I suck at roguelikes. I've only made it to about dungeon level 5 in Nethack. It probably doesn't help that I hate Nethack's gameplay. In fact, I was just about to quit roguelikes... until I discovered the granddaddy of all roguelikes, Rogue. I've been playing it on Hexatron for some time now, and I'm hooked. As I said, I suck at roguelikes. So when I made it all the way to level 8, it was a big deal for me. Until I got stuck between an orc and a rattlesnake, forgot to check my HP total, and... well, you know the story. Suffice it to say that I never made it to level 9.
My next play, I was still doing really well. I had made it to level 5 or 6 and cleared the entire level. I had hundreds of GP. Then I forgot to equip my plate mail and my ring, and descended the staircase. And promptly hit a treasure room. I even survived 2 more turns before dying. I read an unidentified scroll: it was a scroll of identify. I identified one of my potions: it was a potion of healing. Then the monsters got to go. 1 HP left. 0 GP left. I stupidly read a scroll instead of drinking a potion. My armor glowed a bright blue. Then I hit rigor mortis. Another Rogue bit the dust. With 0 GP. To add insult to injury, I got the "the graveyard isn't for paupers" message.
ARGHH!
The next two games, I got creamed on level 3 and 2, respectively. So I've got two questions for you guys:
1. When do I read scrolls and drink potions and zap wands to identify? Virtually everything I had was unidentified when I went down the fatal staircase.
2. Is there a really, really, easy roguelike?
EDIT: Immediately after writing this post, I played another game of rogue. Creamed on level 1, room 1 by a Hobgoblin, with 1 gold. At least I didn' t die a pauper this time. And then I played another one. And died on room 1, level 1 by an Emu, of all things. A pauper.
