This weekend is the Roguelike Celebration 2023 conference. This is a (currently online) conference for makers and fans of roguelike video games. Apparently they’ve been doing this for several years, but this is the first year that I learned that it was happening. I had a really great time participating in the sessions today, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

What’s a “Roguelike” game?

For those of you that aren’t familiar, here’s a brief introduction to the Roguelike genre. But first, a disclaimer:

The question of what is or isn’t a roguelike game is hotly debated within the roguelike games community. It’s like punk rock that way (and in several other ways)

Okay, here goes. By my definition, a game is “roguelike” if most of the following are true:

• The game happens in a computer-generated game world
• Character death is permanent
• Death is expected
• Movement is constrained to a grid, and turn-based

You can read more about the genre, and in particular about what it is/isn’t, in this handy page on the conference site.

What’s the conference like?

First of all, the conference takes place in a virtual space modeled after the very roguelike games the conference is about. You move around to different rooms in a space modeled after a 1980s/90s shopping mall, picking up items, discovering secrets, and chatting with other attendees. It’s charming, and extremely nerdy, as befits such a nerdy crowd.

The talks cover a very wide range of topics, all more-or-less related to roguelike games. There are talks on the design of particular roguelike games, investigations into the history of the genre, and really wacky topics like “Is the Reality TV show Love Island a roguelike game?”. You can browse the schedule on the conference website, and the talks are all streaming for free on Youtube, though you must buy a “ticket” to the conference in order to join the virtual space.

The presentation slots are 30 minutes (15 minutes for lightning talks), so some are a bit…hectic, given the amount of information that the speakers are providing. You certainly don’t get bored while waiting for the speaker to get to the point.

What was my favorite talk of the day?

It’s really hard to choose, but Mike Cook’s Generating Procedures: Rule and System Generation for Roguelikes was extremely eye-opening for me. I learned a lot in that 30 minutes.

What am I most looking forward to tomorrow?

Probably the Fireside chat about the development of NetHack. Nethack was the first roguelike that I got very into, and is still one of the most-popular roguelike games. It was my first introduction to the complex interplay of game systems that makes these games so compelling.

Was it worth $30 to attend?

Absolutely. The talks are all going to be made available for free on YouTube, so the cost of a ticket is really just paying to keep the conference going. The virtual conference space, in particular the ability to participate in live discussions with other folks who are watching the talks, is extremely fun.

One of the features of the space is the Obelisk, which is a kind of shared notepad full of links to resources, games, and additional info. It’s probably worth the cost of admission all by itself.