GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast

It’s a special bonus episode this week! With Rift Wizard 3 launching in June 2026, I sat down with developer Dylan White to talk about the third game’s evolution, how its distinguished itself from Rift Wizard 2, and what it takes to make a traditional roguelike game stand out in the ever evolving morass of games being released on Steam these days. Come for the discussion on PyGame, stay for the discussion on metal music band names as monsters! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:51 - Interview Start 2:49 - Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup as Primary Design Inspiration 6:15 - Original Concept: Not a Wizard Game at First 9:06 - Core Design Goal: Every Encounter High-Pressure & Unique 13:11 - Rift Wizard 2: Items System Added to Fight Forced Builds 16:46 - Dominions 5 Influence & Knowing Your Game’s Identity 20:35 - Why Python/Pygame: Fast Prototyping & Fun to Code 22:38 - ASCII Prototype Origins & Discarded Pac-Man Mana Mechanic 32:22 - AI Coding Agents: Core Logic Hand-Coded, UI Outsourced 41:52 - Crafting System Design: Balancing Planning vs. Improvisation 47:31 - Rift Wizard 3 Art Direction: Ralph Bakshi & 70s Animation 56:36 - Grid Size Changes Across Versions & Rebalancing Challenges 1:02:14 - Sequel Philosophy: 75% Familiarity, 25% Novelty 1:07:17 - Switch & Steam Deck Portability: Mouse-Keyboard Dependency Problem 1:22:50 - Dylan’s Favorite Roguelikes & Final Thoughts on Genre Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Rift Wizard 3 Title Theme Outro music: Rift Wizard 3 Boss Theme

He’s a bad bad kitty! We’re snapping our fingers and fighting through the alleways this week with Mewgenics! The long-awaited game by Binding of Isaac creator and roguelite genre legend Edmund McMillen, fans have been wating something like 15 years to experience the cat breeding tactical combat RPG. You are a crazy cat lady, reanimated from the dead by a mad scientist and your goal is to breed cats to send on harrowing adventures through junkyards, spider caves, the moon, and beyond the reaches of the spacetime continuum. All the while maintaining your most impressive collection of freaks (cats) as they create offspring, poop in your house, and defend you from headless horrors rampaging the neighborhood. Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 0:57 - Listener Request Week & Game stats 3:55 - One sentence description 4:30 - Mewgenics dev history 6:28 - Welcome Roguepod Litecast listeners! 10:25 - Art Style & Edmund McMillan Tone 16:51 - NPC Designs 29:02 - Cat Generation, House Overview 31:03 - Typical Run Breakdown: Node Map, Acts & Biomes 33:43 - Boss Music with Lyrics & Soundtrack Discussion 49:57 - Combat Mechanics, Character Classes & Unlocks 57:58 - Cat Breeding Meta Progression System Deep Dive 1:07:16 - Genealogy System 1:21:14 - Guillotina House Defense Battle 1:26:35 - Difficulty Modes, Run Length & Off-Ramp Mechanics 1:39:07 - Rankings & final thoughts 1:50:00 - Similar games & show wind down 1:52:19 - Episode 100 details! 1:53:40 - Next episode - Will’s app/game - https://hardreset.app 2:04:10 - Gigi, Ari, Rakanishu, and Molly (see the youtube episode for videos!) Next episode: Hard Reset (2026) Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 1 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Rediculon - Chumbucket Kitty

Emperor guide thy aim! Roguelikes and -lites span a spectrum, especially when they come as added game modes to big budget titles that aren’t roguey themselves. This week we explore Warhammer 40K Darktide: the action RPG featuring two … sort of … rogue-ish (heavy squinting) game modes: Expeditions and the Mortis Trials. From the moment I understood the weakness of game genre definitions, they disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of roguelikes. I aspired to the purity of the blessed permadeath. Your kind cling to your save files, as if they will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass that you call a gameplay loop will wither, and you will beg my kind to save you. But I am already saved, for roguelikes are immortal. Even in death I serve the GROGnissiah. Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 2:35 - Game stats 4:08 - One sentence description, Non-Roguelike Games with Rogue Modes Discussion 7:05 - Lore Overview 17:33 - StarCraft & Warhammer 21:56 - Intro Cinematic & Satire 26:17 - Character Creation, Classes & Hub World Tour 38:32 - Adventure Mode, Main Story & Mission Structure 44:47 - Procedural Generation (Or Lack Thereof) & Roguelike Credentials 51:43 - Expeditions Mode: Node Map, Scrap System & Extraction 56:08 - Mortis Trials: Horde Mode, Wave Perks & Chaos Builds 1:13:20 - Soundtrack & Sound Design 1:17:48 - Servitor Healing Stations & Imperium’s Dark Worldbuilding 1:22:10 - Rankings & final thoughts 1:33:08 - Similar games & show wind down Next episode: Mewgenics Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 1 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Jesper Kyd - Disposal Unit (Imperium Mix)

Play forever! It’s time to climb one of the most ambitious game releases in recent memory by dusting off UFO 50: the collection of games from the fictional LX Systems console of the 1980s. With some titles being very small, and others being very huge, we focus on just 7 that are the most rogue-ish: Bug Hunter, Velgress, Planet Zoldath, Waldorf’s Journey, Party House, Overbold, and Campanella 2! Will we be able to squash the eggs before they hatch? How many times will our hot pink spacecraft be graffito-tagged while hunting for precious treasure? We’ll share stories on our own Wild Buddy experiences as we search for our imprisoned little brother as well. They’re coming for your TEEETH! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:56 - Game stats 6:17 - One sentence description 8:56 - Who is UFO 50’s target audience? 23:15 - UFO 50 intro sequence 26:45 - Variety of the 50 games in general 33:26 - Bug Hunter 46:57 - Velgress 1:03:30 - Planet Zoldath 1:16:43 - Waldorf’s Journey 1:30:10 - Party House 1:50:18 - Overbold 2:03:44 - Campanella 2 2:28:38 - UFO 50 general discussion 2:41:10 - Rankings & final thoughts 2:56:35 - Similar podcast: Eggplant Presents a Year of UFO 50 2:58:21 - Similar games & show wind down Next episode: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 1 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Eirik Surhke - Big Party / Infinity