Roguelikes: permadeath, procedural generation and all that sorted by release date

A roguelike is a genre of role-playing video games characterized by certain gameplay elements and mechanics. These games are inspired by the 1980 game "Rogue" which is where the genre gets its name. The defining features of roguelikes include:
Procedural generation: levels, maps, and other game elements are created algorithmically rather than being pre-designed.
Permadeath: when your character dies, you typically lose all progress and must start the game from the beginning. There are no checkpoints or save points to reload from.
Random loot: items, weapons, and equipment found in the game world are often randomly generated.

Roguelikes come in various settings and themes, ranging from traditional fantasy settings to sci-fi, horror, and more. The genre has seen significant evolution over the years, leading to sub-genres like "roguelite" and "roguelike-like" which may have some of the core features of roguelikes but with more forgiving gameplay mechanics or progression systems.

Most popular roguelike games

Quest for the Unicorn

rpgDOS, Windows XP/98/95, Linux

ZAngband

rpgWindows, Mac OS, DOS, Linux

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Beneath Apple Manor

DOS1983freeware4.2/5

Beneath Apple Manor is a pioneering game in the roguelike genre, originally developed and released in 1978 by Don Worth for the Apple II and later re-released for DOS as a "Special Edition". It's one of the earliest known role-playing video games (RPGs) with procedurally generated dungeons.In Beneath Apple Manor, players take on the role of an adve...

Oubliette

DOS19833.3/5

DND

DOS19844.1/5

Hack

DOS1984freeware3.8/5

Rogue

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinuxMac OS19844.1/5 Artificial Intelligence Design

Rogue is one of the first RPGs in the history of video gaming. It's a text-based dungeon crawler in which you have to fight your way in the dungeon to recover the Amulet of Yendor. Rogue became popular around 1980 on mainframes and later ported to various platforms, including DOS in 1984. Rogue is simply the father of all the roguelike games that c...

Amulet of Yendor

DOS19853.6/5 Keypunch Software

Larn

DOS1986freeware3.9/5

NetHack

DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OSLinux1987freeware3.7/5

NetHack is an open-source roguelike game that's been around since the early 1980s. It's a single-player dungeon exploration game where you navigate your character through a randomly generated dungeon filled with monsters, traps, treasures, and various items. The goal is to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, located deep within the dungeon's lowest leve...

Evets

DOS1988freeware3.5/5 SAck Enterprizes

Moraff's Revenge

DOS19883.7/5 Moraffware

Omega

DOSLinux1988freeware3.8/5

Quest for the Unicorn

DOSWindows XP/98/95Linux1990freeware3/5

Angband

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1992freeware4/5

Moria

DOS1992freeware4/5

UnReal World v. 3.20

Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1992freeware4.1/5

Castle of the Winds

Windows 3.x1993freeware4.2/5 SaadaSoft

Castle of the Winds is a fantasy roguelike role-playing game developed by SaadaSoft in the early 1990s. It was designed for Windows 3.x and is notable for being one of the earliest graphical RPGs for that platform. The game features a top-down perspective and incorporates elements of dungeon crawling, exploration, and character development.The game...

Ragnarok

DOS1993freeware4/5 Gray Design Associates

Reaping The Dungeon

DOS19934/5 Frontline Software

AlphaMan

DOS19953.6/5

Ancient Domains of Mystery (ADOM) v1.1

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1996freeware3.9/5

Dungeon Crawl

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1997freeware4/5

Dungeon Crawl (also known as Linley's Dungeon Crawl from the name of the original programmer: Linley Henzell) is a classic roguelike: an RPG with permadeath, procedural generation and high replayability. Dungeon Crawl was released on 1997 but it's not maintained anymore. The spiritual successr of Crawl is DCCS (Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup).

Slash'Em

Windows XP/98/95Linux1997freeware4.1/5

ZAngband

WindowsMac OSDOSLinux1999freeware4.3/5

Zangband is a variant of the popular roguelike game Angband. Zangband, short for Zelazny Angband, was developed by Chris Weisiger and first released in 1994. The game features a fantasy world with diverse races, classes, and monsters. Players explore dungeons, caves, and other environments in a quest to reach the bottom level of the dungeon, d...