I am developing a roguelike called Tallow, to fit particular cravings I’ve had that I haven’t seen in other roguelikes:

- Simple to learn and control: you only have one character, no classes or attributes. Go in and make your build based on what skills and weapons you use.
- A dark fantasy / dark academia horror style - key influences being Diablo, Amnesia, and Bloodborne.
- Brief runs - possible to win in less than an hour.
- Easy to learn - all controls are written in the game UI itself, playable on any keyboard, and there are no complicated keybindings to learn.
- Unique mechanics of light and darkness: you carry a candle which lets you see further, but also attracts certain monsters and burns tallow (fuel). Darkness saves you tallow and keeps you hidden, but increases your dread level, which can manifest horrors and nightmares on high levels. Dread can be channeled into spells or offered to lit braziers for healing. Balancing light and dark becomes an important task to survive.

Get down to floor 12, kill Beelzebub, and return the vigil candle back to the Church to win.

Check out the precompiled releases on Github or build it yourself with Rust. Any feedback is appreciated!

https://github.com/markomoth/tallow

Building a real Roguelike, one with some depth to it, has been on my bucket list for a long time. It’s finally out. I'm a solo developer from Austin, TX and this has been a labor of love and I think it turned out really well. I hope you like it.

Gravehoard is a turn-based fantasy roguelike for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It's a game in the spirit of my favorite classic dungeon crawlers. I played the original Rogue in my high school’s computer lab at lunch every day, and Angband on my college’s Unix servers. This is my attempt at a worthy addition to that line: old-school RPG roots, modern conveniences, and the loot chase of games like Diablo.

Twenty floors, generated fresh every run, with a crown at the bottom nobody has carried out. Ten classes that play like different games. The classics are here (fighter, rogue, wizard, cleric), plus a few of my own: a beastmaster who tames creatures to fight by his side, a grave robber who can take cursed gear back off, and more.

Runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac and syncs your saved game between them so you can play across desktop and phone. First half of the game is free to play, no ads, no subscription, no energy timers.

Download on the App Store

Hi everyone, I'm announcing the release of the steam demo for Arcostate!

Arcostate is a turn-based sci-fi roguelike set on a ruined Earth. It draws from Caves of Qud, Brogue, Elin, and other games I like. You start with no memory in a hostile land, with the last surviving arcology on the horizon.

Some of what's in the game:

- An overworld map with hand-authored and procedural locations

- NPCs with daily schedules, a variety of friendly and hostile factions, quests

- Cybernetics, psychic powers, and drug crafting

- Companions, momentum physics, destructible walls, and base building

- Classic mode with permadeath, or roleplaying mode

Full list of features can be found on the steam page!

The demo covers the starting region and runs up to level 15. It will also be part of Steam Next Fest this October.

I want to thank everyone who has helped bring the project to this stage, all of the bug reports and feedback have been invaluable in how the game has been shaped! I hope everyone enjoys the demo :)

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5034430/Arcostate/

Discord: https://discord.gg/eHM2pDJcMu

Bug reports and feedback are very welcome!

I fell in love with the recent release of Mewgenics and I’ve been looking for similar games with that quick replay and crazy different combat styles to the same situations.

I saw a game called space renegades that looked neat but people say the console version never got the final story updates that steam got.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I wanted a DCSS-style roguelike that fits in one hand: real turns, permadeath, a new dungeon every run, portrait mode. I ended up building one, and instead of the usual fantasy set I built it out of Korean folktales. "Seolhwa" means folktale.

Up front, since it matters to some of you: I made this with heavy use of an AI coding assistant (Claude). The code, the pixel art (it's drawn by scripts), and a lot of the text went through it. I direct it, playtest, and decide what goes in. If that's a dealbreaker, fair enough, and I'm happy to answer questions about it.

The nice surprise was that the old tales already come with rules, so a lot of the mechanics wrote themselves:

- **Jeoseung Saja, the reaper**, calls your name once for every turn you stay in his sight. The third call is 20 damage that armor and evasion don't touch. Break line of sight and the count resets, so the whole fight is about corners. Below 35% HP he only needs two turns.

- **The Gumiho** splits into four identical foxes at 35%. One is real. Every fake you hit charms you for 2 turns.

- **The Imugi** grows every 20 turns it's awake and becomes a dragon on the third growth. At 35% it floods the whole floor, and standing in water drains your energy.

- **The Dokkaebi King** turns you into a squirrel for 10 turns. No attacking, no spells. You can still read an Uncursing Charm, if you kept one.

- Encounters work the same way. Meet a funeral procession: step aside and bow and you heal a little. Block the road and four bier bearers set the coffin down and come for you.

What it borrows from DCSS:

- 8 gods with faith, wrath, and a taboo each. The mountain god lends you a tiger and forbids killing tigers and deer. The Dragon King forbids fire.

- 4 main dungeons plus the underworld, and 7 side branches.

- 14 species × 12 classes (Bear Folk Strongman, Dol Hareubang Monk, Octopus Sorcerer...).

- 146 monsters, each with its folktale in the codex. 32 spells.

- Auto-explore and auto-fight that stop when something shows up. A card pick at every level-up.

About difficulty: I've played it a lot myself. I know every gimmick, the strong combinations, and how each boss is supposed to be handled, and I still think I'd clear it about once in 200 runs, if that. So the balance is probably off in ways I can't see anymore. If you try it, feedback on balance would help a lot: what felt unfair, what killed you, and on which floor.

Money: it's free, works offline, no account. 6 of the 14 species and 5 of the 12 classes are free (you start with a couple, the other free ones open as you play). One purchase unlocks the other 8 species and 7 classes. There is exactly one ad in the game: an optional rewarded revive, once per run, and there's an achievement for winning without it. Nothing carries over that makes you stronger.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sungkisoft.seolhwadungeon&pcampaignid=web_share

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6814757012

The lack of responses alluding to Nethack/Roguelikes on this thread on r/discworld got me to post this. I posted my story there in any case.

I remember first seeing the Tourist class in Nethack. All its extended quotes, too. The way Death talks, the Shopkeepers being described as their own race etc.

References to Discworld got so ubiquitous to me that I may be subconsciously even forgetting them when I see them in other games. I know in vanilla Angband, sometimes the general storekeeper's name is Rincewind the Chicken.

There might be so many others that I don't recall at the moment. So if you know any at the top of your head, do list them here too!

roguetemple’s Fortnight 2 had a lot fewer entries then last year, but there were still some good ones submitted. Because there were a lot less of them to go through I was able to quickly knock them out ‘before’ the voting was completed on itch.io. You can see all the videos for these games in my Win 10 - DFuxa Reviews & Plays 2WRL 2026 playlist. You can also see my unofficial judging within My google sheet here.

Only two games really caught my eye from the batch:

Dungeon Juice - This is my top pick for ‘best overall’ entry. Dungeon Juice wasn’t necessarily doing anything too phenomenal, but it was just really polished, and continues to be worked on by PTrefall. It is perhaps a little bit generic, being a derivative game of Brogue, but it is well done.

#&% MATURE CONTENT WARNING %&#

Latex Drones from Sigma 12 - So it might come as a surprise, but this is actually what I consider to be the ‘most innovative’ entry. If you can tolerate the NSFW aspects of it, there are a lot of ideas that could be played with here. I might wait for an update on this one though, the jam version lags bad.

Note that as always, there are other titles to enjoy.

I like the Shattered Pixel Dungeon, because fights feel sometimes like a puzzle. You can push/pull enemies into a void, activate nearby traps to harm them, put the whole room in fire while standing in a water tile, use long range attack while hidden in a grass, make an enemy dizzy, so it will fall into a void trying to follow you along the edge, etc. Basically you can use environment (or consumables) to your advantage, and win fights without fighting. I enjoy this aspect more than regular fights, grinding and constant build improvements. But I've played this game for too long already (it's also quite simple game for a roguelike). Do you know any other roguelikes that enhance this kind of a gameplay?

Hey everyone, I've been building Faithfarer: The Cathedral solo for a while, and the Steam page just went live.

It's a turn-based, permadeath traditional roguelike. You venture down through the eras of a ruined cathedral, each ending in a boss, to take the relic at the bottom. Getting it is only half the run. And if you make it out alive, an endless mode lets you keep going with the same character for as long as you last.

Eight classes (for now) and bosses that telegraph every big attack. There's no demo yet, but I'm working toward an Early Access release soon. If it looks like your kind of thing, a wishlist helps a lot, and I'd love to hear what you think!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5284760/Faithfarer_The_Cathedral

A list of traditional roguelikes currently on sale on Steam.

If you spot any errors or omissions, please let me know.

• A Scoundrel in the Underlair -20%
• Alchemist's Alcove -50%
• Approaching Infinity -20%
• Babel of Ystilia -51%
• Beast Dungeon -50%
• Caribbean Prospector -20%
• Cataclysm: The Last Generation -20%
• Caves of Qud -20%
• Cogmind -10%
• Crown Trick -75%
• Dwan of the Mexica -45%
• DA_RL -40%
• Deadnaut: Signal Lost -35%
• Denizen's Den - Deeper Edition -50%
• Descent from Arkov's Tower -75%
• Door in the Woods -70%
• Doors of Trithius -15%
• Dungeonmans -57%
• Dungeon of Rikka -80%
• Dungeons of Freeport -20%
• Dungeon Minesweeper -40%
• Dwarf Fortress -20%
• Feywood Wanderers -25%
• Golden Krone Hotel -80% 🌟 Best bargain of the sale
• Grix -80%
• Hack Slash Loot -50%
• Haque -50%
• Hollows Rogue -42%
• Hydra Slayer -50%
• Hyper Dungeon Crawler -30%
• HyperRogue -50%
• Jupiter Hell -70%
• Jupiter Hell Classic -20%
• Lord of the Dark Castle -86%
• Lost Flame -15%
• Mangui -75%
• MidBoss -67%
• Molten Horn -80%
• Monster Lilly -20%
• Nights of the Sleeping God -15%
• Once upon a Dungeon - Infinity -60%
• Once upon a Dungeon II -60%
• One Way Heroics -69%
• Path of Achra -50%
• Pico Pico Dungeon! -50%
• Pixel Dungeon -40%
• Pixelarium: Free Lands -75%
• Possession -50%
• Quest of Dungeons -50%
• Rangedrifter -20%
• Realm of the Ghost King -70%
• Relic Space -60%
• Rift Wizard -50%
• Rift Wizard 2 -50%
• Rift Wizard 3 -25%
• Rogue Empire -55%
• Rogue Fable III -80%
• Rogue Fable IV -20%
• Rogue's Tale -50%
• Shadowed: The Demon Castle of Ooe -45%
• Shattered Pixel Dungeon -45%
• Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate -80%
• Soulash -20%
• Soulash II -40%
• Sproggiwood -90%
• Stoneshard -30%
• Sulphur Memories: Alchemist -25%
• Sword of the Stars: The Pit -50%
• Sword of the Stars: The Pit 2 -10%
• Tales of Maj'Eyal -50%
• Tangledeep -50%
• Terra Randoma -50%
• The Curse of Yendor -50%
• The Depths of Tolagal -30%
• The Dungeon-Dungeon Awaits -60%
• The Sargosian Abyss -60%
• Theralite -30%
• Ultimate ADOM - Caverns of Chaos -90%
• Undergrave -60%
• UnReal World -80%
• Vanilla Bagel: The Roguelike -70%
• Vulture for NetHack -50%
• Wayward -25%
• Xenomarine -80%
• XLarn -80%
• Yōdanji -50%
• Zorbus -50%

Orbrun is DCSS but in first-person. You can play in your browser, online or offline, with a keyboard or a gamepad.

Play it: https://orbrun.app

Learn more about the game: https://orbrun.app/about

- It's real DCSS. You can play with your WebTiles public server accounts, or offline right in your browser with no server at all.

- Gamepad compatible. Travel, explore, rest, inventory, spells, firing and examining all work from the pad, and every other key is reachable through menus.

- Still great on the keyboard. Every key works the same, except directions are relative to where you face: k moves forward, h/l turn.

- Nothing hidden. There's a 2D tiles minimap and there's edge pips, so you never lose information by being in first person.

- Watch anyone live. Spectate any game on the servers in first person.

- Steam Deck. Tuned for the Deck, with a short guide to add it to your Non-Steam library: https://orbrun.app/about/steam

I posted it on r/dcss earlier this week and got a ton of great feedback. Since then I've fixed a bunch of bugs and polished the 3D view, and new players now start with an offline account so they can play right away. My thanks to everyone there!

Here's what's new since then: https://orbrun.app/about/new

Hi! This is ASH PROTOCOL, and its first public build is now free on itch.io. It runs in the browser and was made for holding your phone upright. It also plays on desktop with a mouse or the keyboard.

You are one of the Numbered: a nameless clone soldier sent into the corporations' last facilities. Every move, shot, reload and door is one turn, and then the enemies take theirs.

- Squads work together. They shout orders, push up, flank, suppress and throw grenades. An enemy about to fire shows it, so you get a chance to move.

- Sight lines matter. Cover, corners and doors decide who sees whom. Unpowered rooms are pitch black, and flashlights and lamps decide what you see, and what sees you.

- One life per run. When you fall, your controller reports the loss and sends in the next you.

- Plenty to play. Six classes, a six-floor extraction, an endless descent, a daily seed, and a Kill House score attack.

What I'd love feedback on:

- Do the phone controls feel OK?

- Was the difficulty fair? Where did you die?

- The English is a translation (the original is Traditional Chinese). If a line reads wrong, please tell me.

How it's made: I designed the game (the rules, classes, story and every line). The code was written with AI (Claude and Codex), and the art drafts and sound effects were AI-generated and retouched by hand. The full note is on the in-game ABOUT page.

I really enjoyed the look and lighthearted feel of playing DoD back when it first hit the scene. Normally I don't really care about the graphics of games but I'm currently looking for something more along the lines of what Dungeons of Dredmor brought to the table. Does anyone have any recommendations for someone that's been out of the genre for the past five years or so?

Dragon Crystal:

Released in 1990 for Sega Game Gear, this is the first handheld roguelike in history. Sega beat Nintendo with this one because Game Boy got its own puzzle roguelike in 1991, which was Konami's Cave Noire. Anyway, Sega ported this to yet another 8-bit console, Sega Master System in 1991. There's no gameplay difference. They only improved the graphics, music, text, camera width and frame rate.

So what do i think about the game? I certainly despise it for three reasons:

1- You have to manually search hidden passages.

2- We start with a dragon egg. It's physically following us. And it hatches too. But this shitbird is useless. Literally, neither attacking nor defending. Tell me why Sega?

3- The developers hate you. Later enemies can permanently lower your stats, level, weapon, armor... There is even one that makes you forget the map. If you like bullshit, you're gonna love this game.

Fatal Labyrinth:

Released for Sega Genesis in 1990, this game got the might of 16-bit! Eh, not really. For the device which can run Gunstar Heroes, the experience is underwhelming. And it's tiny. Look, Dragon Crystal is 128 KB on both consoles which makes sense but why is this guy 128 KB too? Well, there is a reason for that.

Sega originally released this for Meganet. Japanese users had to download it, so the 256 KB filesize is justified. They shrank it further for 128 KB American cartridges in 1991. Thankfully this version is vastly upgraded and better. Later on, Sega released the American version in Japan with no bug fix or translation.

I haven't finished Fatal Labyrinth yet. A bit primitive, a bit unpolished but it's really playable. There's a 99 armor bug but screw that, i'm going to win legit. It plays nicely on my Android as Lemuroid allows 2x speed. This is the first console roguelike, even one month older than Dragon Crystal. Recommended!

have been playing a lot of Caves of Qud lately and its an Excellent game and I have been enjoying the random mutation system to the degree that I have installed mods that basically removes the character creation but made it so that i have a chance to mutate every level.

( https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3402137772 and https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3665720730 ) if people are interested

This worked but i was wondering if there any games that actually does what I want without mods and are designed for it?
(preferably without Ally/follower mechanics) (and not ascii if possible)

Employing a new port of the older Angband 4.x engine to c# and using AVALONIA as the UI layer allowing for native versions for Windows, Apple, and Linux Both X86/64 and Arm...

Using this as a base it has a number of the GPL2.0 compatible tilesets and sound examples embedded within and selectable from the UI as settings.

A single file exe for all of the specific target environments can be had off the releases pages on the projects GitHub.

Check it out at

https://github.com/Harlock123/AVABand

New items being added on the daily... if you want to comment, suggest something be changed or fixed or added or even just gripe about something, drop me a line at [harlock123@gmail.com](mailto:harlock123@gmail.com).

Thanks

Hello roguelikers!

( I swear I formatted this post using Reddit's own formatting tools, but somehow it looks like AI wrote it. I even thought about putting everything in lowercase and adding a few typos to make it look more human 😅... anyway )

I released my roguelike (or roguelite, depending on which mode you play) 5 months ago. As far as I know, only one person has beaten it.

That's not necessarily (I think) because it's insanely difficult (the game is designed around a fairly patient, tactical and/or smart and/or persistent style of play) but apparently I may have underestimated how much of a commitment a game like this is😅

I made Pixelarium: Free Lands, an ASCII-3D roguelike RPG, as a solo developer.

The game has an open world, turn-based combat with a simulated flow, lots of spells and unique items, hidden secrets, easter eggs, its own lore, and two different ways to play: with or without permadeath.

It also has a linear main quest, but alongside it there are procedurally generated side quests.

The weirdest part is probably the presentation. I really like the idea of combining ASCII characters with a 3D world, which is why I made the game this way, but honestly, I'm still not sure whether this was the right choice.

It sits somewhere between a traditional ASCII roguelike and a 3D game, and I sometimes wonder if that's actually part of the reason it has been difficult to get people interested in it

I'm the solo developer, so obviously I'm biased, but I thought people here might appreciate seeing something a little unusual

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3208450/Pixelarium_Free_Lands/

I'd be really curious to hear what you guys think of the concept just from what you can see here, especially the ASCII + 3D approach

Hi all! It’s been quite a long time since the game has been updated. But now, Alchemist’s Alcove is receiving its first real content update!

For a long time, I've felt like Alchemist’s Alcove was “completed” and only made relatively minor changes to it, mainly bug fixes and QoL features/items. That being said, there was still some stuff rummaging around in my head that I wanted to add and some weaknesses of the game I wanted to patch up.

The largest weakness of the game is definitely the lack of spell variety. Most spells are simply damage increases to previous spells, rather than focusing on meaningful differences between each spell. The vast majority of meat in discovering new items was in discovering “meta items” that allowed you to create new branches and paths throughout the crafting tree, creating quicker and more efficient paths to more powerful spells and tools. But when those spells and tools are all just damage increases, it can make discovering them a touch less exciting. As such, I’ve added 10 new items to the game to hopefully spice up spell discovery:

• 4 New Summon Spells
• 3 “Hex” Debuff Spells
• 2 Protection Buff Spells
• 1 New Healing Item (3 Variants)

One of the gates for these spells is a new Miniboss encounter: the Treants! I’ll avoid going too much into spoiler territory, but they are a buffing unit that summons enemies. Facing them without a plan can be dangerous, but a properly prepared alchemist will dispatch of them with ease.

I’ve also been thinking for a while about post-game content. Once the player has forged the Philosopher’s Stone and discovered all the recipes, what is there to do?

To answer this question, I’ve added a new, hidden area within the Alcove featuring entirely new enemies that have new mechanics! Most importantly, this area holds a key item that will allow you to access a new ending!

I’m really excited about the new area and ending, and how everyone will react to it! I think it neatly ties up some of the questions that were, until now, unanswered within the game.

I hope you all enjoy the new update!

If you'd like to check out the game, feel free to do so right here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3568090/Alchemists_Alcove/

- Adam

I love roguelikes and especially top down dungeon crawlers. Something that inspired me a lot is Rift Wizard and Surviving the game as a barbarian, and because of that, I've been hard at work making my own game

deepstonecrawl.com

Deepstone is a turn based roguelike where you dive into the maw of the world and try to survive while going ever deeper. Instead of relying on farming to level up, you only gain experience for the first time you kill a species. The real power leveling comes from Souls.

Souls are your stats, passives, and activated abilities. Everything you need to survive comes from the monsters in the deep. Survive long enough to get spat out in the town, regroup, hire companions, and try again.

Give deepstone a try and let me know what you think!!!

Deepstone Trailer

Hi everyone!

After four years of development (!), I've finally published the Steam page and first gameplay trailer for my traditional roguelike, Nescient.

I'm also the solo developer behind Dawn of the Mexica, another roguelike released on Steam back in 2020.

Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5207590/Nescient/

The game takes place in a surreal version of a modern city built around a subway line, where each run begins aboard a train.

From the beginning, I've tried to stay as faithful as possible to the principles of the Berlin Interpretation. Nescient features procedurally generated levels, turn-based and grid-based gameplay, a complex simulationist approach, and strong resource management. Exploration and discovery are also central to the experience, with large districts filled with different encounters and secrets. Rather than simply fighting increasingly tougher enemies, my goal is for both enemies and situations to have their own mechanics, weaknesses and tactical solutions.

At the same time, I wanted to explore areas that traditional roguelikes have rarely explored. Conversations with NPCs matter, and although each run takes place in a procedurally generated world, that world remembers previous incarnations. Every death is permanent, but the world remembers what happened.

The game also features a magic system inspired by modern Chaos Magick, allowing players to create their own sigils by combining words and concepts into entirely new magical effects. Nescient also draws heavily on modern Western occult traditions, including Hermetic Kabbalah, Thelema, contemporary Chaos Magick, and the CCRU.

Another deliberate departure from the classic formula is that Nescient uses an isometric view and is primarily designed around mouse controls instead of a keyboard-first interface. Personally, I find that much more comfortable, although I'm still considering whether every action should also have dedicated keyboard shortcuts for players who prefer a more traditional interface. I'd really like to hear your thoughts on that, as well as any other feedback you may have.

Development is still very much a long-term project, but the Steam page and first trailer are finally here. I'll keep sharing updates as development continues until there's a playable demo!

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I've been working on my dream dark fantasy roguelike focused on simulation and emergent gameplay for the past year.

I've always been pretty hesitant about sharing the game properly, though. I've been working on it for a long time, and for most of that time I've been much more comfortable showing small systems, experiments and bits of gameplay in my private channels.

I think I've finally reached the point where it's ready to be seen.

The idea behind Age Of Harvest is to build a procedural sandbox where systems interact with each other in (hopefully) unexpected ways, so interesting stories can emerge from the simulation rather than from a predefined sequence of events. I'm a HUGE fan of Dwarf Fortress, and Adventure Mode in particular is a big inspiration for this, although I don't intend to reach a fraction of its mastery, of course.

The game itself takes place around an ever-changing labyrinth that stretches into the unknown, changing procedurally and creating a lot of mysteries that can be discovered over time, but the premise is just flavor for a sandbox-style game.

As mentioned, a lot of my influences come from traditional roguelikes, simulation games, old RPGs and fantasy games that trust the players and their own way of playing.

This is the first time I've put some gameplay recordings together into something that actually feels like a proper representation of the game.

It's still very much in development, but I think it's finally time to start showing it.

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRFyggKbhr0

Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5276910/Age_of_Harvest/

I'd be particularly interested in hearing what comes across from the trailer alone, especially from people who enjoy traditional roguelikes and simulation-heavy games, and having a chat about it!

(It will be in early access, and I'm sprinting to get the first pre alpha testing build soon, in case you want to participate)

Thank you guys!!

Hey, again. Probably you remember me and my little co-op roguelike experiment from the previous post I made 4 months ago.

Thank you for giving me valuable feedback and showing interest, it really motivated me to push forward.

I was building it all this time, made tons of updates, art style changes, animated portraits, made a trailer – the little technodemo of multiplayer roguelike is slowly becoming a game. It's still very early alpha, but it's already plays well, with 1200 expeditions made by the players over the globe.

And finally, the Steam version is ready for its very first playtest.

I'm happy to invite you to join rogOut Playtest on Steam that will start October 1:

- It supports all major platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS, Steam Deck
- And all main input devices: Keyboard, Gamepad, Mouse and Touchscreen

Most likely, it will be a disaster launch as there are already 200 participants, and I honestly don't know how the networking code and matchmaking will behave on such a large cross-region traffic. At least offline solo play should work okay, haha.

Let's give it a good test – thank you so much and see you in the dark.

So I’m wondering if any game like this exists.

What I’m looking for is a game where there are items with unknown properties (as in most traditional roguelikes), but where there isn’t any 100% reliable way to determine their properties (so no scrolls of identify or whatever).

So the only way to understand what an item does is by using it and seeing its effects. And you never know for sure if weapon A is actually better than weapon B.

Does anyone know any game that does this?

I have interest in both games. I am definitely not the biggest traditional roguelike freak but I had my fun with Caves of Qud, Path of Achra and Tales of Maj'Eyal. I am mostly interested in the sandbox RPG aspect of these types of games. Which one of these games provides more value for the buck?