some options on where to begin looking into the "genre", so this is neat, :D

I've been playing Spelunky a lot lately. It's a roguelike/platformer combo, and it turned out really well.

Oh wow, yeah! I remember Dracula in London. That game was pretty dang fun for its time.

I'm glad someone remembers that little gem! I poured a lot of hours into it, just playing it over and over and changing which team I brought with me to do things. I think they made a windows version of it eventually but I've stuck with the DOS version cause I'm rather fond of the ASCII graphics.

So my rambling isn't completely offtopic, I did some reading up on Nethack and it sounds like it could be a neat place to start in the Roguelike genre. Is it safe to say that it can be alright for a beginner, or is there a better one to start with?

NetHack should be a good of place as any to start, just make sure you read the guidebook that is packaged with it and learn the controls somewhat. Also, don't read too much about it if you want the full experience.

Good tips. Another thing, Nethack contains permadeath. So don't get too attached to your characters. I've been playing this game for 10+ years, and still haven't beaten it. There are many ways to die. Some of them are pretty funny. I guess I'm trying to say, there is a different mindset required in playing this game. After all this time, I'm still learning new things. Of course, you could read a walkthrough/guide. But this is something I refuse to do. I kind of like learning secrets on my own. It adds to the triumph, when you've discovered that you have gone farther than you have ever gone before. I hope that doesn't make it sound too daunting. Just be patient and remember, permadeath can be fun!

ah, permadeath, my dearest enemy :)

I remember that in ADOM, I died when Kobold sacrificed me (how stupid it was to stand on an altar...). Once I got run over by a living wall. And once banshee killed me with one scream. Good times :)

In unreal world, I've died because of bear attack, I've walked into a fire (accident), once caused a forest fire (well...almost an accident) and countless of times because of Njerpez. Also I have drowned (weak ice in spring...), fell from a tree and I've even managed to impale myself in my own trap...

The most dangerous animal in that game it the friggin' lynx. I've never won a "match" against one...

And yes, URW does contain permadeath...

Another thumbs up for Stone Soup here - the whizzy tiles and interface make it easier to get into and understand to the newcomer.

It would be a fine place to start, IMHO

My favorite part is the "auto-explore" key :)

What is a 'Roguelike' game?

I downloaded Desktop Dungeons last nigh and it refered to itself as a "Roguelike" game.

If it refers to Tower of Drauga style games, we used to refer to those hard core dungeons crawlers.

And if that' s the case, my vote is for the Sigmore Mines games which can be played on cell phones.

it's a game that is like Rogue, randomized dungeon, perma-death and turn-based movement; it can be considered more of a sub-type of a dungeon crawl.

Roguelike definition