Demon Spore - tentacle spreading action horror roguelike

[TheDinoBoss]

Hi!

I'm working on a roguelike called Demon Spore about an organism that breaks free from a lab and starts spreading out of control. It's inspired by 80s monster movies like The Thing, Leviathan, Tremors etc.



I'm trying something a bit different to how a lot of roguelikes work. Instead putting the emphasis on player growth within a run (creating your own 'build' and becoming more powerful), I'm trying to focus on the creature itself and the challenge of learning how it spreads and evolves in order to escape. I thought this would capture the horror feel more accurately than a power fantasy. The idea is that the replayability comes from forming a new plan to escape each time by using the lab layout and it's equipment to your advantage.

I wanted to ask for a bit of input on this - do people think this approach is a bit crazy? Is creating a build and becoming more powerful during a run essential to making a good roguelike?

There's a gameplay video here for more context:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76jqC1rNPI

Also more info on the website itself (and a newsletter if anyone is interested in following progress):
http://www.demonspore.com/

[dulsi]

Seems like an interesting design. Do you have to survive a certain amount of time before breaking free from the smaller lab area or can you abandon the area right away?

[TheDinoBoss]

Thanks! So I'm hoping to give you two options - either defeat what is in the room or break out of the room and escape. If you defeat what's there, then you would have time to use lab equipment to build upgrades etc, if you just break out then you don't get that advantage and the creature also has a chance of following you to the next room.