GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast

Scott V. Burger
  • 4.5 (15)
  • Video Games
  • Updated Biweekly

The GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast is a bi-weekly show about four friends talking about a featured Roguelike game. We cover the full spectrum of titles, from the more modern, action-oriented games like Binding of Isaac and Hades to the traditonal roguelike designs of games like Cogmind and Caves of Qud. Join us each episode as we unpack what makes a roguelike game fun (or not) and then rank it against the compendium we've compiled thus far.

  1. 4d ago

    The Void Rains Upon Her Heart: Interview with Developer Angel Polanco

    At PAX West this year I had a great time interviewing Angel Polanco: the solo dev behind the incredibly well-rated bullet hell roguelite The Void Rains Upon Her Heart! An incredibly interesting game from mechanics, boss designs, art, story, I couldn’t wait until our usual end-of-year PAX interview episode to publish. It was a great conversation where we talked in depth about the designs and motivations behind it. Very thankful again to Angel and the support staff handling the booth at PAX for letting me grab some interveiw time at the end of the 2nd of all day showcasing in front of the public! Find The Void Rains Upon Her Heart on Steam here! Soundtrack on Steam here Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 3:06 - Interview Start 4:10 - PAX Weekend Impressions 7:00 - Record-Breaking Steam Reviews 8:14 - Solo Dev Life: Programming, Art, Music & Community Bug-Hunting 9:28 - Development Prioritization: Following Gut Feeling to Avoid Burnout 11:02 - Touhou & Kirby Design Inspirations 13:15 - Difficulty Design & Accessibility 15:56 - Boss Design Philosophy: Start Simple, Combine Mechanics Progressively 27:39 - Undertale Influence: Pacifist-Only Path, Love Bosses Into Acceptance 31:17 - Hades-Like Story Driven Narrative 34:08 - Player Character Designs: Alien Looks & Deeply Human Feelings 45:43 - Success Beyond Expectations, Game as Diary & Future Plans Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: TVRUHH OST - Blank Melody Outro music: TVRUHH OST - Heaven Sends Its Love

  2. Sep 10

    STRAFE: Gold Edition

    It’s time to put the BOOM back into boomer shooters as we fire up the hottest graphics of 1996* with Strafe! Another entry in our Devolver Digital review catalogue, the self-described “ worlds bloodiest roguelike first-person shooter” will put our pixel-perfect aim to the test fighting aliens, mutants, and … human experiments? Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 01:02 - Game Stats 02:55 - One Sentence Description 6:25 - Strafe as 2017 Genre Forerunner 9:16 - Roguelike FPS Genre History: Eldritch, Ziggurat, Barony & Strafe 15:18 - Gun Modifiers 17:41 - 1996 Nostalgia Marketing & VHS Camcorder Tutorial 35:10 - Biome 1 Enemy Incoherence: Too Many Types, Generic Asset Look 40:17 - Simplistic Enemy AI: All Rush or Shoot, No Puzzle Strategy 1:03:18 - Mechanics Deep Dive 1:21:09 - Disposable Guns vs. Meaningful Build Choice 1:27:49 - Rankings & Final Thoughts 1:40:40 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down Next episode: Diablo 2: Resurrected Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 2 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Strafe OST - Paint It Red

  3. Aug 25

    Coal LLC

    It’s Christmas in August as we unload the sooty petro-rocks from our stockings and crack open the clean-burning Coal LLC! The quick action mining-themed roguelite version of Motherload, you are tasked to fill your quota of coal before time runs out. Hire employees to help dig, collect, and fly your mantle-shattering progress. Fulfill the quests of NPCs like Fiona Frog, Pippa Penguin, and Tabitha the Mermaid. But most importantly, follow the guiding principle of any good coal mining business owner: NUMBER GO UP! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 01:05 - Game Stats 01:50 - One Sentence Description 3:37 - Platforming & Youtubers 5:24 - MS Paint Art Style 7:15 - Core Loop: Mine Coal, Meet Daily Quota or Explode 12:02 - Going Deeper: Colored Coal Layers & Increasingly Valuable Resources 24:18 - Unlocks & NPC Quests 28:01 - Workers & Weapons 52:25 - Whats the Value of a $15 Indie Game These Days? 1:08:34 - Rankings & Final Thoughts (hidden gem new #10!) 1:20:44 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down Next episode: Strafe Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 2 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Coal LLC Theme 1

  4. Aug 11

    Nordhold

    Roguelites belong to the Nords! This week we return to tower defense rogue land with Nordhold: the vaguely Viking-themed tower defense roguelite featuring tower synergy systems, work placement econometrics, and decisions about whether or not to sacrifice them to demonic gods. If careful optimization of numbers and slowly checking off metaprogression boxes is your thing, then Nordhold has got it in spades! We even have towers that shoot ravens at people, what more could you ask for here??? Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 01:13 - Game Stats 02:24 - One Sentence Description 4:53 - Viking Tutorial Walkthrough 8:28 - Resource Economy 10:24 - Meta Progression Treadmill 15:24 - Rogue Tower Comparison: Limited vs. Open Tower Selection Debate 19:23 - Oracle Choices: 5-Wave Passive Modifiers 21:56 - Banner System & Tower Fusions 31:49 - Hero System 54:45 - Cosmetic Glory Shop 1:04:36 - Rankings & Final Thoughts 1:10:52 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down Next episode: Coal LLC Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 2 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Nordhold OST - Viking Layers 6

  5. Aug 4

    Episode 100 Part 3 - Brogue CE

    A dark presence surrounds you, whispering promises of stolen power! Our episode 100 mega special concludes with a mega special game in the traditional roguelike sphere: Brogue! Developed by a lawyer, Brian Walker sought to rewrite the state of roguelikes in 2009 from bloated checkbox-ticking, weeks-long RPG length games and bring the genre back to its coffee break length roots. Careful streamlining of systems, UI polish, graphical effects, and a much smaller monster pool make Brogue one of the most readily accessible roguelikes of the modern era. My, what a yummy mango! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 01:11 - Game Stats 06:15 - One Sentence Description 10:17 - Brian the Dev’s thoughts on Rogue vs Angband vs Nethack 16:38 - Modernized Design Philosophy 31:58 - Character As Items Design 37:18 - Lumen Stones: Optional Hard Mode & Going Beyond Floor 25 41:30 - Brogue as a First ASCII Game? 51:02 - ASCII Sprites 53:24 - Monster Roster: Dragons, Liches, Jellies & Hover Flavor Text 56:11 - Emergent Narrative 57:37 - Identification Meta-Game, Percentages & Risk 1:10:50 - Magic System: Staffs, Wands, Charges & Enchantment Synergies 1:16:39 - Brogue Fan Community Correspondence 1:31:09 - Rankings & Final Thoughts (new #1 hidden gem game for the podcast!) 1:43:53 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down See also: The Incredible Power of Dijkstra Maps Brian Walker - Procedural level design in Brogue and beyond Brian’s thoughts on Rogue vs Angband and Nethack Next episode: Nordhold Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: The Lord of the Chiptunes: The Return of The Chiptune - Minas Tirith Outro music: Sir Knight Beats - GELATINOUS CUBE (hexcore)

  6. Jul 28

    Episode 100 Part 2 - Moria, Hack, Larn, Omega

    What is this new devilry? Part 2 of the GROGPOD100 extravaganza continues, this time with a focus on the first ever rogue-like games ever made! Following the part 1 format, Scott does a brief historical deep dive of the games with some community correspondence, followed by our in-person live first experiences playing these games. We’ll experience why Gandalf had no memory of dungeon floors in Moria, see the first draft of history with Hack, try to rescue our poisoned daughter in Larn, and try to survive longer than 10 turns in the city of Rampart with Omega! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 00:28 - Part 2 intro 02:23 - 1983 Moria 15:42 - Moria correspondence 27:31 - 1984 Hack 38:23 - Hack correspondence 47:31 - 1986 Larn 54:07 - Larn correspondence 58:13 - 1987 Omega 1:12:11 - Omega correspondence 1:14:11 - GROGPOD live first impressions Mentioned in this episode: Dungeon Hacks: How NetHack, Angband, and Other Roguelikes Changed the Course of Video Games Toma’s unedited 15 minute voicemail here Toma’s 130 traditional roguelike reviews Rogue Elements Scott & Dan talking Dwarf Fortress back in 2020 Next episode: EP100 part 3: Brogue CE Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Shiryu - The Lord of the Chiptunes: The Chiptune of the Ring - The Council of Elrond Outro music: Shiryu - The Bridge of Khazad-dûm

  7. Jul 21

    Episode 100 Part 1 - Rogue and its Predecessors

    The road to Rogue was paved with ascii, teletype, thousand-pound mainframes, and a hacker spirit only highschoolers and college kids and eminate. For our big 100th episode, we have for you a 3-part deep dive into the games that inspired Rogue, the first TRUE roguelikes, and the crown jewel of ascii games: Brogue. This being part 1, we focus on the biggest computer games of the 1970s and how those shaped the design of Rogue. For each game, Scott briefly talks about how its played and a short bit of history, followed by some community correspondence about the game. Finally we have the pod crew doing a first ever live in-person recording about our experiences playing these games for the first time. So use those podcast desription timestamps to jump around! You feel weak with hunger… a hunger that can only be satisifed by hitting that play button! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:00 - Intro to episode 100 parts 1, 2, and 3 05:30 - 1971 Star Trek overview 13:30 - Trek correspondence 20:22 - 1975 pedit5/The Dungeon overview 30:10 - 1976 Colossal Cave Adventure 41:12 - ADVENT correspondence 47:12 - 1980 Rogue 58:52 - Rogue correspondence 1:06:46 - GROGPOD live first impressions Next episode: EP100 part 2: The First Roguelikes (Moria, Hack, Larn, Omega) Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Star Trek 1969 Outro music: Introduction to the PDP-11

  8. Jul 14

    BALL x PIT

    Ball don’t lie! This week we’re dropping into the chasm filled with Arkanoid-inspired enemies in BALL x PIT! The fabled city of Ballbylon has fallen and evil monsters have dragged the metropolis into, you guessed it, a pit! Your quest is to rebuild the city by taking a ramshackle elevator down into the depths, huck balls at the rampaging hordes, and escape with resources you can use to restore the town brick by brick. Sure none of the residents have eyes in their sockets, are largely magical warlock outcasts and fallen kings, and in some cases look like haunted versions of an American Gothic painting, but we will rebuild! And upgrade our infrastructure via as many ping-pong mechanics as possible! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:58 - Game stats 3:35 - One sentence description 4:07 - The Fall of Ball-bylon in 46 Seconds 8:46 - Visual Style: Scrolling Enemies, Mobile Game Look & Art 13:49 - Ball System: Build Strategy Synergy 29:06 - Early Game & Metaprogression Treadmill 35:18 - Town Building: RTS Grid Base Builder & Worker Trajectory 43:21 - Character Variety: Turn-Based Mode, Twitch Voting & Unique Gimmicks 52:32 - Narrative Theme: Descending the Pit & Level Progression Arc 55:04 - Town Building x Ball Combat x Sound Design 1:11:22 - How’s it Compare with Vampire Survivors? 1:22:30 - Rankings & final thoughts 1:30:00 - Similar games & show wind down Next episode: Episode 100 part 1 - Rogue and Its Predecessors Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 2 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Liminal x Desert - Amos Roddy

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4.5
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About

The GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast is a bi-weekly show about four friends talking about a featured Roguelike game. We cover the full spectrum of titles, from the more modern, action-oriented games like Binding of Isaac and Hades to the traditonal roguelike designs of games like Cogmind and Caves of Qud. Join us each episode as we unpack what makes a roguelike game fun (or not) and then rank it against the compendium we've compiled thus far.

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