Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG

Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG
N/A
Metacritic
84
Steam
73.51
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$7.49
Release date
25 January 2019
Steam reviews score
Total
84 (322 votes)

Rogue Empire is a tactical turn-based RPG with randomly generated content and heavy Rogue-like elements. Choose one of multiple character combinations and advance it with unique abilities! Embark on a quest to heal the 5 kingdoms and understand the mysteries of the First Shadow!

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Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10
  • Processor: 2 GHz
  • Memory: 1 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 800x600 minimum resolution
  • Storage: 1 GB available space

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
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djones
djones

Decent game but too repetititve. Too repetitive. Gameplay repeats a lot. You get the picture. Again.

Congrolios
Congrolios

After reading this was like ToME and ADOM I was pretty excited to try it out. Unfortunately, it's really lacking in QoL features, which I don't find acceptable in a modern roguelike. The game felt extremely tedious. Bad control scheme (although you can rebind), no auto-loot except gold, you have to press P multiple times to pickup multiple items on the same tile, and there's no way to toggle loot names or easily see loot while exploring - you have to hold shift, and it seems to drop once you move (so only while stationary, and only nearby objects). These are just some of the annoyances I experienced in the 20 minutes I played.

It seems like a decent enough game, I just can't recommend it when there are so many great traditional roguelike options out there with better QoL and likely better gameplay. Check out ToME, DCSS, Zorbus and others if you haven't played them.

Tedson
Tedson

My Dwarf Warrior learned a spell, and I don't know how. How can a warrior learn a spell?

Echo-7
Echo-7

You know what: I bought the game because I saw that we could play with a insectoid race. I like insectoid races.

Didn't think I would like this roguelike more than the others roguelikes I already had played, but here I am: still did not die in my first playthrough, about 12 or more hours just in this playthrough and liking the mechanics implemented by the devs of this game. Many quality of life ideas that add fresh air for the genre.

And last, but not least: Really good graphics/sprites!!! I don't know why every other dev think that just because it is a genre based on a 80's game, where the graphics were SUPER simple, that nowadays we can't have traditional roguelikes that are eye candy (traditional roguelikes = basically we move, than every other being in the game also moves) .

Ah! And we can zoom in really close or zoom out really far, which is super cool!!

warking
warking

It's alright of a game.
Has all the roguelite elements one could dream of:
Bosses, story and legendary items.
I personnally love the leveling up system and each class is fairly balanced in terms of
perks and weaknesses.
Not the most original game of all but still a complete game.
*Also as for now quite a lot of achievements are broken but The dev currently plans on working on it

Jean
Jean

This is a simple RPG. Beautiful and easy to enjoy. In practice it fits more closely the roguelike genre but it lacks in interactions, complexity and depth for which those are most known for. This can also be a plus, making it easy to jump into and start hacking down monsters, which isn't always the case for roguelikes.

Lore and attributes are standard for the most part. Humans, elves, dwarves and trolls, etc. Spell slinging, archers, sword-and-board fighting, two-handed or dual wield. Druids that must shapeshift and keep balance between casting and melee. A few original elements are spiced in here and there while the lore is not great, not terrible.

While turn-based (with optional timed turn-based), it's quite smooth and fast, with short animations and sliders to make them even more so. Difficulties, classes, races, spells, abilities, item generation, traps, random maps... it's all there, but always kept simple. The "twist" is that every two levels we get to pick one perk from 4 random "cards", some more rare than others. No two runs are the same and you also collect "points" that can be spent on a skill three which affect all future characters.

There are 3 game modes which allow new players to comfortably jump into the game and expand their involvement over time. Rogue Empire include both tutorial popups and mouseover tips but lack in guides and help menus. There is enough content to keep one busy for dozens if not hundred of hours.

A bit pricey considering it's current lack of polish; at time of review (35 hours) the game locked twice, I saw more than a dozen glaring spelling mistakes and missing words and the UI has many flaws and overlapping popups, images and text that don't go away when they should.

I feel I'll be spending more hours, maybe quite a few more and I give it a solid 7/10.

Knoxx
Knoxx

If you're looking to get involved in Roguelike style games, this is one to get started with. It's not overly complex unless you want to get more in-depth into some of the races and classes. The nice thing is there is a system that allows you to keep unlocking buffs that will make your starting character better or allow for you to get some changes in game. Fun to play, easy to get into, and has some neat systems compared to other dungeon crawler roguelikes out there.

Just Joe King
Just Joe King

My new favorite single player RPG. Still needs some tweaks and bugfixes balancing, but has a lot of potential, is a lot of fun and is constantly being updated by dedicated developers.

SilentButDeadly
SilentButDeadly

Captures the spirit of roguelikes. I especially like how the gameplay changes as you progress, and how talents and certain items can make a big change in playstyle.

KurzedMetal
KurzedMetal

You can consider this a "mixed" review, but in the current state I wouldn't recommend it over other classics in the genre.

The UI needs to be cleaner, sometimes it feels overall unpolished or ugly.

The controls are a mix of mouse and keyboard, and probably as many RL players, I'd love to have the option of keyboard only, one thing that bothered me the most about this was the fact that targeteable skills always default to mouse cursor even if you selected "hide cursor" on settings and even if there's only one valid target on the screen (example: 1 enemy). I'd like to see an option to default to closest enemy so I don't need to aim every time target.

Another annoying thing about the controls is that the "G" (aka "Go" command) lets you do multiturn movement, but it doesn't seem to stop when an enemy comes to line of sight. Also, it has no autoexplore, making this a tile by tile movement system (sorry, but I cannot accept modern RL without proper line or auto movement)

Character progression feels too damn random, I can't plan or know what skills I'll get, seems too much luck based for my taste.

Overall, not a bad game, not a good one either, with more work this could be a decent/good RL, but as of now, I think ToME4 is like version 10.0 of this game.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Awesome game, old school style and lots of fun.

Nathaniel Prime
Nathaniel Prime

Ehh. To many fidgety things going on and too little adventuring. Also, the shopkeeper's voice will make you frown every single time.

Press A to grab your destiny
Press A to gra…

Game is very much like Rogue, if you're looking for a Rogue like, and not a Rogue-lite this is a solid pick. Classes feel distinct and have various levels of challenge, and the typical and atypical fantasy races are present for even more variety. Game is good.

Lepuroid
Lepuroid

I was looking at this game from its release with the thought of it worth buying, or not. It does not have major discounts (I have nothing against this policy), but on last "mini-sale" I decided to pick it finally. The worst thing in this that I was so wrong about it and missed so much time to play and enjoy. From the start I felt like home in this game - very intuitive and clear interface, nice sprites, easy controls, useful help messages and the main thing, delving into gameplay is just great. Yes, it has some simplifications like absence of identifying things, cursed items (afaik), a little variety of classes and races and so on, but it isn't really hinders the flow of game - the spirit of classic roguelikes is present.

One
One

worth the money and a good modern continuation of the rougelike genre

Baronlyon
Baronlyon

Very fun game, well worth the money.

obve
obve

Really fun and interesting game
a very good rogue like\lite highly recommended

cheap and can give you days of entertainment, but be patience in the start it will be wierd and confusing if you are new to the genre

Sixgun
Sixgun

I decided to edit my review because of how wonderful the creator of this game is. The continued development of this game makes it a real gem among roguelikes. If you enjoy roguelikes or have a hankering for an old fashioned RPG, I highly suggest picking this one up.

I find I keep going back to it time and time again.

Good classes, tons of content, good play to play progression, interesting things to do every run.

Sure its difficult, but if it wasn't it wouldn't be so satisfying.

Pseudo
Pseudo

As far as roguelikes go, it's okay enough but doesn't seem to be offering anything really new or interesting, and the overall interface is clunky to navigate and work with, so I just couldn't stick it out.

Dangerfield
Dangerfield

I can't put this game down! I've really enjoyed the progression and difficulty so far and I've only tried two of the classes with a single play through each! The amount of replayability by chosing different skills while leveling up, and different classes makes me very excited about how much entertainment I'll get out of this game.

Chaucer
Chaucer

I have to say, don't play this game. There are many reasons why.

#1: You will lose sleep. And sex.
I was literally awake until 3:00 AM last night playing this game after playing it for almost twelve hours straight. When I finally came to the realization that it was late, I finally checked the clock. Whoops. It turns out I missed my opportunity of having sex with my wife too.

#2: You will become malnourished.
When I finally stood up to go to bed, I realized I hadn't eating all afternoon and evening. I was so busy discovering new rooms, unlocking chests, and leveling up after trashing monsters that my stomach forgot to remind me to eat. I stood up and got light-headed. I had a piece of chocolate cake. It was delicious. Almost as delicious as this sword I got from combining three runes together. Now my enemies yield before my greatness.

#3: You will get chastised.
My wife scolded me this morning when I woke up at 9:00 AM. I was about to log in and start playing again because I still have more things to discover, but my wife reminded me that I need to do other things like shower and do work and things like that. You know, do responsible things. Like adults are supposed to do. My wife is taking a nap right now, so I'm using this time to warn all of you. This game is addicting AF. It's a simple roguelike executed flawlessly, especially if you have an OCD collector complex. I'm telling you right now if you give this game a chance, your wife will be super pissed.

I can't name all of the reasons. I need to use this opportunity to dive deeper into the dungeons and level up my character while my wife is sleeping. I'm not sure how much time I have left. But I hope to God I can find a better shield than the one I got now. I mean it's ok. But there must be some epic shield I can create from runes.

You've been warned guys. 12/10 addicted. Absolutely worth the cash, and I got it even cheaper during the Steam Sale. I hope I don't lose my job. Or my marriage.

TH3d3P4R+Ed
TH3d3P4R+Ed

Not as polished as ToME, yet, but a spectacular game! A close relative of the best roguelikes out there. And the dev is a super nice guy.

zion6
zion6

Too many little bugs with UI -potions don't stack when you pick them up, you have to drag things to bars half the time. Some things have a hotkey that works and other times it does something different when double clicking. Cumbersome menus, no sort by weight even though you need to sell stuff that is heavy-you have to read the weight one by one. Things like this simply add up to work to play. Game is fun enough, but honestly there are others that are so similar but at least have the UI and QOL things working as a given. Also these bugs are easily fixed but developer is responsive in answers in discussion p[ages but not in doing anything about updating.
Last Patch was like 13 months ago, seriously there are many single and small developers that are quick to fix their games. It is very inexpensive so that isn't thew problem. If and when bugs and clumsiness is ironed out I will play again maybe.

woolllybully_EMU
woolllybully_EMU

THEY FUCKED THE SAVE FUNCTION UP

Flying Noodle
Flying Noodle

My incoherent musings on Rogue Empire:
- Great roguelike game, similar in spirit to ADOM but with a more advanced interface.
- Occasionally buggy, but nothing gamebreaking for me so far, and bugs resolve when the game is restarted.
- Normal difficulty feels just right for me, but I've played a number of roguelikes before, so it may be difficult for a newcomer. Luckily, multiple difficulty levels (and an introductory campaign) are available.
- Nice "quality-of-life" elements (e.g. not losing arrows when using them to destroy obstacles - this way, an archer character doesn't have to constantly switch between ranged and melee weapons)
- Leveling up offers randomized, different rewards every time, so even the same class/race combo may feel different after a few levels, depending on which abilities you pick up.

Hellbishop
Hellbishop

ROGUE EMPRIE a very balanced fun and addictive gaming experience. The tabletop style is intensely strong in this game with that certain magic immersion where everything just seems to come to life as the mind fills in the missing pieces. They are still adding regular updates with some pretty huge ones lately.

Sound effects are also great with some diabolical sounding ones like something out of a carnival haunted house and others which are startling such as big panther looking cats.

There are three play modes. One to get your feet wet and learn the ropes which is mainly exploring and combat along with the main campaign mode and a skirmish mode.

Music is fantastic full of soothing retro fantasy flavor mixed with heavy metal 1970's excellence along with gothic horror melodies all coming together into a fine audio alchemy mixture of action packed and relaxing invigorating tones as one travels the lands visiting towns and road side inns while scoping out the evils of the land such as dark dangerous dungeons.

Graphics are colorful flowing with tabletop liveliness and rich with detail where you can zoom in or out of the map. Atmosphere is a nice mix of living environments in nature and grim death drenched villain/monster filled dungeons.

You will level up with much fanfare as some bombastic inspiring music plays where your character will level up in many areas automatically while giving you a skill point to upgrade a certain skill. On every other or so level up you will get a choice of three cards each with certain advantages which will aid you in battle or give you a buff.

There are tons of stats,equipment and loot to spend hours messing with along with things like keeping your character fed or else face the consequences of starvation. Unlike in many other games where hunger is overdone here it feels just right and you can stock up on food supplies as well find food in your travels and in dungeons. Also food can rot if it sits in your inventory too long where you either can toss it or take a chance on getting food poisoning if you are hungry enough.

ROGUE EMPIRES, BUY IT! PLAY IT! Be the EPIC ADVENTURER! you know you truly are which is only hinted at in that overrated OTHER THING! called real life.

marwatso
marwatso

Ok not to be rude but i HATE this game i'm not saying not to buy it but i don't like this game at all it just wasnt my style

McVador
McVador

Great game and a true roguelike! Not a rogue-lite but a roguelike. It manages to be difficult fun and rewarding without the mountainous learning curve of its forebearers. Love it!

zormzorm
zormzorm

3.5/5 RPG, semi-random dungeon generation with a story. Lots of fighting. Rogue-like and just the single save position.

I liked the game but do not like the 'rogue-like' losing position after long time play. There is a story, I'd like to follow it, but it's simply impossible for me to stomach losing 20 hours of play. I am sure i could hack the save games, but I grew annoyed by the mechanics.

I'm going to give it a positive rating, but this is only something you want if you want a constant-death rogue like simple graphics game with a lot more depth than is practical to find without outlandish amounts of time.

steelthrone
steelthrone

Rogue empire is a solid rogue like. If you were ever curious about this complex yet fascinating genre. Rogue empire is a solid entry point. The best rogue like's are turn based. Having time to think about your turns is key. There are plenty of cool items, and a run feels good. I think the artwork is nice. I especially enjoy the cat Bandits.

Dustman82
Dustman82

This has got to be one of if not the best rogue games of all time I would highly recommend.

Xython
Xython

I love roguelikes from ... ever. This is one. It is good. That is all, time to play. One. More. Turn.

hypersot
hypersot

I'll be honest.. I don't enjoy the game. I have made multiple attempts to play, the game has many things I like, but in the end of the day I always give up and the reason is: I hate time pressure in games.

Unfortunately for me, besides the hunger -which is already something I dislike in games- there is also a 'darkness' that sweeps through the game's world which puts pressure on the player to play a specific way and doesn't make it easy for free wandering around exploring, finding rare items, etc.

However,
the reason for the thumbs up is that the game does what it does well.. no matter if I'm not a fan of that.
So, recommended to anyone that hasn't got a problem with time pressure in games.

ryuukeen
ryuukeen

Among the best dungeons crawler games I have played. I wish there were similar games out there..

Domp
Domp

Insanely fun roguelike with a very responsive dev.

blackdragon
blackdragon

I die all the time! But it's fine. Everything is fine...

Neo
Neo

Awesome game and extremely addicting, fits all the rogue-like enemies and DnD elements that I like and the variety between the classes and races with the different game mods helps alot for its replay ability. Admins are extremely helpful and quick to address bugs therefore I'm looking forward to playing this game for some time to come.

kobalpeter123
kobalpeter123

I recommend this game becouse is great gameplay and interesting story campaign. I finish story/campaign.
Thats all. oh... I forgot to say: IS GOOD GAME!

Mr. Delightful
Mr. Delightful

I like Rogue Empire.
I have an in-progress Lets Play here: https://youtu.be/S6060krRpWU

Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG is a descriptively named Indie, Traditional Rogue-Like RPG by Portal Entertainment.
It Is Good. Enjoy Procedural Generation and Optional PermaDeath!
Thats Right, I said Optional: You can turn the Perma Death off if it's not your thing. It's my thing.

Rogue Empire is a traditional Rogue-Like that combines the best of ADoM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery), with a bit of TOME (Tales of Maj'Eyal), to create an experience that is greater than the sum of its parts.

It's more polished then ADoM, with big, larger buttons for the inventory, and skills; everything is just presented CLEANER. ADoM is still based off ASCII, though with an excellent build-in tileset, but the old inventory test list display can seem less then welcoming. Rogue Empire also has EXCELLENT music!

And graphically, the world just seems more Alive.
Monsters will pulse with Power, damage numbers or Crits will flash on screen, elemental effects will vividly display, like being lit on Fire, or Frozen to the ground; all this helps bring a sense of action and motion to a turn-based game.

Unlike TOME, Rogue Empire pushes you forward by your character's need to eat, the need to collect and use consumables like potions, scrolls, and wands, and to ultimately prevent the world from literally fading into evil (purple miasma cloud of doom).
I've also found TOME just LESS of a rogue-like then either ADoM or Rogue Empire; the removal of so many of the old standbys of the genre (hunger, consumables, cursed items), and the replacement of it with a cooldown driven ability and dps rotation, changes ALOT of things.
Not that I mind; if they were all the same, what would be the point of playing more than one?

In short, Rogue Empire has the lethality of AdoM, with the abilities and cooldowns of TOME.
Rogue Empire presents a nice balance between the hard-core crunch of AdoM, and the streamlined nature of TOME; I like them both, but I find when I'm hankering for a Rogue-like, I reach for Rogue Empire . :)

Really cool Art too! 👍

Janus
Janus

Pure Roguelike fun, very cool developer. Not much to say here, if you like Roguelikes this is a quality one.

Lord Gek
Lord Gek

A very solid roguelike. I think my favorite bit is how it handles level ups a lot like a typical deckbuilding roguelike.

sharang2
sharang2

At its heart, a classic turn-based *true* roguelike (not roguelite) that hits all the bases and has some nice edges on similar games due to its neat presentation.

CropCircle
CropCircle

This is a great implementation of a pure roguelike (which to me is: perma death, no meta progression, procedural generation). The leveling up the characters is the exciting part for me as the player is presented a simple choice of randomly drawn skills to augment their character. The skills obtained this way, not only alter the player's upcoming turn based tactical battles, but also can potentially unlock further skills.

The variability of what skills the player is presented, not only greatly increases the replay value of the title, but also, in combination with a simple class/race system, makes for a magnitude of interesting decisions during the current play through.

It's obvious to me that this developer has spent many many hours playing classic roguelikes. Everything is here and it's presented in a very simple intuitive package!

It should also be noted that I haven't completed the campaign (and haven't faced all the mobs yet)

My only request is that the character's sex can be randomly selected as can their class and race ;)

BigMalone
BigMalone

While this game might be more fun or suited for someone newer to roguelikes, in it's current state it doesn't really have the lasting appeal that could be found in a game like TOME, Nethack, Dungeon Crawler Stone Soup, or ADOM. There isn't enough interesting locations or unique mechanics that really set it apart from some of the heavier hitters that are more fleshed out.

A very rough example of the game in at it's sloggiest is playing a Troll Fighter with sword and shield that won't die easily and has trouble hitting stuff, where as mages have a lot of utility spells that are great and many damage spells that generally boil down to direct damage or AoE versions of specific damage types.

The game does offer some persistent award, such as stat increases or certain abilities, through essences earned when characters die, which can be toggled on or off, but one of the more random mechanics people will love or hate is 3-4 (if the 4th slot is unlocked) random abilities every so many levels. Sometimes you'll get a follow up to an ability you need, other times it'll never show up again and you have a gimped version of it and might be stuck with other abilities that are more there for padding or very very specific utility. While this is pretty much the defining unique mechanic of the game, it can lead to frustration or rare/exciting cards can come too late or just at wrong timing.

Overall I look forward to see if the DLCs add any more interesting life into it, but I always feel I should be playing some of the other heavy hitters in my library as I put time into this one.

chewfeather
chewfeather

Rogue Empire is a traditional roguelike (grid-based turn-based permadeath equipment-and-stats-focused dungeon-crawler) with modern touches (e.g. small upgrades available through 'meta-game' progression).

If you have bought many roguelikes on Steam, you have probably played a tremendous number of bad roguelikes, a fair number of decent-to-good roguelikes, and perhaps a couple of exceptional roguelikes. On the scale of bad-through-exceptional, Rogue Empire is a solidly good roguelike: not one of the all-time-greats, but possessing many positive qualities which bad roguelikes lack. Here are some of those qualities.

- Novel mechanics: Rogue Empire has implemented numerous enemies, items, character-classes, learnable abilities, and world-mechanics which are not drawn from existing games or systems (to the best of my knowledge). This means that even if you have played a dozen roguelikes before, this one gives you new systems to learn and solve, and to feel accomplishment in devising a good strategy out of the unfamiliar pieces.

- Reasonable challenge curve: While an experienced roguelike player will clear the normal campaign within their first few attempts (and the game is perhaps a little too generous with 'panic-button' fail-safes), progressing through level-appropriate content demands a reasonable level of tactical care, with a few different approaches required for different sorts of threats.

- Some replayability: Different character-classes have sufficiently different gameplay that a completely different overall build and strategy is required. For example, an Assassin playthrough's combat strategy may center around the stealth mechanic and contingencies for when it is unhelpful; but a Druid playthrough feels completely different, with its built-in restrictions forcing the player to devise effective synergies from the powerful but mutually-exclusive Druid forms' abilities.

- Well-exposed depth of gameplay: Rogue Empire makes an effort to make it clear what is going on. Most game elements (everything from usable abilities to derived character-stats and ongoing status effects) provide hoverable tooltips which not only describe the effect, but also expose relevant numbers underlying it. Sometimes these tooltips fall short (e.g. the severity of diminishing returns for various stats upon one's actual combat parameters can be surprising and unintuitive), but they largely do a good job of exposing what is meant to be exposed, so the player can focus on solving the system rather than struggling to meaningfully observe it.

With that said, Rogue Empire is clearly a small-developer/'indie' project, and that fact shows itself through many rough edges. Pacing is sometimes slow, and dungeons can feel tediously large; the graphical UI is occasionally clumsy, requiring awkward zooming or even resizing of the application window to get one's whole field of vision onscreen in especially narrow dungeon levels; and occasional graphical or engine bugs will be encountered. But the developer has been responsive to serious issues, and none of these issues felt intolerable.

In summation, Rogue Empire provides a fairly-accessible and well-rounded experience with content and mechanics that are sufficiently different from other roguelikes to give players interesting new challenges to solve. For me personally, that's what I look for in an indie take on the traditional roguelike genre.

Kmordain
Kmordain

A wonderful introduction to the Roguelikes genre, and more forgiving than other titles. As a fan of roguelike games, I also enjoy the challenging endless mode.

Lilarcor
Lilarcor

I have played SO MANY hours of this game. It's so relaxing as I die over and over and over and over...

OldCannonFodder
OldCannonFodder

If you are a fan of turn based RPG games you will most certainly enjoy this game. I can and will be frustrating when you forget about the situation / area that you are and your character gets eliminated but that is the way that these games are made. I have only one recommendation to make and that is to have a LOT of potions, especially for the end game.
FYI I have been playing computer RPG games since the release of "Eye of the Beholder" by SSI way back in 1981 and I find that this game keeps with the tradition of these games. Enjoy!

Leistungsumfang
Leistungsumfang

It was fun a while ago. Looks like it got quite substantial updates. Gonna try again

JackSlater
JackSlater

It's good. I like it and I think the money is well spent!

counterstrikeuk
counterstrikeuk

I'm new to Roguelikes and have tried a few at the same time (i know, i know) but this seems to strike the balance of a hardcore RL and a more accessible RL. I hope the developer supports this game going forward... highly recommended!

craigrcecil
craigrcecil

One of the best true rogue-likes on Steam with some of the best graphics you'll find in this genre. Lots of different types of loot.

Ricasso
Ricasso

Tile based dungeon crawl with nice art style and fun mechanics. Only on my first character, but having a blast exploring. Highly recommend.

chillywillypyro
chillywillypyro

love this game its been a blast. turn based strat

Bozeman
Bozeman

It's very rough around the edges; could use more polish.

Underprivileged White Male
Underprivilege…

A great little Rogue-lite for the price. If you've enjoyed games like ADOM or TOME in the past then this will be straight up in your alley. As a bonus the developer is very interactive with the community. If something needs fixing, rebalancing, or could be improved upon there is a good chance you could see your input contribute to the game.

PROS:
-Familiar Rogue-lite gameplay with a good bit of Rogue-like charm.
-Easy to manage point and click control scheme.
-Just enough RNG to feel different, but not so much as to RNG kill you constantly.
-Visually one of the better looking traditional style fantasy Rogue-lites.

CONS:
-Needs more ways to interact with the environment.
-Needs more character customization options. (In both appearance and mechanics.)
-Needs better random gen on door placement/locked doors. (It's a bit random at times.)

All in at it's a solid purchase. If you like the genre at all I'd pick it up for sure even if it's going to be nothing more than a rainy day game.

Ostrava of Boletaria
Ostrava of Boletaria

Solid roguelike - when I think of this game I think of roguelikes like dungeonmans, dungeons of dredmor and tangledeep for games with the trappings of a traditional roguelike but have modern design sensibilities and are new player friendly.

This game plays like a traditional roguelike with meta progression in the form of soul essence, which is a currency where you can unlock perks which also unlocks the ability to purchase other, more powerful perks as both a way to make subsequent runs easier in the early game and to give you a carrot on a stick to chase. Most of them are basically perks you can get from ADOM but I like how they're implemented because they aren't something you have to rely upon, and if you want to farm soul essence you can turn perks on which will give you bonus soul essence during runs, up to 20% more. You also get way more soul essence on hard than you do on normal so you have a good incentive to try out hard mode if you're up to it.

The game ethos is very generic fantasy which I personally like, but wanted to point this out because that may bother some people.

Leveling up is pretty unique but sort of a mixed bag for me. You have a standard level up screen with a couple options for bonus stats, which have a chance to give more stats than normal (I believe this chance is affected by your fate stat, though in the grand scheme of things it's fairly minor). You also have a selection of 4 perks to choose from per level (or 3, until you unlock the 4th slot for all future runs from soul essence perks). These perks are a MAJOR source of your power through any given run and are really important. The randomized nature on one hand makes subsequent runs more interesting as you can't just play a cookie cutter build every time and sometimes have to run with suboptimal perks, but on the other hand there are perks that can feel vital to a class or greatly expand how many options you have (I think a good example of this is quick spell on wizard - the next spell cast has no action cost, costs half mana but removes spell power influence from the spell - which makes so much stuff possible like perma kiting mobs with 0 cast time offensive spells, freeze-shatter single target combo only takes 1 turn instead of 2, you can summon a bunch of monsters instantly then teleport away safely, etc). In some cases it feels like you really need certain perks on certain classes which is where this system can feel kinda bad.

That besides, there are a lot of small issues with this game whether its bugs or perhaps developer oversight - it's a bit rough around the edges, in case you are turned off by a lack of polish. Still enjoy this game quite a bit and glad I gave it a chance.

Oh and by the way, if you got through my review and decided to get the game, when you beat the boss at the tower of the sages break the walls on the lower right corner of the boss room. Thank me later :P

Space Hamster Family
Space Hamster Family

Slave to the Grind

to grind or not to grind...
that is the question…
howbeit, the music is divine......
take plenty of potions and food .....
no matter what: you will die......
all that work for nothing....
only to return once again...
the slave to the grind....

TheRealPapaBliss
TheRealPapaBliss

Took a minute to get into the game, i lose interest in things quickly due to being so ADHD, so it can sometimes be difficult to get into a game if i don't get interest fairly quickly.

I enjoy the permadeath aspect of games due to the risk/reward and related sensations you get from it.

when i lose a character, it's usually in a situation where i get a little greedy, or make a miscalculation, and creates legitimate nervousness that you might lose the character/progress, but makes it that much more enjoyable when you succeed.

tons of different ways to build your characters, and a good bit of skill variation. Also scratches the itch of getting excited from random drops if that's your thing too.

All in all, have really enjoyed the game, and i'm sure i will waste a lot more time moving forward too lol.

delendum
delendum

It took me a while to get into this, but now I'm hooked. The game has similar elements to ToME so I originally tried to play it in the same way - that was a mistake. Rogue Empire demands a lot more attention at every corner, you almost never have a use for auto explore and little things (e.g. I found a new shield) can save you.

I'm currently playing what feels like a horribly under-powered warrior that just refuses to die. First RPG where I've actually made use of random spell scrolls to try and survive.

The recently released DLC is also awesome and adds great new character classes. Overall this game is a must have for roguelike turn-based RPG fans.

james_ghiorzi
james_ghiorzi

basically a comic/cartoon copy of Tales of Maj'Eyal. Good in short spurts. Get it on discount if you like Maj'eyal or games of this nature.

Dark_Wolf
Dark_Wolf

A polished game. I'd recommend for anyone new to roguelikes, this could be a good intro for you. But for veterans of roguelikes, this is just too basic and watered down. Not enough complexity or variety to keep my interest. It just made me want to go play TOME instead, so that's what I'm going to go do. :)

voodoov
voodoov

one would think that 2 years is enough to fix run breaking bugs... this is not the case.

graven29
graven29

Fun and challenging. I'm really enjoying it so far.

kdmcser
kdmcser

1. We need Chinese!
2. UI is too small in 4k resolution when right click on character or monsters.

Hedwyn
Hedwyn

The random level concept was interesting, but the ratio of passives to actives was too low. The game is okay, but other games in the genre are much better.

Gnarkzsch
Gnarkzsch

Not easy, but with a lot of replay ability between the races and classes. The quest system could use some update love though.

beats
beats

That one review at the top made me buy it. Good traditional roguelike RPG, try it out!

Haldurson
Haldurson

I've been enjoying Rogue Empire and while it isn't perfect, and while we all have different tastes, I it is definitely a game that I can recommend to those looking for a rogue-like experience with a clear conscience.

First, I'm an old-timer who was playing rogue-likes back when the only Rogue-like around was Rogue itself. And this game does follow most, though not all, of the old traditional rogue-like conventions, plus it has a few more modern features. Like Rogue, you need to explore randomized hidden maps. Unlike rogue, there is no 'potion roulette' per se. All items are identified immediately. The game does have a recommended starter-dungeon, which serves as a rather hefty tutorial (since the starter dungeon is literally 20 floors deep, with a single quest that will likely take you a long time to complete). But there is also a campaign that contains multiple dungeons and quests, as well as a 'challenge dungeon' for those requiring a tougher experience.

Regardless, there are 3 difficulty levels, plus other options that can make for an easier or more difficult experience. Permadeath is the best way to play any rogue-like (that's how they are designed). But you can play with respawning after death if you are a newcomer to the genre.

The starter dungeon starts you as a human fighter. But later you can choose from a number of races and character classes. I've only played Fighter, Mage, and Hunter. I'm currently having a good old time playing the campaign with a level 9 hunter. The standard difficulty seems to be good for most players just starting out. But if you are very experienced, you may find that it gets TOO easy as you really get going and putting on the levels. Also, playing a mage seems to be much more difficult. Then again, I only have 10 hours of play under my belt, and my one and only mage died real quick, so take that as an uneducated thought.

One thing I really like about the game are the variety of items and artifacts. There are artifacts that improve as you level up. Items can widely vary in power. There's a lot of skills to learn, and which are available to learn will vary widely based on the RNG -- essentially, when you level up, you get to pick one (or more) special abilities, and you never know which will be available to you.

The only negative I have is that I did experience one game crash. I did try to continue after the crash, and fortunately the game had saved automatically the last time I changed dungeon level. I lost a little bit of progress, but it was little enough that I didn't feel that terrible about it. One of the highlights for me was the rare occasions that I found artifacts. I found one during the tutorial, and one (so far) during the campaign. The first one was kind of what you might expect. But the second one (which I won't spoil) gave me this awesome and totally unexpected ability. It's surprises like that which can suck you into a rogue-like game.

In short, this is a medium-difficulty, medium complexity game with an easy enough learning curve (at least for someone with rogue-like experience). It may not be for everyone. Read other reviews to get other perspectives. But I am definitely enjoying it.

LuckyShoT
LuckyShoT

4* out of 5! Very fun rogue like! What could make it 5*??? Please enhance the sounds in game...they are terrible!

JackBlank
JackBlank

Moraff's Dungeons of the Unforgiven was my favorite game ages ago... and this hits that spot in such a perfect way. The BEST roguelike I've ever found, and if you loved it's ancestor, you'll be hooked immediately.

Nahilas
Nahilas

Solid but accessible roguelike. A bit eurojanky in narrative, dialogue and skill descriptions, but it's all part of the fun.

SyntaxErrorFlo
SyntaxErrorFlo

Very solid roguelike, a bit slow to start but really fun once it gets going.

Edit : to be a little more specific, this games feels like a mix between Tales of Maj'Eyal and ADOM. You got your overland map dotted with dungeons you can dive in. You have a hunger clock (easy to manage) and a "corruption clock" ala ADOM. Everything is solid like you would expect in a roguelike, with many user friendly options.

It is very streamlined (no need to ID scrolls for exemple).

The story is just okay but it's not the selling point of these kind of games.

The character building system is very fun. You get to pick one ability (active or passive) out of 3, with some stat increase as well. It made me impatient to level up to see if I could get the build I had in mind together, while encouraging me to adapt with the cards I'm dealt with.

One thing that I've noticed that could be improved is that leveling starts off very fast but slows down a lot after level 10 or so.

All in all it's a very solid roguelike that I recommend to fans of the genre, and it works well as a first roguelike for beginners.

((As a final note, my save file got corrupted and I got in touch with the game dev who fixed the issue in a very swift and friendly manner. So if you feel like supporting a passion project from an indie dev you can't go wrong with this game)).

GameDragonZero
GameDragonZero

SUMMARY: A fun roguelike with plenty of classic elements - mixed with some innovative ideas - that is "easy to pick up hard to master." Plenty of gear, combos, classes, and strategies, and unique random skill mechanics to make each game new. At the same time, it streamlines more onerous elements. A good choice if you want a "classic-like" roguelike with some twists.

Rogue Empire is very much in the vein of what we've seen before in a good way - sally forth into a procedural setting and kick evil's backside. There's classes, races, plenty of equipment, and more. Where Rogue Empire stands out is a mix of streamlining and interesting randomized character development.

The streamlining comes from discarding a few common roguelike elements. Gone are endlessly identifying potions and equipment. There's a helpful merchant magician that can reduce long hauls back to towns. Leveling and progression seem to happen at a good pace. There's a certain purity to Rogue Empire that removes the annoying and keeps the challenging.

The streamlining continues to the dungeons, which are simply randomized spaces with a bunch of stuff and enemies. This is uncomplicated, but at times dull. The challenge though is in three things: enemies, equipment, and characters

The randomized character development is a core to the game, and an interesting one. Whenever a character levels you get pre-made stats bonuses, then pick one of four random boosts, then one from 3-4 random class-related skills. No skill trees, or "gain X at y level," but surprises. This makes leveling its own game as you optimize your "draws" along with equipment and gameplay choices. You may find yourself going down unexpected paths.

Classes also have differences in abilities and cards. Every character has their own focus, rythm, and unique abilities. Each one is also interesting to play, leading to more replayability.

Equipment comes in a large variety of things, requiring you to juggle traits, weight, enchantments, speed, and more. On top of that you have scrolls, spells, and potions. If you like to figure loadouts, you'll love it - and it makes a great challenge.

Enemies start simple, then you meet more advanced versions with more abilities. Soon, you're in chaotic fights and enemies fight each other. Imagine setting yourself on fire, but then setting your enemies on fire while you fling lightning bolts.

In gameplay, it's a very strategic, turn-based, tactical game. Skills, spells, and equipment require careful choices. Your character will almost always take damage. Effects can stack and interact. It's not a game for hasty decisions - just as the game moves briskly and rewards thoughtfulness, moving fast or thoughtlessly will kill your character. It also moves fast so you can get far in a short time.

If you want different challenges, there are three game modes - an intro, a campaign, and a get-as-far-as-you-can run.

Finally, games have long-term payoff. You earn "Soul Essence" in runs that can buy boosts that last throughout later games. This means even failed runs help you the next time - and you can turn off those bonuses to go a bit hardcore!

The game's look is nice, a little unpolished, but with a delightful and colorful look in an unapologetically trope-filled fantasy world. The music is excellent. The entire package is a fun, charming experience.

There are a few flaws to be aware of:
* There are some unpolished elements of the interface, and it's not always clear how the controls work. Not unusual in Roguelikes, but not quite up to snuff fo rmodern games.
* The random dungeons have occasional glitches or oddly generated rooms.
* The dungeons are overall quite samey.
* The overworld map is lackluster.

In the end, a good, solid Roguelike game that's fast to get into, streamlined in the right areas, and honestly interesting to experience. It's a good call if you want a "classic fantasy rogeulike yet not" - familiar enough with some differences that improve the experience.

Who's it for:
* If you want a "classic fantasy roguelike" this will fill that need and its unique elements will be a breath of fresh air.
* If you're like "classic fantasy roguelikes" but they're all too samey, this has that balance of new and old you'll enjoy.
* It's a great gift for ANYONE who likes Roguelikes.

boho
boho

Rogue Empire is a good-not-great traditional roguelike which would be a good starting point in the traditional roguelike genre. So if you're new to actual roguelikes, this would make a great starting point as it removes or abstracts out a lot of the byzantine aspects of older titles.

For veterans, Rogue Empire's unique wrinkle is the addition of a very simple deckbuilder style levelup process. When you level up, the game gives you base stats based on your class, then allows you to pick one of four random "Contemplations," which are usually small one-off boons. For instance, you may have the choice to pick +1 Constitution, +1 Strength, an amount of gold that would be considered "good" for your level, or special super-light, super-filling rations. It's entirely random - sometimes you might have four stat choices, sometimes you might have four item choices.

After choosing your "Contemplation," you proceed to selecting your ability, which is that gif in the description. This is a choice of 3 (expandable to 4 with some kind of persistent upgrade) different abilities randomly pulled from a pool that depends on your class. These can be passive or active in nature. You choose one and get it - simple enough.

But that's as far as the system goes. Conspicuously missing are other deckbuilder mechanics like removing or rerolling abilities you don't like via some expenditure of resources. Plus these abilities only really dictate your passives and special cooldowns - Warriors and Assassins will still be bump-attacking things to death, Hunters will be shooting things, Mages and Druids will learn spells through books, and so on. Since some abilities nevertheless have prerequisites, and since abilities are cordoned off by class, it's basically just blind talent trees. Another missed opportunity? Classes that get access to multiple pools, or even a class that gets access potentially ANY skill. That seems like such an obvious thing and yet it just doesn't exist in the game.

So for the veteran grognard, there's not a lot here except some rather vanilla fun. And it is fun! It's a solidly implemented, well-coded, very straightforward roguelike. Just don't expect anything that advances the genre like ToME or Caves of Qud, or anything that approaches the complexity of Nethack, ADOM, Angband, or DCSS.

Body of Crust
Body of Crust

The druid class is very interesting and entertaining. All the classes are fun, but that's my favorite so far.

Benkei Kuruma
Benkei Kuruma

One of the best roguelikes on Steam. So much flavor and personality. So many nice little touches. Classes and races feel distinct without limiting creative builds. Tons of content, loot, mechanics, and just enough randomness thrown in for replayability. Addictive and accessible for newcomers and experienced players alike.

Sinzim
Sinzim

an extremely strong traditional roguelike with amazing amounts of love, dedication and quality to it. where the new ADOM failed to be, this game succeeded and more. you can absolutely tell the developer cares about what they're doing and this game seems to recieve many updates that add real impactful things. The artwork is also lovely and very pleasing to look at. I am not usually an art person but I cant help but really love some of the player sprites, basically all the enemies ive seen and the card arts are really eye catching too. good music as well, fun varied classes that all feel different to play which again is something games like ADOM failed to do.

This game and ToMe are my favourite roguelikes. I find myself getting sucked into this game for hours at a time completely losing track of the outside world. its rare I find a game like that, I always find myself sitting playing a game but only half paying attention and listening to a video. but this is one of those few games where the sound is always on, and the video in the background always gets paused so that I may fully concentrate on and listen to this game. im not very good at it and I die early at the moment, I only just got the "get to level 5!" achievement today but im learning and its a rewarding experience

EPGAH
EPGAH

This is a very good Roguelike, where between getting killed (Or WINNING the first scenario, more on that later.) you get Soul Points, which you can invest into stat bonuses for next time. None of the bonuses are game-breaking, sadly, but they do make each one just a little bit easier.
There are a variety of races, some seem to be tailor-made for a given Class, others are good if you want a challenge. Troll Mage, for instance? I still haven't figured out how to unlock the Insectoids.
Graphics are entirely zoomable, and you can mostly move the map around with your mouse--if you can make it figure out you're not trying to move your character there! It mostly plays like Stone Soup, which is pretty much THE Freeware Roguelike. The difference is, the sprites here are (Or at least CAN BE) much bigger and more detailed, and the satiety/hunger system is more fleshed out. Unfortunately, NONE of the races shut off the hunger system entirely. BUT if you keep your char fed, but not overfed, your health gradually gets better, indicated by 1-3 plusses in your green heart, which give you bonuses depending on your Class!
There are 3 scenarios. The first one is a kind of "introduction", locking you into a hapless Human Warrior, but it is simpler, in that there are only a finite number of floors, and no overworld.
The second is a massive sprawling adventure through a HUGE overworld, and some dungeons are linked to towns--as in they exit into the towns--which is not immediately apparent from the map. However, there is no indicator which dungeons are easy or hard, which led to me going to a nearby dungeon WAY over my head. Death was swift and painful.
The final scenario is Challenge Dungeon. Not sure how many floors it has, each floor adds one more bonus to the monsters, penalty to you, and/or makes the game grid smaller. However, since the monsters get MUCH harder the deeper you go, you will not live to worry about that.
All in all, this is one of the better Roguelikes I've played, and I've played everything from the original ROGUE (Now sold for $2.50 instead of freeware), to ADOM!

Vargas78
Vargas78

This traditional rogue like has some interesting features and a good level of depth. It also benefits from a very user friendly UI that is easy to get to grips with compared to other well known rogue-likes making it a great choice for beginners. While still offering good content for more experienced players.

Exploro
Exploro

Plenty of classes and abilities. Fast paced movement and combat is a plus.
After 10-15 lvs you kinda realize how repetetive it is tho... to the point I'ts no longer fun.
Same mobs over and over, just slightly different surroundings.

Zii'lyeh
Zii'lyeh

A more straightforward kind of roguelike with relatively limited controls, a good intro to someone who wants to get into the genre - the 3-4 hour Eghoss campaign serves as a good introduction while the main campaign awaits those who want to dive in deeper. Colourful spritework and quite an expansive soundtrack.

bh78401
bh78401

I am enjoying the game a lot, i'm not gonna get into an overly analytical review, just gonna say its good fun and its been keeping me occupied.

Rogerbanger666
Rogerbanger666

Looks a bit weird and unpolished but also has some fantastic visuals.

Deep and not the most complex Rogue Like but maybe the most fun.

You can dig through walls and wear rings on all fingers.

- Runs well and cold on Macbook Air M1 (medium settings)

Khalthehunted332
Khalthehunted332

One of the best Roguelike RPGS ever made.

Opiate666
Opiate666

Solid game, very similar to T.O.M.E. or ADOM but being newer has less options for classes to play. The UI is great (you dont have to memorize 300 keybinds and dig through menus and submenus to find stuff like some older rogue-likes). Overall would recommend it to anyone that enjoys this type of game.

The NOCinator
The NOCinator

This game is a hot mess in someways, yet still manages to be fun and engaging. It took me several hours to understand how not to die (resting full before each battle). Once I understood this, the other abilities and mechanics started to open up. It goes from a plodding bore of bashing into enemies to a much more strategic turn based affair. You need to use the environment to your advantage whether that's funneling mobs into a hallway to fight 1v1, sneaking around a corner with a charge or steath or just blowing up an entire small room with mage. There is a pickaxe that allows you to destroy parts of the environment, but it's not well implemented.

The theme of the game is all over the place with heavy metal music one minute, then midi-style old RPG music the next. It detracts from what could have been a very immersive experience. The enemies make no sense such as an alien, a vampire and a rat fighting side by side. However, their designs are colorful and easy to identify. Most importantly, they each have a unique set of skills and behaviors. The zoom feature is really over the top allowing your sprite to take up then entire screen or zoom out to see the whole map. This is fortunate, because the menu map is so dark is almost impossible to use.

While this game is a very mixed bag, it's ultimately enjoyable. If you like RPGs or Roguelikes, you could do much worse than this game, especially if it's on sale.

VPopuli
VPopuli

HOOOOOBOY!

Wow, is this game good. At the time of writing, I've put in 25 hours into this. In. Two. Days.
As an introverted D&D nerd, this game appeals to me on several levels, but mainly, it gives me my dungeon-crawling fix without having to deal with other people!

On a basic level, it functions similarly to other quick dungeon-crawlers: Pixel Dungeon, Shattered Pixel Dungeon, etc.
The granularity of the characters and gameplay is where it shines: levelling up, choosing 'feats', balancing your equipment.
All the way around, spectacular; even more so that it can really be played with just a mouse (except for menuing)!

Ultimately, if you're looking for your fix, you won't go wrong with it.
Have fun!

CTRLhasESCaped
CTRLhasESCaped

Good game. Bad English translation. I'll help you if you need. It's not the best traditional RL I've played, but it's not bad at all, and it's light years ahead of the new ADOM game.

Mosvicious
Mosvicious

68 hours in and still haven't come close to beating the game. I'm not sure if it's because I suck or because I try to rush. Either way, it's addicting. I like the level up system even though I think humans are op for their racial bonus of getting bonus cards. My only complaint honestly is it seems like melee gets the shaft when it comes to some of the boss mechanics where as range can continue to shoot while melee is just having to chase the boss around trying to get a hit in.

Erasariel
Erasariel

Rogue Empire is a decent entry into the traditional roguelike genre: It meets all of the criteria of the genre, there's a good variety of classes, some of the abilities are pretty interesting, and it plays pretty well. That said, it really doesn't stick out from the competition all that much and I don't really feel a lot of personality or uniqueness from the game. Is that a bad thing? Rogue Empire doesn't make any pretensions of it testing the limits of the genre or anything like that, and thus I got mostly what I expected. It makes for a good break from your main roguelike game of choice.

Giving this game a positive recommendation for people who are into traditional roguelikes and know what to expect. Don't expect anything special or unique, but you will still have the good old roguelike fun you've had in ToME, Elona, or ADOM.

P.S.: shoutout to the one man dev team for still trying to update the game while raising a toddler, how you found the time to do so is astounding