Roguevania

Roguevania is a style of 2D platformer action roguelike that combines semi-procedurally generated biomes with metroidvania-like gameplay, specifically inspired by Castlevania [悪魔城ドラキュラ] series. It also features a permadeath-based meta-progression system, where players get stronger after each subsequent run by both honing their gameplay and buying weapon and/or power upgrades.

Although the genre goes back to Rogue Legacy (2013), which was crucial to the genre’s development, it was Dead Cells (2018) commercial and critical success that majorly inspired indie developers to create their own takes on this style. The term was coined by Motion Twin developers in 2017 to describe their breakthrough game during its initial rollout, who had cited Castlevania: Symphony of the Night [悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲]’s (1997) non-linear map exploration and Spelunky’s (2012) procedural terrain generation as influences on its development.