Xenomarine

Played it and beaten it. - Ranged-focused traditional roguelikes are rare, so that's a benefit already IMO. - Good diversity in guns and power leveling. - Good sense of gaining cool and powerful gear. - A lot of utility equipment you need to use to survive (scanners, night vision, flashlights, etc.) - Difficult but not impossible. - Somewhat spooky atmosphere. - Graphics are good enough. The interface could be a little better in some ways, and I'd say that's the biggest flaw. Otherwise a solid sci-fi roguelike.

Certainly not bad, but nothing about it made me want to keep playing beyond the first few runs.

Tile-movement turn-based space-horror rogue-like RPG dungeon-crawler. Looks simple in its design, but complex with its randomness of items, upgrades, creatures & hazards. Makes you want to try again! https://youtu.be/9X-mbMatc40

Underrated Roguelike game no one ever talks about. It should be right next to the greats like ADOM and Angband. Definitely pick it up!!!

To start, I've played a LOT of traditional roguelikes. TOME, IA, DoomRL, Tangledeep, Angband+ variants, Nethack, etc etc. Xenomarine is a simple but excellent start for an entry among these, it has solid systems that can make for enjoyable runs, flexibility among equipment and builds, and while I recommend it, I will largely be focusing on flaws that have been detrimental to my gameplay. As of now, my farthest floor has been 36 or so. I've noticed that if you can get to floor 10, you've got a much better chance of going further. I will try to sum up the issues I've had with the curve in bullet points: -Equipment diversity- You are limited to specializing in light or CQC weaponry for those first 1-20 floors, as I have very rarely seen anything medium/heavy for that time, which makes many runs less oriented around flexibility to making the same build and hoping you have enough ammo or find anything beyond a crowbar. The range does not have any real chance to shine, with limited visibility and ammo. The only thing that packs enough punch for those floors is the M3, with a range of 2, making it a glorified melee weapon. I've also rarely found competent melee equipment even far further in. I feel the curve may be eased with introduction of things like the Cherokee (a medium weapon that's practically useless each time I actually find one) early enough to work into medium as it already has a higher ammo/turn cost to offset the class, as well as pathetic damage. I find the PP2000 more and earlier than this thing. In tandem with introducing "flawed" equipment to lower level pools, such as a lower damage heavy weapon would allow much more build flex. -Enemy orientation and range- Aliens can turn as they move, making facing far less important for them as they can flank without taking extra turns, harming the ability to respond, especially with aforementioned ranged weaponry. Most of the game revolves around dragging one to a corner or doorway to actually position them in front of you. Drones/Turrets can fire around corners that you cannot even see them past, which is a glaring issue that damages the ability to respond to such threats. -Crafting- Crafting is a mixed bag, it's either barely relevant, or the only way to heal or gain ammo, varying wildly upon how much scrap you've gained and luck. Most items feel as if they give far too little scrap when you need it, where you may find perhaps 2 or so equipment crates a level, this eases off when past 20 I had tons of scrap but no pressing need for it, -Minimum damage potential- This is less relevant until you start meeting Ramblers, but most weapons usually have a 1 minimum damage, causing your damage to be wildly inconsistent, taking a few turns to kill something is very different from 20. (And yes, I am aware that Ramblers will burn a turn fairly often, allowing kiting, but you try that for 30 turns with a Red or Multicolored variant.) This is in contrast to something like the Reaper having a 4d3 attack, allowing a very consistent 4-12 damage, sometimes doubling depending on the type. This ties in with the lack of weapon variability early on, pushing you into either missing half your attacks in hopes of more damage, or hitting consistently, draining other resources. I still have no idea how I'm intended to deal with multicolored enemies, it seems to be brute force. not even attacks with types such as gravity do anything, which is a shame, as I could understand them having an obscure weakness, but they merely halve all damage, which is rough. Not certain if some random types could be selected, but I had far more issues with them than the black variants. Still very enjoyable, recommended, and fun to play if you enjoy traditional roguelikes. I hope to see more.

Excellent coffee-break roguelike with a Space Hulk inspired vibe. I'm still learning the game, but it seems to be deep enough to play in the big leagues. Definitely recommended.

I love roguelikes. I hate huge levels, super-complex mechanics, extreme crafting and identification systems that force you to waste half your equipment. This simple roguelike doesn't bore you with all these mechanics. The levels are small and fast, the crafting is simple and without recipes, the objects you find are exactly what they say they are. Many effects will afflict your marine but there is no hunger or sleep to constantly keep an eye on. To make a comparison with a great science fiction roguelike, this can be interpreted as a lightweight version of Sword of the pit star which is an advantage for busy older players like me. I definitely recommend it.