Hoplite

This Is Part Of! … the roguelike pantheon of short games! A beloved mobile game classic, we hop in to Hoplite this week: the Greek underworld dungeon crawling chess tactics inspired puzzle game of spear-chucking, shield-bashing, and hoppin! Featuring at seemingly simple 16-floor dungeon that can go on infinitely should you so desire, the game also boasts a seemingly bottomless pit of bespoke puzzles. So get swipin and swipe on that play button either for the pod or the game, they’re both good! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:39 - Game stats 4:55 - One sentence description 8:19 - Mobile gaming on the go 9:45 - Tutorial & Mechanics 19:26 - Quest for the Golden Fleece 21:30 - Enemy Types & Elegance of Game Design 22:05 - Filler Games vs. Epic Games: Scope & Value Discussion 31:31 - Altar of Apollo Upgrades & Upgrade System 37:44 - Challenge Modes, Daily Puzzles & Bonus Dungeons 41:51 - Sound & Music 1:01:15 - Rankings & final thoughts 1:09:15 - Similar games & show wind-down Next episode: Slay the Spire 2 Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Stolen Momens - Orballo Jazz Cuartet Outro music: Hoplite Main Theme

Brains! Brains! This week in “yes we know it’s not a roguelike”, we venture into the heart of Kentucky for some country-fried human flesh with Project Zomboid. The zeds have spread and you have one goal: survive as long as possible. Do you loot the local school for backpacks and safety scissors, or the police station for pistols and shotguns? Do you dare risk alerting the manic hordes with your car as you break windows in your desperate search for prescription painkillers? …in the game, I mean… allegedly, Your Honor… Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:34 - Game stats 4:16 - One sentence description 5:50 - Roguelike arugments from the Zomboid community 12:00 - Actual gameplay 14:22 - Zombies as Environmental Hazard vs. Villain 27:47 - Tutorial Design & Quality Praise 30:43 - Character Creation, Occupations & Traits 32:30 - Map Size, Starting Location & Open World Scope 36:00 - Lack of Win Condition & Sandbox Design 49:19 - Combat Mechanics, Difficulty & Stealth 1:00:01 - Defining a Winning Run & End-Game Goals 1:20:00 - Rankings & final thoughts 1:38:32 - Similar games & show wind-down Next episode: Hoplite Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Jimmy Greene - Last Summer Outro music: Project Zomboid OST - Maybe We Can Win This

Muscle up your game buddy! This week we dust off the 500 year old robot action FPS Roboquest: something like a “Doom Eternal for kids”, the electrobeats of synthwave send you hungering for more and more of those delicious green health orbs. Infiltrate a gigantic city of bad robots, rescuing good robots along the way, and unlock all sorts of wacky movement gadgets, character classes, and more hidden secrets than you can shake a pogo stick at. Always check behind those waterfalls! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:42 - Game stats 4:04 - One sentence description 07:21 - Opening comic book sequence & story setup 12:08 - Movement mechanics & speed discussion 17:45 - Weapon variety & upgrade systems 24:32 - Biome diversity & level design quality 31:18 - Co-op gameplay & multiplayer features 38:05 - Enemy design & AI behavior patterns 44:52 - Difficulty scaling & progression balance 51:39 - Boss fights & challenge variety 58:26 - Audio design & soundtrack 1:08:30 - Rankings & final thoughts 1:16:57 - Similar games & show wind-down Next episode: Project Zomboid Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Lady Iris B. - Dexter Gordon Outro music: Final Metal Hero - Noisecream

Angels and demons all over the world, join hands and start a Monster Train sequel! One of our highest rated deckbuilder rogues arrives at GROGPOD station once again, featuring some interesting twists on the established formula. As we’ll explore more in this season, we’ll be looking closely at what makes for a good sequel while trying to make as many obnoxious monster moaning sounds at turbo speed as hum- … as monster-ly possible. Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 2:00 - Game stats 5:30 - One sentence description 07:36 - Good sequel mechanics & previous coverage comparison 11:23 - First impressions & visual improvements discussion 17:45 - Clan mechanics & faction system changes 24:31 - Card synergies & build complexity analysis 31:18 - Champions system & upgrade mechanics 38:05 - Boss battles & difficulty scaling discussion 44:52 - Art style evolution & presentation quality 58:35 - Rankings & final thoughts 1:06:03 - Similar games & show wind-down Next episode: Roboquest Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Blue Mitchell Quintet - March on Selma Outro music: Monster Train 2 OST - Stryx & Hallow

Yoom-taah! To kick off season 4 of the podcast, we choose you: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team! Joined again by our expert guest on the sub-genre with Helen, we revisit nostalgia and fresh experiences for a 20+ year old spinoff roguelike…lite…game? Hopefully the listeners don’t also brand us as fugitives, focing us to traverse the Great Canyon of JRPG menu systems to the high peaks of Friendship Mountain, while eating jelly bean-based IQ boosters we find on the dirty ground. Can we overcome Team Meanies’ quest for world domination? Can we find our lost sense of gratitude in the depths of murky caverns? Were we the true meanies after all? Time to take charge of our destiny and find out! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 3:03 - Game stats 5:59 - One sentence description 6:56 - Is PMD a roguelike? 12:20 - Our experiences with Pokemon growing up 23:00 - Gameplay mechanics 36:40 - The personality quiz 44:30 - Saving Caterpie, Thunderwave Cave, Mt Steel 49:00 - Friend areas 52:00 - Team ACT, the dream, Team Meanies, Silent Chasm, Mt Thunder 1:11:15 - The Ninetales legend, Gengar’s muckraking, the hunt begins! 1:16:58 - Mt Blaze, Frosty Forest, Mt Freeze 1:24:00 - Return to town 1:27:50 - Magma Cavern, Sky Tower 1:41:50 - Postgame content 1:55:55 - Rankings & final thoughts 2:07:37 - Similar games & show wind-down Next episode: Monster Train 2 Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Pokemon Theme Saxy Style - The 8-Bit Big Band featuring Grace Kelly and Leo P Outro music: Blue Rescue Team OST - Sky Tower

If the weather outside is frightful, then curl up in front of the fireplace with your favorite roguelike gaming podcast! That’s how the song goes, right? Well in order to find those new favorite permadeath games, Scott travelled back in time to August for the Penny Arcade Expo in downtown Seattle. With only one day’s worth of ticket time this year, we had to cram as much into one recording as possible before familial duties took precedence. Check the timestamps below for interviews with friends of all sorts and their games and studios! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 3:09 - Live on the streets! 6:10 - Jacob from Better Publishing showcasing Don’t Wake the Beast, Void Dungeon, and Order Automatica 11:07 - Holly, Jack, and Quinn showcasing White Knuckle 16:58 - Hasban showcasing Rogue Eclipse 21:28 - Andrea and Bob showcasing Arcane Eats 30:12 - Shiv showcasing Pax Autocratica 35:12 - Special message from the Roguepod Litecast! and a note about Master of Piece 42:04 - Pax Panel Q&A with the folks from Being and Older Content Creator Doesn’t Have to Suck 47:24 - Risk of Rain 2 Tournament, Swap Meat 49:56 - Show wind down Next episode: Season 4 kicks off with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Recue Team! Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Barbara Dennerlein - Let It Snow Outro music: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team OST - Title Theme

Season 3 concludes with some of the heaveist hitter games we’ve ever covered for the podcast! From titans of tradtitional roguelikes like Path of Achra and Caves of Qud, to titans of real-time explosiveness like Noita and Hades, this is sure to be an Omegabowl for the ages. We have a great array of listener letters, co-host bickering, and wacky coin flips to make sure everyone is as equally mad as possible. So fire up those spacetime vortices and pray you don’t run out of footsteps before reaching Room 46 of the end of year recap tournament! Our finalists include: Blue Prince Caves of Qud Deadzone: Rogue Elden Ring Nightreign Hades Halls of Torment Hero’s Hour Noita Path of Achra Rift Wizard Spiritfall The King is Watching There can be only ONE to hoist the Trophy of Yendor! ! The full tournament bracket with spoiled results can be found here Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 0:50 - Intro 3:04 - Tournament plan, categories, and games 10:02 - Wildcard 1: Halls of Torment vs Rift Wizard 20:21 - Wildcard 2: Elden Ring Nightreign vs Hero’s Hour 33:44 - Wildcard 3: Spiritfall vs Deadzone: Rogue 46:14 - Wildcard 4: The King is Watching vs Path of Achra 53:10 - Division 1: Caves of Qud vs ??? 1:02:58 - Division 2: Blue Prince vs ??? 1:13:19 - Division 3: Hades vs ??? 1:15:50 - Division 4: Noita vs ??? 1:21:36 - Semi-finals 1 1:28:58 - Semi-finals 2 1:39:08 - Grand finals 1:59:56 - Show wind down Next episode: Roguelike developer interviews from PAX West 2025! Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: John Williams - Wide Reciever Outro music: Craig Hamilton - Onward (Kitfox recording)

The agony and terror of season 3 of the podcast comes to a close with the Survivor-like, Diablo-lite game Halls of Torment! Hear the demonic horns and twisted drums that lay down the epic background music, feast your eyes on the gorgeous low poly, highly pixelated 90’s inspired spritework! Collect those soul stones, find the artifacts and items from the demonic lord’s hallowed halls and see firsthand the horrors of greed! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:29 - Game stats 3:07 - One sentence description 06:48 - Comparison to Vampire Survivors 10:05 - Difficulty progression & enemy density 15:42 - Character classes & abilities overview 22:18 - Quest system & progression mechanics 29:03 - Item system & build variety 35:47 - Boss fights & challenge mechanics 42:31 - Movement mechanics & gameplay strategy 49:15 - Accessibility & difficulty options debate 55:58 - Art style praise & technical performance 1:02:44 - Endgame content & replayability 1:27:24 - Rankings & final thoughts 1:36:39 - Similar games & show wind-down Next episode: Omegabowl 3 Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Cyrus Chestnut - Precious Lord Outro music: Halls of Torment OST - Chambers of Dissonance

Stay a while and listen! The sanctity of this podcast has been fouled as we turn back the clock to cover the 1997 groundbreaking procedural action RPG: Diablo. From humble origins as an Angband clone, to global standardbearer for game design polish, this titan of the horror genre greets us with a few haunting guitar chords and a cathedral of the damned. Join our descent into terror as we encounter vegetable hating butchers, skeleton kings, multiplayer friends running ahead and leaving us behind, sultry winged demons, poorly-aged game mechanics, and many more devlish delights! Perhaps there you will find answers. Or perhaps, salvation! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 2:35 - Game stats 5:44 - One sentence description 07:17 - Original turn-based design & real-time conversion 10:04 - Berlin interpretation & roguelike elements debate 19:48 - Character classes overview (Warrior, Rogue, Sorcerer) 29:35 - Town mechanics & NPC interactions 39:21 - Dungeon structure & difficulty progression 49:08 - Loot system & item identification mechanics 58:54 - Combat feel & clicking gameplay 1:08:40 - Multiplayer experience 1:18:27 - Soundtrack praise & atmosphere creation 1:28:13 - Hellfire expansion & cut content discussion 1:38:32 - Rankings & final thoughts 1:52:02 - Similar games & show wind-down Next episode: Halls of Torment Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Nat Adderley Jr. - Old Devil Moon Outro music: Diablo OST - Tristram

O Glorious Shekhinah! To conclude our two-part special on Caves of Qud, we turn our focus from the epic storyline to the deep gameplay mechanics and systems from the Salt Dunes of the west to the Deep Jungle in the east. Join us for a water ritual on how to negotiate with camel merchants before we clone them, managing our reputation with fuedal fungal lords, and how to navigate the differences between mutated humans, psychic warriors, and just straight-up cyborgs. Get those schematics ready as we disassemble one of the densest and deepest “traditional” “roguelike” games out there. Part 1 of our Qud Qoverage focusing on the story and soundtrack can be found here You can find the in depth tutorial series we did with BigSimple to learn this massive game here! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 3:44 - Game stats 7:47 - One sentence description 08:09 - Gamma World tabletop RPG comparison 10:08 - Initial bouncing off & polish improvements 14:23 - Tutorial mode & learning curve discussion 19:31 - Character creation & mutation systems 24:48 - Story structure & main quest overview 29:17 - Death mechanics & permadeath options 34:52 - Open world exploration & procedural generation 40:15 - Village generation & faction systems 45:38 - Combat mechanics & weapon variety 51:22 - Skill tree & ability customization 56:47 - Water economy & trade systems 1:02:08 - Equipment & artifact identification 1:07:45 - Mutation system depth & combinations 1:13:31 - Enemy variety & creature encounters 1:19:03 - Interface improvements & accessibility features 1:24:38 - Save system exploits discussion 1:30:15 - Community & modding ecosystem 1:35:52 - Writing quality & atmospheric storytelling 1:41:27 - Endgame content & difficulty scaling 2:07:27 - Rankings & final thoughts 2:25:15 - Similar games & show wind-down Next episode: Diablo Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Caves of Qud OST - Soundscape I Outro music: Caves of Qud OST - Onward Romantique / Live and Drink