Randomness in roguelikes

An introduction to the role of randomness in game design, how this affects roguelikes, and a collection of methods you can use to improve a roguelike's relationship with its random elements.

This video was made with the help of many awesome people, super special thanks to Emily (who, among other things, drew the very awesome thumbnail:   / sliipstreams  , and Jenny.

Music used in this video:
"25.3°N 91.7°E" from the Risk of Rain OST and "The Rain Formerly Known as Purple", "Disdrometer", "Into the Doldrums" from the Risk of Rain 2 OST by Chris Christodoulou
https://chrischristodoulou.bandcamp.c...
https://chrischristodoulou.bandcamp.c...
"Peace At Last", "Out-take III - Lupaus paremmasta" from the Noita OST by From Grotto & Niilo Takalainen
https://niilotakalainen.bandcamp.com/...
https://niilotakalainen.bandcamp.com/...
"The City", "Exordium" from the Slay the Spire OST by Clark Aboud
https://clarkaboudmusic.bandcamp.com/...
"The House of Hades", "From Olympus", "The Painful Way" from the Hades OST by Darren Korb
https://supergiantgames.bandcamp.com/...
"ClockTower", "Prisoner's Awakening" from the Dead Cells OST by Yoann Laulan
https://valmontderagondas.bandcamp.co...

0:00 Intro
1:33 Part 1: Unpredictability and randomness
7:33 Part 2: The roguelike genre
14:20 Part 3: RNG abuse
18:50 Part 4: Loot progression
24:57 Part 5: Increasing random rolls
29:21 Part 6: Feedback loops
33:10 Part 7: Increasing agency
37:07 Outro

More news about my videos and very fascinating opinions can be found on my Twitter:   / alex_pinetree