Tips on easy-to-learn roguelikes?

[Zambaku]

I would like some tips on some roguelikes that has a somewhat easy interface, kinda like POWDER.

Roguelikes I've tried:
Nethack - Honestly, I hated it...I didn't like the pet feature, and the interface was way to complicated for me...I could never figure out how to even cast spells XD

Zangband - Pretty fun actually. Good balance. The only thing I didn't like was that the dungeon floors reset so I was farming the first floor on money and worms for exp simly by running up and down the first stairs untill I'm about level 20.


POWDER - My favorite so far, easy to get into, and easy controls which I like. And the ability to make your own tileset makes it even better! Though it lacks something which I can't put my finger on...=/

DoomRL - Fun when you don't have anything to do =)

[AmnEn]

You might want to try the Roguelikes by our dear Slashie;
DrashRL and Castlevania (Link) are both well rounded and have some interesting concepts too them.
Also I'm not exactly sure about what your gripes with certain interfaces are but if you haven't tried it, give Dungeon Crawl Stonesoup a try. Yes, it does have a complex interface but it goes to great lengths to streamline it and a lot of neat features make it oh so comfortable to play (I love the o key... auto explore <3 ). There's also a neat Tutorial for it.

[Zambaku]

Hm, I remember playing Drash. Didn't see what was so roguelike about it, the maps seemed static >_>
Going to try out Castlevania =)


Add: Hm, CastlevaniaRL was pretty interesting, but very buggy...Enemies can place themselves over you so you can't attack but they can...And enemies can attack diagonaly and you cant?>_>

[Vanguard]

If I remember correctly, pressing 5 on the num pad will attack enemies positioned on top of you in CVRL.  You can attack and move diagonally the same as enemies can, and you'll generally have better range than them to boot.

I'll try to think of a good beginner's roguelike.

Edit:

Alright, maybe you'll like one of these two.  They both have persistent levels and graphics so it's easier to figure out what's going on at first.

Castle of the Winds (the link is near the bottom of the page) was one of the first roguelikes I played.  The interface is easy, the difficulty is merciful by roguelike standards, and the game itself isn't bad either.

Ragnarok is another old favorite of mine.  You can use the mouse for the interface if you want, and the buttons are clearly labeled.  Bear in mind that an easy interface doesn't mean the game itself is easy.  Until you learn all the tricks, Ragnarok is brutal.  You will probably need to use DOSBox to get it running.

Edit 2:

Have you tried Larn?  That one uses ASCII graphics and has persistent levels.  It's shorter than CotW and Ragnarok.  The difficulty is easier than average for a roguelike, but if you win, it gets harder for the next time.

[Slash]

Hm, I remember playing Drash. Didn't see what was so roguelike about it, the maps seemed static >_>

The first map is static, the rest of them are randomly generated

Add: Hm, CastlevaniaRL was pretty interesting, but very buggy...Enemies can place themselves over you so you can't attack but they can...And enemies can attack diagonaly and you cant?>_>

Interesting, most people seem not to use the numpad to walk and attack diagonally.

[ido]

Interesting, most people seem not to use the numpad to walk and attack diagonally.

Many people are on laptops.  Even when I use my external keyboard I normally use the 4 arrow keys under the del/eng/pg down row, unless I really *have* to use diagonals.

-Ido.

[AmnEn]

Same here.
Laptops and Roguelikes just don't blend that well.

[Omnivorous]

I don't bother playing roguelikes if I can't use numpad. I'm a perfectionist, if I have to spend 2 turns to cut a corner, when I COULD'VE done it in 1 turn, I can't enjoy the experience! :-) Even considered buying a USB-numpad to use with my laptop.

I was going to suggest Stone Soup Dungeon Crawl too. It's not that it is easy, but it is simple to understand. I too "hated" Nethack (although it was the first roguelike I ever tried, and I WISHED I could understand it, or have the patience to enjoy it, but it felt overwhelming) and once I started finding roguelikes with colored ascii, I never tried nethack again.

Anyway, Stone Soup Dungeon Crawl, and also I can reccomend this game: http://roguelikefiction.com/ I haven't gotten far in it, but it is simple to understand, simple to learn the controls and pretty intriguing since it's like a novel

Have fun exploring the world of roguelikes

[joe]

If you play roguelikes on a laptop, just use hjklyubn. It seems strange at first but after about an hour it becomes second nature.

[Trisk]

You can attack enemies on top of you, just press whatever the center key is, 5 on numpad.(CVRL)

[IBOL]

well, if you want a rogue-like dungeon crawler that's easy to use and get into,
i'd suggest my game, Random Realms.
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=178942&b=5
you can set the difficulty, and even the number of levels you need to complete to get to the end...whether you beat the big bad guy is up to you.
it is designed to be streamlined , and the comands are simple, and help files are available.
there's a full magic system, infinite treasures, and no curses!
try it out, it's definitely designed for people interested in the roguelike genre,
who haven't gotten into the really complicated, difficult games.

[jocke the beast]

I recommend you to try Brogue. Simple yet advanced, ascii yet beautiful 

http://sites.google.com/site/broguegame/

[mariodonick]

Regarding easy to learn interface, I have of course to suggest to try LambdaRogue (http://lambdarogue.net) . (There's also a nice "let's play" video on YouTube, linked at http://lambdarogue.net/dl-showentry.php?n=200 )

[harborpirate]

I recommend you to try Brogue. Simple yet advanced, ascii yet beautiful 

http://sites.google.com/site/broguegame/

Agreed. Brogue requires a much smaller number of keys than most roguelikes. The streamlined interface goes further; you can even use the mouse for most things if you'd like. Clicking on items or creatures for instance will tell you all about them and how they work (assuming you've identified whatever the item is). This includes incredibly useful information when looking at a creature. What is the least number of hits it could kill me in, and what special powers does it have, and so forth.

I dabble in other roguelikes, but I keep going back to brogue because the interface doesn't get in my way.

[runequester]

I'll second (third?) BRogue. Looks great, you can play with the mouse, and the list of controls are quite limited.

It also has a nice "less is more" feeling.