📚 Roguelike vs Roguelite: What the Genre Means and How They Differ

The genre is named after Rogue, a 1980 dungeon game whose maps were generated by the computer and whose deaths were final. Games that copied that structure became known as roguelikes. The Chinese nickname is simply a phonetic borrowing of the English word, which is why it appears everywhere in store descriptions without ever being explained.

A strict roguelike resets everything on death — you keep only your own knowledge. A roguelite lets you spend earned currency on permanent upgrades, so failing a run still moves you forward. Most modern mobile and browser games are roguelites, because a steady sense of progress keeps casual players going where pure permadeath would drive them away.

Look for words like meta progression, permanent unlocks or upgrade shop in the description — those signal a roguelite. Mentions of true permadeath, no unlocks or one life point to a stricter design. Neither is better; it is a question of whether you want each failure to buy you something, or you want the challenge to stay uncompromised.