My current top five roguelikes

[Samildanach]

Although I've played a reasonable number of roguelikes I'm still a novice. My current top 5 would be:

DoomRL
AliensRL
Infra Arcana
Caves of Qud
Warlock of Firetop Mountain

The last one there is mainly nostalgia. I was a big gamebook reader back in the day and still have something of a collection. It's not a bad game but pretty vanilla. Less clunky interface than some, though. I find it good for a quick blast if I have half an hour to spare.

Honourable mentions go to Random Realms, Rogue's Souls and Frozen Depths. 

[Vanguard]

Oh dude I forgot about Caves of Qud.  I'm adding it as the fifth entry in my list.


Ragnarok
Mage Guild
Brogue
PrincessRL
Caves of Qud

[guest509]

  Caves of Qud huh? I think there was a Roguelike Radio on that recently. Going to have to check it out.

[AgingMinotaur]

I haven't really gotten around to playing a lot lately, so I'm not up for compiling a list of current top 5, but yes! Caves of Qud is a bizarroid masterpiece, rich on tactics, setting and overall feel. Play as a four-armed porcupine man quadruple-wielding carbide kukris, or why not a telepathic centaur gunfighter with an evil twin? Once you've gotten a feel for the basics, try to choose as many "unstable genome" mutations you can bear to max out on the weirdness.

As always,
Minotauros

[guest509]

I just downloaded based on your recommendation Veteran Bullman. 

[AgingMinotaur]

I just downloaded based on your recommendation Veteran Bullman. 

Glad to hear it, comrade, hope you won't regret doing so A final hint, by the way – to be taken with a grain a salt, as I haven't gotten very far (beat the first Golgatha mission a couple of times; my highest score so far is 28885, killed by Namon Souldrinker) – to get started, playing as a True man is actually not a bad idea. That lets you focus on and get to know the skill trees, and building a good mutant character can be a bit daunting at first, even though they're great fun and can start out with "panic button"-like mutations such as Teleportation and Quills. Also, learn how to shop lift in Joppa to start with an extra edge. Begin with the empty houses, do Argyve for an intermediate challange, and advance to Tam and Elder Irudad to become an official member of the thieves guild

As always,
Minotauros

[Samildanach]

I agree on starting with a True Man. People told me to always play as a mutant but I think it's best to keep it simple as you learn how the game works. Mutations can be quite complicated.

Stealing from Joppa hadn't even occurred to me!

[Z]

Don't forget to rate your top roguelikes at IRLDb!

[Zireael]

Don't forget to rate your top roguelikes at IRLDb!

Good point. I will do so tomorrow (sleeeepy

BTW, I have yet to find any ratings of Veins of the Earth outside of a lone 5/5 in te4.org. I need moar feedback!

[Paul Jeffries]

My top 5:

Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer
Brogue
Powder
Infra Arcana
Spelunky

[jocke the beast]

1. Dwarf Fortress
2. DCSS
3. Brogue
4. Infra arcana
5. Prospector

[DaBeowulf]

1. Incursion             classic, tactical, rich and nice in-game docu/flavour (texts) [monsters, items, gods]
2. UnReal World   unique and lovely setting/world, tiles only, strong points: free-form, crafting, focus on plain survival/living, interesting things can emerge
3. Cataclysm DDA  sweet world-gen, free-form, crafting, driving cars/trucks/bikes, going shopping with shopping carts, lots of stuff here (mutations, cybernetic modules), if you want to tone down on it a bit, there's 'classic zombie mode'
4. Slaves to Armok II (not to emphasize the f in df which is done more than enough) free-form, lovely world-gen, emergent behaviour possible
5. GearHead Arena  free-form possible, never advanced the story much myself (no permadeath and fast shop restocking with new items make baby jesus cry), gotta love mecha combat


ADOM, DCSS       classic, next best choices after Incursion
IVAN   fun (gotta be a bit maso here), but truely a "violent road to death" as is its name, tiles only