The Loathing games become a roguelike
Kingdom of Rogueing is a free hilarious role-playing video game wherein you can continue the Loathing adventure. Developed by Zack "Jick" Johnson—also known as “ZapJackson” in itch.io—this roguelike game is set in the Kingdom of Loathing universe and features gameplay mechanics for such a genre, like procedurally-generated dungeons and enemies. Its combat follows the Loathing games’ own style of turn-based tactics, however, and much of the game’s appearance is just like the previous titles’.
A random adventure
Kingdom of Loathing, also called KoL, is a browser-based multiplayer adventure role-playing game that uses hand-drawn stick figures for character models, and humorous parodies and pop culture references as its twist to the RPG genre. Its popularity led to the successful release of West of Loathing, a Wild West single-player spin-off. Together, the two have set the Loathing universe as a wonderfully-charming RPG that can appeal to old and new fans of the genre.
Despite the turn-based combat system, however, the games can still use another genre to shake things up. This is exactly what Kingdom of Rogueing does. Developed for the 7-Day Roguelike Challenge, this game is much smaller compared to the first two but makes up for its little content with the procedurally-generated areas you can explore. You can’t customize your character as much here—some options can only be unlocked after playing—but it’s still the same gameplay.
Just the previous titles, much of the game relies on a text-based interface and uses little animation—instead, narrating the action to a hilarious degree. You’re in a story setting similar to Kingdom of Loathing's but can only explore five areas: a cave, a cemetery, a wizard tower, a mansion, and a gulch. Those locations you haven’t chosen yet will scale in difficulty. There are two modes available: Normal and Iron Adventure—which uses permadeath.
Still the same great stuff
Overall, while the game can be short compared to its predecessors, Kingdom of Rogueing actually executes the roguelike aspects quite well despite still being heavily set in a turn-based RPG world. It has a high level of replayability with its random item and enemy placements, and some character creation options only available after unlocking them through previous runs. Perhaps the only drawback is that you can’t revisit the areas you finished in the same playthrough.
