GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast

At PAX West this year I had a great time interviewing Angel Polanco: the solo dev behind the incredibly well-rated bullet hell roguelite The Void Rains Upon Her Heart! An incredibly interesting game from mechanics, boss designs, art, story, I couldn’t wait until our usual end-of-year PAX interview episode to publish. It was a great conversation where we talked in depth about the designs and motivations behind it. Very thankful again to Angel and the support staff handling the booth at PAX for letting me grab some interveiw time at the end of the 2nd of all day showcasing in front of the public!

Find The Void Rains Upon Her Heart on Steam here!

Soundtrack on Steam here







Custom RSS
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube Music
Transcript



3:06 - Interview Start
4:10 - PAX Weekend Impressions
7:00 - Record-Breaking Steam Reviews
8:14 - Solo Dev Life: Programming, Art, Music & Community Bug-Hunting
9:28 - Development Prioritization: Following Gut Feeling to Avoid Burnout
11:02 - Touhou & Kirby Design Inspirations
13:15 - Difficulty Design & Accessibility
15:56 - Boss Design Philosophy: Start Simple, Combine Mechanics Progressively
27:39 - Undertale Influence: Pacifist-Only Path, Love Bosses Into Acceptance
31:17 - Hades-Like Story Driven Narrative
34:08 - Player Character Designs: Alien Looks & Deeply Human Feelings
45:43 - Success Beyond Expectations, Game as Diary & Future Plans

Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: TVRUHH OST - Blank Melody

Outro music: TVRUHH OST - Heaven Sends Its Love

It’s time to put the BOOM back into boomer shooters as we fire up the hottest graphics of 1996* with Strafe! Another entry in our Devolver Digital review catalogue, the self-described “ worlds bloodiest roguelike first-person shooter” will put our pixel-perfect aim to the test fighting aliens, mutants, and … human experiments?







Custom RSS
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube Music
Transcript



01:02 - Game Stats
02:55 - One Sentence Description
6:25 - Strafe as 2017 Genre Forerunner
9:16 - Roguelike FPS Genre History: Eldritch, Ziggurat, Barony & Strafe
15:18 - Gun Modifiers
17:41 - 1996 Nostalgia Marketing & VHS Camcorder Tutorial
35:10 - Biome 1 Enemy Incoherence: Too Many Types, Generic Asset Look
40:17 - Simplistic Enemy AI: All Rush or Shoot, No Puzzle Strategy
1:03:18 - Mechanics Deep Dive
1:21:09 - Disposable Guns vs. Meaningful Build Choice
1:27:49 - Rankings & Final Thoughts
1:40:40 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down

Next episode: Diablo 2: Resurrected

Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 2 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/

Outro music: Strafe OST - Paint It Red

It’s Christmas in August as we unload the sooty petro-rocks from our stockings and crack open the clean-burning Coal LLC! The quick action mining-themed roguelite version of Motherload, you are tasked to fill your quota of coal before time runs out. Hire employees to help dig, collect, and fly your mantle-shattering progress. Fulfill the quests of NPCs like Fiona Frog, Pippa Penguin, and Tabitha the Mermaid. But most importantly, follow the guiding principle of any good coal mining business owner: NUMBER GO UP!







Custom RSS
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube Music
Transcript



01:05 - Game Stats
01:50 - One Sentence Description
3:37 - Platforming & Youtubers
5:24 - MS Paint Art Style
7:15 - Core Loop: Mine Coal, Meet Daily Quota or Explode
12:02 - Going Deeper: Colored Coal Layers & Increasingly Valuable Resources
24:18 - Unlocks & NPC Quests
28:01 - Workers & Weapons
52:25 - Whats the Value of a $15 Indie Game These Days?
1:08:34 - Rankings & Final Thoughts (hidden gem new #10!)
1:20:44 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down

Next episode: Strafe

Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 2 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/

Outro music: Coal LLC Theme 1

Roguelites belong to the Nords! This week we return to tower defense rogue land with Nordhold: the vaguely Viking-themed tower defense roguelite featuring tower synergy systems, work placement econometrics, and decisions about whether or not to sacrifice them to demonic gods. If careful optimization of numbers and slowly checking off metaprogression boxes is your thing, then Nordhold has got it in spades! We even have towers that shoot ravens at people, what more could you ask for here???







Custom RSS
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube Music
Transcript



01:13 - Game Stats
02:24 - One Sentence Description
4:53 - Viking Tutorial Walkthrough
8:28 - Resource Economy
10:24 - Meta Progression Treadmill
15:24 - Rogue Tower Comparison: Limited vs. Open Tower Selection Debate
19:23 - Oracle Choices: 5-Wave Passive Modifiers
21:56 - Banner System & Tower Fusions
31:49 - Hero System
54:45 - Cosmetic Glory Shop
1:04:36 - Rankings & Final Thoughts
1:10:52 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down

Next episode: Coal LLC

Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 2 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/

Outro music: Nordhold OST - Viking Layers 6

A dark presence surrounds you, whispering promises of stolen power! Our episode 100 mega special concludes with a mega special game in the traditional roguelike sphere: Brogue! Developed by a lawyer, Brian Walker sought to rewrite the state of roguelikes in 2009 from bloated checkbox-ticking, weeks-long RPG length games and bring the genre back to its coffee break length roots. Careful streamlining of systems, UI polish, graphical effects, and a much smaller monster pool make Brogue one of the most readily accessible roguelikes of the modern era. My, what a yummy mango!







Custom RSS
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube Music
Transcript



01:11 - Game Stats
06:15 - One Sentence Description
10:17 - Brian the Dev’s thoughts on Rogue vs Angband vs Nethack
16:38 - Modernized Design Philosophy
31:58 - Character As Items Design
37:18 - Lumen Stones: Optional Hard Mode & Going Beyond Floor 25
41:30 - Brogue as a First ASCII Game?
51:02 - ASCII Sprites
53:24 - Monster Roster: Dragons, Liches, Jellies & Hover Flavor Text
56:11 - Emergent Narrative
57:37 - Identification Meta-Game, Percentages & Risk
1:10:50 - Magic System: Staffs, Wands, Charges & Enchantment Synergies
1:16:39 - Brogue Fan Community Correspondence
1:31:09 - Rankings & Final Thoughts (new #1 hidden gem game for the podcast!)
1:43:53 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down

See also:

The Incredible Power of Dijkstra Maps
Brian Walker - Procedural level design in Brogue and beyond
Brian’s thoughts on Rogue vs Angband and Nethack

Next episode: Nordhold

Contact us at grogpodzone@gmail.com!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: The Lord of the Chiptunes: The Return of The Chiptune - Minas Tirith

Outro music: Sir Knight Beats - GELATINOUS CUBE (hexcore)