Roguelite
A game that borrows the roguelike's short runs, randomly generated levels and death that forces a restart, but mixes them with other genres. Some of what you earn also carries over between runs, so every attempt leaves you a little stronger.
Also known as: rogue-lite, roguelike-like
This is a basic entry: it has the definition and the classification. Full entries add history, games and a demo.
History
- 2002Origin
Strange Adventures in Infinite Space (2002), by Digital Eel, is one of the first games to bring roguelike elements into another genre with short runs.
Roguelike (Wikipedia) - 2008
Spelunky shows how to distil the roguelike and apply it to other genres, inspiring the indie wave that followed.
Roguelike (Wikipedia)
Reference games
2008
Spelunky
A platformer where every cave is randomly generated and dying sends you back to the start with no saves. It was one of the first to carry roguelike ideas into real-time action, and the original version is free.
2011
The Binding of Isaac
You shoot monsters room by room in basements assembled at random from pre-built rooms. Losing all your hearts ends the run and you start in a new basement; the items you find change how you play each time.