Genealogy & Chronology of Roguelike games

by Erik Inge Bolsø (2004)

Pre-roguelike style
-------------------

41. DND 		(1976-78)
 113. Telengard (character graphics, BASIC, 1981) (father:41)
  42.  Telengard 	(Avalon Hill 1982) (father: 113)
   43. PC Telengard	(1985)		(father: 42)
  104. The Caverns of Zoarre (1984)	(father: 113)
  154. Realms of Quest	(1992)		(spiritual father: 113)
 44. DND		(1984)		(father: 41)
  114. DND gwbasic	(1985)		(father: 44)
  115. Dungeons of the Necromancer's Domain (1988) (father: 44)
   116. Return to the Necromancer's Domain (1998) (father: 115)
  135. ADND		(1993)		(father: 44)

120. Temple of Apshai   (1979) 			(Atari 8-bit)
 121. Hellfire Warrior  (1980) (father: 120)	(Atari 8-bit)
 122. Gateway to Apshai (1982) (father: 120)	(Atari 8-bit)

83. Wizard's Castle	(aug 1980)
 119. Leygref's Castle	(1986)		(father: 83)

156. Black Dragon	(1982)

131. Dunzhin		(1982)
 132. Kaiv		(198?)		(father: 131)
  133. Wylde		(198?)		(father: 132)
   134. Ziggurat	(198?)		(father: 133)

98. Castle (Keep)       (jun 84)

130. The Dungeon	(1988)

146. Hogbear            (1989?)

Roguelike style
---------------

1. Rogue - Exploring the Dungeons of Doom (1980) (BSD UNIX version)
 87. Advanced Rogue	(1984)   (AT&T/Bell Labs version) (father: 1)
  105. UltraRogue	(jan 85)	(father: 87 v2.0)
   118. Urogue PC	(may 90)	(father: 105 v1.03)
 173. Superrogue        (1984)		(father: 1 v3.6)
 2. Rogue Clone    (nov 87) (BSD UNIX 4.4 LITE; cloned from: 1 v5.3)
  117. College Rogue	(1990)		(father: 2, assumed)
  3. LinuxRogue 	(oct 92) 	(father: 2 v5.3)
   169. KRogue		(jan 00)	(father: 3)
  108. PocketRogue	(aug 98)	(father: 2 v5.3)
  200. iRogue		(jun 2000)	(father: 2 v5.3, uncle: 105)
 174. Xrogue		(1988?)		(father: 1 v5.3)

140. Dungeon (C= PET)	(1982)		(more info, anyone?)
    (perhaps this is the same as "Dungeon of Death" for C= PET ? )

19. (VMS) The Dungeons of Moria (mar 83)
 20. (VMS) Moria UB 	(1987) 		(father: 19 v4.8)
 22. PC-Moria 4.00+ 			(father: 19 v4.8)
 23. UNIX Moria 	(1988) 		(father: 19 v 4.8)
  24. PC-Moria 4.83 	(1988) 		(father: 23 v4.83)
  25. Amiga Moria 	(1988) 		(father: 23 v4.85)
   150. Moria 3D	(1997 or so?)	(father: 25 (?))
  26. BRUCE Moria 	(1988)		(father: 23 v4.85)
  27. UNIX Moria v5 	(1990)		(ancestors: 23, 24&26)
   33. The Pits of Angband (apr 91)	(father: 27 v5.2.1)
    34. PC Angband	(feb 93)  	(father: 33 v2.4.frog-knows, 
					 married: 33 v2.7.0, 1995)
     35. FAngband	(nov 93)	(father: 34 v1.31, uncle: 31)
     36. Angband--	(1993)		(father: 34 v1.31)
      37. Zangband	(apr 94?) (father: 36 v1.1?, uncles: 33&35)
       74. ZangbandTk	(jun 98)	(father: 37 v2.1.0)
       40. CthAngband	(jul 98)	(father: 37 v2.1.0)
       162. Pziangband	(aug 98) (father: 37 v2.1.0e, mother: 70)
       178. Gumband	(aug 98?)	(father: 37 v2.1.1c)
       102. PernAngband (oct 98)	(father: 37 v2.2.0)
        180. NewAngband (aug 2000)	(father: 102 v4.0.9)
	213. Iso-PernAngband (may 2001)	(f: 102 v4.1.5, mother: 212)
       106. GSNband     (nov 98)        (father: 37 v2.2.0)
       163. SBFband	(nov 99)	(father: 37 v2.2.3d)
       160. Zceband	(dec 99)	(father: 37 v2.11ce)
       191. ZangbA	(jun 2000)	(father: 37 v2.3.5)
     38. Bangband	(early 95)	(father: 34 v1.4.1)
      39. Sangband			(father: 38)
     76. Drangband	(1995?)		(father: 34 v1.4)
     72. Jangband / Angband/64	(jun 96)(father: 33 v2.7.9v6)
     65. GW-Angband	(oct 96)	(father: 33 v2.7.9v6)
     75. Cathband	(1996?)		(father: 33 v2.8.0)
     67. Kangband	(1997)		(father: 33 v2.8.2)
      90. KangbandTk	(sep 98)	(father: 67 v?)
      68. Kamband	(early 98)	(father: 67 v2.8.2c)
     69. Mangband	(mid-97)	(father: 33 v2.7.9)
      181. Pernmangband (nov 2000)	(f: 69 v0.6.1, mother: 102)
     85. Mac-Enh. Angband (mid-97)	(father: 33 v2.7.9v6)
     80. Quest Angband	(mid-97)	(father: 33 v2.8.1)
     82. Utumno		(mid-97)	(father: 33)
     66. Ironman Angband (nov 97)	(father: 33 v2.8.2)
     70. Psiband	(dec 97)	(father: 33 v2.8.3pre)
     71. Rangband	(1998)		(father: 33 v2.8.2)
     73. AngbandTk			(father: 33 v2.8.3)
     81. Yin-yangband	(feb 98)	(father: 33 v2.8.3)
     77. Goingband	(jul 98)	(father: 33 v2.8.3)
     79. Pangband	(jul 98)	(father: 33 v2.8.3)
     78. Oangband	(aug 98)	(father: 33 v2.8.3)
      111. OangbandTk	(mar 99)	(father: 78 v0.32)
     185. Terminal Angband (july 99)	(father: 33 v2.8.3)
     183. FFVIIangband  (aug 99)        (father: 33 v2.8.3)
     161. DvEband	(oct 99)	(father: 33 v2.8.3)
     164. Sillyband	(oct 99)	(father: 33 v2.8.3)
     165. Team angband	(oct 99)	(father: 33 v2.8.3)
     179. MJband	(may 2000)	(father: 33 v2.8.5beta)
     184. LAngband	(june 2000)	(spiritual father: 33 v2.9.0)
     177. Eyangband     (oct 2000)	(father: 33 v2.9.1)
     182. UnAngband	(nov 2000)	(father: 33 v2.9.0)
     175. GSN2band      (nov 2000)	(father: 33 v2.9.1)
      176. Easyband	(jan 2001)	(f: 33 v2.9.1v2, m: 175 v1.0)
     212. Iso-Angband	(feb 2001)	(father: 33 v2.9.1)
   217. XMoria		(jun 1991)	(father: 27 v5.2.0)
   28. Druid-Moria	(1991)		(father: 27 v5.5)
   31. Morgul		(1992)		(father: 27 v5.4)
   95. Umoria(Amiga GFX) (apr 92)	(father: 27 v5.4, uncle: 25)
   29. PMoria 		(1993) 		(father: 27 v5.5)
   32. CWM Moria	(late 93)	(father: 27 v5.5)
   201. kMoria		(late 2000)	(father: 27 v5.5.2)
   208. Russian Moria	(2000?)		(father: 27 v5.5.2)
 21. (VMS) Imoria 	(1989) 		(father: 19 v4.8)
  148. Jmoria		(199?)		(father: 21)
  89. Icmoria		(sep 98)	(father: 21 v4.85)
 30. BOSS		(nov 90)	(father: 19 v5.0)
  171. BOSSC            (mar 2000)      (father: 30 v2.4)

209. Oubliette		(1983)

123. Sword of Fargoal 	(1983) (roguelike, originally for VIC20)

172. Out of the Shadows (1984)          (roguelike for ZX spectrum)

92. MAG			(1985)
 93. PC MAG		(1988)		(father: 92)

7. Hack 		(1985)
 8. Amiga Hack 				(father: 7 v1.0.3)
 9. PC Hack 				(father: 7 v1.0.3)
  10. HackLite 1 			(f: 9 v3.6.1, m: 8 v1.03D)
  11. NetHack 		(1987) 		(f: 7 v3.5.1, m: 9 v3.5.1)
   12. HackLite 2 	(may 92)	(f: 10 v1.0.0, m: 11 v2.2)
   126. Nethack++(--)	(1992)		(father: 11 v3.0)
   14. NetHack, the Next Generation 	(father: 11 v3.1.2)
   15. NetHack+ 	(jun 94) 	(father: 11 v3.1.2)
    16. Slash 		(feb 96)	(father: 15 v1)
     17. SLASH'EM 	(nov 96)	(father: 16 v6 4.1.2E8)
   18. Qt NetHack 	(1998)		(father: 11 v3.2.0)
    61. Qt SLASH'EM	(1998)		(father: 18, mother: 17)
   159. GnomeHack	(sep 98)	(father: 11 v3.2.2)
   158. GTK+ Nethack	(okt 99)	(father: 11 v3.2.2)
   189. AllegroHack	(apr 2000)	(father: 11 v3.2.2)
   198. Lethe		(mar 2001)	(father: 11 v3.3.1)
   202. HackNet		(apr 2001)	(father: 11 v3.3.1)

4. The Caves of Larn 	(1986)
 5. PC Larn 		(1986) 	        (father: 4)
 6. Ultra Larn (Ularn)	(1989)		(father: 4)
  199. iLarn		(aug 2000)	(father: 6)

145. Moria 2		(jul 1986)

47. Omega		(1987)
 48. AmiOmega				(father: 47)
 101. Mac Omega				(father: 47)

139. Doomsday 2000	(1987)
 125. Mission: Thunderbolt (1992)	(father: 139)
  138. Mission: Firestorm  (dec 1995)	(father: 125)

127. Evets		(1987)

141. Kalawaum		(1987)

103. Dungeon of Doom	(198?)

62. Myth		(jun 89)

49. UnReal World	(1990)

214. MDG		(1990) (multiplayer, ascii crossfire-ish game)

128. Sorcerer's Bane	(1991)

13. Dragon Crystal	(1991)

136. Morabis		(mar 91)

96. Fatal Labyrinth	(1991)

60. Castle of the Winds	(may 92)

55. Crossfire		(1992)

124. Dungeon!		(jan 93)

99. Dungeon Hack	(1993)

46. Alphaman		(1994)

97. Reaping the Dungeon	(1994)

223. Slayer		(1994) (3DO console dungeon hack-alike)

45. Ragnarok		(1994?)
 151. Valhalla          (????)          (father: 45)

52. A.D.O.M.		(jul 94)

149. Dragon Maze 	(1994-95?)

57. Rogue's Quest	(jun 95)

94. RGAE		(oct 95)

84. MudHack		(early 96)

51. The Minstrel's Song	(1996)

53. Qhack		(dec 96)
 64. Adventurer of the Realm (mar 98)	(father: 53)

107. NewtHack		(dec 96)

215. Mythos		(1997 or earlier) (Mac commercial roguelike)

86. Diablo		(jan 97)
 216. Diablo II		(sep 2000) 	(father: 86)

50. Dungeon Crawl	(oct 97)
 222. AxCrawl		(mar 2002)	(father: 50 v4.0.0b23)
 233. CrawlJ		(????)		(father: 50)
  234. Dungeon Crawl-Tile (feb 2004)	(father: 233 v4.0.0b26-j064)

56. Over		(1997)

152. Interhack		(1997)

210. Zachistka Hervarda (1997) (russian roguelike, written in Pascal)

59. Dungeon: Descent	(dec 97)

54. Legend of Saladir	(jan 98)

147. PRogue		(apr 98)

58. L.O.R.D.		(jun 98)

153. Azure Dreams	(mid-98)

88. War of the Runes	(1998)

63. Halls of Danenth	(1998)

219. Mordor		(1998)
 220. Demise		(2000)		(father: 219)

91. Portals		(sep 98)

129. UltraWhack		(sep 98)

100. VOtheD		(oct 98)

109. JSHack		(oct 98)

110. Rodun		(nov 98)

142. Underdark		(late 98)

157. VSHack (japanese)	(dec 98)

144. Tyrant		(jan 99)

137. ShadowDale / Kharne:The Revelation	(feb 99)

112. Yashiir		(mar 99)

143. Ninevon		(apr 99)

166. Star Rogue		(may 99)

188. Legends of Valdor  (jul 99)

167. Claw and Sword	(oct 99)

170. Escape from Silver Keep (2000 or earlier)

211. Domain Country	(2000)

155. Silmar		(jan 2000)

168. The 4th age: The Lost Rings (feb 2000)

190. Tower of Darkness	(feb 2000)

186. Hero		(mar 2000)

187. Nethermost Wanderings (apr 2000)

206. Fantasy Lands Mini Mud (apr 2000)

207. Infinity		(aug 2000)

192. Egoboo		(oct 2000)

193. Torneko: the last hope (nov 2000)

194. Slaves to Armok	(dec 2000)

195. Stronghold		(jan 2001)

196. Pocket Dimension	(jan 2001)

197. DeadCold		(mar 2001)

205. DungeonDweller	(mar 2001)

203. Khaos		(apr 2001)

218. WinDungeon		(apr 2001)

204. Umbra		(may 2001)

225. Atrogue		(jun 2001)

226. Avanor		(nov 2001)

221. Iter Vehemens ad Necem (dec 2001)

229. GearHead		(feb 2002)

227. Champion of the Savarian Empire (jun 2002)

224. Abura Tan		(dec 2002)

231. Incursion		(mar 2003)

232. Powder		(may 2003)

230. I, Monster		(sep 2003)

228. Dungeon Monkey	(oct 2003)

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Rumoured games

• Dungeon Crawl (IBM Basic, early 80’s… anyone? NOT Linley’s Dungeon Crawl)
• Lore (last sighted at an IBM mainframe, University of Iowa, 1982-84… does it still exist somewhere? And if so, is it roguelike?)
• Journey of Ulysses (Mac II roguelike?)
• Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon I & II (Japanese RPG’s for PSX – is this roguelike?)
• Lufia II (SNES) – subquest Ancient Cave – roguelike?
• Labyrinth … ca 1987 … played very much like Hack, was sold commercially by some company or other… anyone?
• The Valley – I’m sure I’ve played this one many years ago, but I can’t remember anything else about it – anyone?
• Azure Dreams (Japanese RPG for PSX) – Konami/KCET
• Evolution (jan 99) (small, short, graphical, team-based, predefined-characters, random dungeons, menu-based combat … roguelike? for the Sega Dreamcast)
• Lucifer – sounds like a Castle-type game?

---

Old games that positively are NOT roguelike:
(listed to avoid further inquiries about them)

• Magus (old DOS VGA RPG)
• Phantasia (1985, early ancestor of today’s MUDs. Very little roguelike in it. Here I disagree with the old r.g.r.m. FAQ)
• Wanderer (box-pushing puzzle)
• Conquer, xconq (X11 wargame)
• The Land (CGA graphics, set in the world of Thomas Covenant, probably a glaring copyright infringement. Ultima-style RPG.) (Thanks to: R.N. Dominick)
• The whole MU* category (anything with MU(something) in its name is very probably not roguelike)
• Captain Magneto I-II (Mac, ca. 1985-86 – probably not roguelike)
• Mazogs (Spectrum ZX game – roguelike? … not very…)
• Deep Dungeon I-IV – Japanese NES first-person view RPG’s, 1986-91 or so
• Deep Dungeon (Windows CE) – described as a cross between RPG and action. 1998 or so. Doesn’t sound roguelike.

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This list aims to be a “complete” tome of information about the Roguelike Game phenomenon. To achieve that aim, we need help from YOU. If you know of a game that’s not listed here but should be, please write! If you can enlighten us on the games listed under “rumoured”, correct or add information to an existing entry, provide screenshots etc. please do so! If you feel the urge to write a detailed page for a game (out of altruism or something else), get in touch.

Note: If you want to have your game represented, or want to fill out information about a little-known game, grab a copy of this template and fill out all entries like this:

%title%
%subtitle%
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%other%
%year%
%company%
%license%
%platforms%
%features%
%body%
%screenshots%
%wordfrom%

Roguelike questions

What is a Roguelike game?

There is no good definition of what makes a game “roguelike”. Basically, a roguelike game is a computer game that bears some resemblance to the early computer game “Rogue” (1980).

ADOM (1994) defines it this way:

Ancient Domains of Mystery (ADOM for short) is a rogue-like game which means that it is a single-user game featuring the exploration of a dungeon complex. You control a fictional character described by race, class, attributes, skills, and equipment. This fictional character is trying to achieve a specific goal (see below) and succeed in a difficult quest. To fulfill the quest, you have to explore previously undiscovered tunnels and dungeons, fight hideous monsters, uncover long forgotten secrets, and find treasures of all kind. During the game, you explore dungeon levels which are randomly generated each game. You might also encounter certain special levels, which present a particular challenge or are built around a certain theme.

This is a good starting point. But naturally, it doesn’t encompass all games that are termed roguelike. There are multi-user games. There are games based on wholly different themes, like science fiction, norse myth, cyberpunk future, post-apocalypse exploration… But all of these games feature exploration of unknown territory in some way. And most of these games forsake fancy graphics and sound for complex, challenging and varied gameplay. Their replay value is nearly infinite.

What was the first roguelike game?

A: Probably Rogue (1980), written at Berkeley University by Michael C. Toy, Glenn Wichman and Kenneth C.R.C. Arnold. At least no-one has come forward with an earlier game that can be classified as roguelike. DND (1976-78) might be an earlier example, but of much reduced complexity.

What was the first roguelike game featuring a wilderness?

A: This is uncertain. The first confirmed sighting of a wilderness is in Mizar’s Out of the Shadows (1984) for the ZX spectrum. Advanced Rogue (1984) may have had it earlier, but I don’t know its story for sure before March 1985. (And according to the old FAQ, the elusive Lore is cited as having a wilderness + dungeons, last sighted sometime around 1982-84).

Has any roguelike been written in assembler?

A: Oh yes. A brave and patient Finn (of course), Jarkko Vatjus-Anttila, has written the roguelike RGAE (1995) in assembler for the Amiga, with graphics and all. The project does seem to be abandoned (most recent update sometime in ’96).

Is there any multiplayer roguelikes?

A: Yes, there are. But don’t expect too much – they’re all in the early stages of development (except Crossfire, which has fixed maps and thus a more limited replay value). Myth (1989) by Per Abrahamsen was the first, but it is sadly almost unknown, and very basic. But it is out there, and anyone is free to modify and expand it. Crossfire (1992) came next, and has a devoted following, as evidenced by the hundreds of maps available. A more recent offering is MAngband (1997), Multiplayer Angband. There also are several projects to modify NetHack into a multiplayer game, namely InterHack (1997) and HackNet (2001). And lastly, the commercial Diablo and its descendants offer multiplayer options.

Is there any Science Fiction roguelikes out there?

A: Yes, there are a few.Doomsday 2000 (1987) and its descendants Mission: Thunderbolt (1992) and Mission: Firestorm (1995). Reputedly of massive size and deadliness. BOSS (1990), a cyberpunk version of Moria, only available for VMS and Mac. (but now being ported to C, which should help its availability) It is supposed to be much easier to win than Moria. Then there is Alphaman (1994), a post-apocalypse collapsed-civilization roguelike for DOS. Amusing for a while, but lacks depth. And lastly there is a truly apart-from-the-mold roguelike: Reaping the Dungeon (1994), a reputedly very well balanced space-station roguelike with VGA graphics for DOS. Star Rogue (2000) might be approaching playable status as well these days. A few more are possibly in development.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to (in no particular order)

The great, older resources Boudewijn Waijers and Darren Hebden have collected over the years.

Justin Carpenter’s deep research into the DND/Telengard affair and his combing of the internet for obscure roguelikes.

Avalon Hill Computer Games for at least trying to provide information about a 15+ years old game and its author.

Timothy Meyers for being the first to send a game I’d never heard of (many have done so since).

William Tanksley for providing info and for continuing the existence of Omega.

Mike Thibault for digging up “Castle” from an old 5 1/4″ floppy and sharing it.

Tom Hanlin, for having sent the most astonishing mail so far.

Mike Teixeira, for digging up his old sources for PC MAG and sending them my way.

Thomas Biskup, for having tried several times to email me, with aggressive cyberspace predators killing and eating the messages every time.

Kevin Routley and “Ed” for providing info on that SF obscurity called VMS Doomsday 2000…

Steve Kertes, for being the first to actually fill out a template and send it to me – and for saving Imoria (and BOSS) from eternal obscurity.

Damian Bentley for informing me that Interhack is alive after all.

Jason Black, author of BOSS, for sharing the story of BOSS’s existence, and Lindsey Dubb for sending screenshots of the Mac version.

Linley Robert Henzell, for sharing the story of Dungeon Crawl.

Charlie Hills for contributing actual VMS Moria screenshots.

Christine W. Indigo, for providing detailed information on an obscure pre-roguelike I had no suspicion existed.

Tess Lowe for pointing me at an obscure roguelike that seems to be the first with a wilderness…

Daniel Lawrence, for astonishing me with a mail about Telengard out of the blue.

Ilya Bely, for providing info on obscure russian roguelikes.

Roberto Alicata, Christopher Allen, Keith Anderson, Nuno Barros, Ghislain de Blois, Colin van den Bosch, Liam Burke, Ray Canfield, Richard Carlson, Warren Cheung, Teman Clark-Lindh, Philippe Cossette, R.N. Dominick, Theodore Dubro, Karl Eisner, Tim Espasandin, Bruce Greenwood, Ali Harlow, Cody Hatch, Joseph Haussmann, Thomas A. Hendricks, Mark Howson, Andrew Huie, Mark Humphreys, John Ianson, Ken Kitowski, Lisa Lear, Eric Lundquist, Sami Maaranen, Rick McClinton, Robert McCrea, Vladar Menoth, Mike at mikera.net, Gerry Quinn, Daniel Rosinsky-Larsson, Troy Rosman, Edwin Rots, Dave Scheifler, Andreas Schou, Mike Shevock, Sheldon Simms, John S Sozio, Jordan F. Spofford, Patrick Stone, Ivan Thompson, “Tierry”, Horst Werner, Jason Willoughby, Stephen Winson, Greg Wooledge, Ondrej Zicha, and Arkady Zilberberg have also all contributed in some way or another during the past many moons. Thanks, this website wouldn’t be the same without you.

Thanks, everyone… keep the reports flowing… (or at least trickling)