# Roguelike

Build a roguelike: turn-based grid movement, procedural dungeons, permadeath...

- Repository: https://github.com/gamedev-skills/awesome-gamedev-agent-skills (6445 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: Apache-2.0
- Last updated: 2026-10-28
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add gamedev-skills/awesome-gamedev-agent-skills --skill roguelike -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add gamedev-skills/awesome-gamedev-agent-skills --skill roguelike -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add gamedev-skills/awesome-gamedev-agent-skills --skill roguelike -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add gamedev-skills/awesome-gamedev-agent-skills --skill roguelike -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add gamedev-skills/awesome-gamedev-agent-skills`

## Description

Build a roguelike: turn-based grid movement, procedural dungeons, permadeath, field-of-view, and loot tables. Use for a roguelike/roguelite or turn-based grid dungeon crawler with procedural levels.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Roguelike

A playbook for roguelikes, the turn engine, procedural dungeons, field-of-view, permadeath,
and run economy. This is a **compositional** skill: it orchestrates procedural generation,
tilemaps, save handling, and AI into a run-based game. It does not re-teach noise/RNG or
tilemap APIs; it defines the loop and the systems that make a *run* compelling.

## When to use

- Use when building a **turn-based, grid-based** dungeon crawler where each death ends the
  run and the world is regenerated, a roguelike or "roguelite" (with meta-progression).
- Use when designing procedural dungeons, FOV/fog-of-war, permadeath stakes, or loot tables.

**When *not* to use:** real-time action with roguelike *dressing* → build the action genre
(`platformer`/`fps-shooter`) and layer `procedural-gen`. Deep stats/quests/dialogue without
permadeath → `rpg`. Open-world needs/crafting → `survival-crafting`.

## What makes it a roguelike (design anchor)

The community reference is the **Berlin Interpretation** (RogueBasin, IRDC 2008): a set of
"roguelikeness" factors, not a checklist. The high-value ones are the design targets:
**random environment generation, permadeath, turn-based, grid-based, non-modal** (all actions
in one mode), **complexity** (many item/monster interactions), **resource management**,
**hack-and-slash**, and **exploration & discovery**. Lean into these to feel roguelike; pick
which to keep deliberately. "Roguelite" usually relaxes permadeath with meta-progression.

## Core loop

**Take a turn (move / fight / use) → the world resolves its turn → see new state → descend /
loot / survive → die and restart with a fresh dungeon.** Replayability comes from the *world*
changing each run, not the player memorizing a fixed layout.

## Must-have systems

The rest: https://github.com/gamedev-skills/awesome-gamedev-agent-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/genres/roguelike/SKILL.md