Roguelikes I've played on Linux

One of my favourite game types on Linux is the rogue-like RPG. I had long avoided these, as I had tried and failed at figuring out Nethack several times, but there's so much more to the genre than that.

This is just a quick list of a few I have played on Linux, to give you guys some things to go out and try.

Angband
One of the "big old". It's in the Ubuntu repositories, and the newest version compiles without any fuss. Very long game, slightly arcane interface but well worth it. I'm not particularly good at it, but I have played it quite a lot.

Mostly keyboard controls, though later versions permit some mouse use. There are graphical tiles, but I tend to prefer ASCII. There are sounds out there as well, though they aren't standard.

NetHack

Probably the most well known, and available in many distro repositories. Deviously complex if you want to make it far, but very comprehensive.

There are tile versions out there as well.

ADOM

Ancient Domains Of Mystery. You can obtain this from here

I had difficulty restoring save games from the "development" version (1.12). Check out the older version if you want it to be more stable. Very comprehensive, with quests and an overworld. Rather in-depth character creation as well.

Straight up keyboard controls, ASCII and no sound.

Dungeon Crawl

Very actively and aggressively developed, this is another of the "big ones", being based on a somewhat older game.

Download from here either source code or debian packages. This is probably one of the tougher games, but very tight design, and with mouse controls and a tutorial, it's easy to learn.

Tiles are available and you can even play on a server, allowing you to continue your game from another machine.

We previously reviewed this game here

Brogue

Inspired by the original Rogue, Brogue focuses on clever use of inventory items. It features very simple mouse controls (keyboard works great too), and brightly coloured ASCII graphics, with some nice twists, like shimmering water and dynamic lighting as you move.It's hard to explain but it really is beautifull. A great game for beginners to the genre too.

Frozen Depths
Another ASCII crawler from Finland. Fittingly, it has a theme of frosty sword and sorcery. Fairly simple interface, nice use of colours for the dungeon, and a very enjoyable game in general.
This is another keyboard basher but the command list is pretty short. No music but I imagine you can put on some Battlelore or Finntroll and do just fine.
Available here and I had no problems installing and playing it.

Powder

I don't actually have much experience with this one, having just downloaded it a few days ago. Originally a Gameboy Advance game, it's a graphical "quick" game inspired by Nethack. It has tile graphics but they look a bit rough on a computer monitor. This one is on the list of games to check out later, but I wanted to throw it out there for you guys.

On the upsides, you get mouse and keyboard controls. No sound either.

It's available in the Ubuntu repositories, so check your distro.

Dungeons of Dredmor

We reviewed this one before

It's a commercial game, so you'll have to pay, but at 10 dollars including 2 expansions, it's hardly going to break the bank. Graphical (and wonderfully so), great music, and quite a stiff challenge. It's also somewhat rare in the gaming industry in that it is legitimately funny.

Well well worth it. And face it, where else can you play an emo pirate communist banker on a dungeon adventure?

DoomRL

This one made it around the internet a few years back. It's Doom as a turn based tactical roleplaying game. And it's exactly as awesome as you might think. Fairly simple to get into, this one has great music and graphical tiles, and can be played with both mouse and keyboard. Easily addictive and worth checking out, even if you aren't into RPGs in general

Download from here

TOME 4
Last for now, TOME started life as an Angband variant, but is now a completely independent thing. It is quite impressive too. The game takes the fundamental approach of having abilities with "cool downs" rather than having consumable items, making a game that feels very inspired by modern RPG's in the mainstream. Very pretty tile graphics and excellent music make this quite accessible. Fully playable with the mouse.
Here

There's tons more of these games out there, and I hope to cover more of them either here, or in our upcoming companion blog the RPG Quest Log

For now, those should get you started.

Happy hacking and don't worry about that un-identified potion. It's probably not poison.