GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast

Yoom-taah! To kick off season 4 of the podcast, we choose you: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team! Joined again by our expert guest on the sub-genre with Helen, we revisit nostalgia and fresh experiences for a 20+ year old spinoff roguelike…lite…game? Hopefully the listeners don’t also brand us as fugitives, focing us to traverse the Great Canyon of JRPG menu systems to the high peaks of Friendship Mountain, while eating jelly bean-based IQ boosters we find on the dirty ground. Can we overcome Team Meanies’ quest for world domination? Can we find our lost sense of gratitude in the depths of murky caverns? Were we the true meanies after all? Time to take charge of our destiny and find out!







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3:03 - Game stats
5:59 - One sentence description
6:56 - Is PMD a roguelike?
12:20 - Our experiences with Pokemon growing up
23:00 - Gameplay mechanics
36:40 - The personality quiz
44:30 - Saving Caterpie, Thunderwave Cave, Mt Steel
49:00 - Friend areas
52:00 - Team ACT, the dream, Team Meanies, Silent Chasm, Mt Thunder
1:11:15 - The Ninetales legend, Gengar’s muckraking, the hunt begins!
1:16:58 - Mt Blaze, Frosty Forest, Mt Freeze
1:24:00 - Return to town
1:27:50 - Magma Cavern, Sky Tower
1:41:50 - Postgame content
1:55:55 - Rankings & final thoughts
2:07:37 - Similar games & show wind-down

Next episode: Monster Train 2

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Pokemon Theme Saxy Style - The 8-Bit Big Band featuring Grace Kelly and Leo P

Outro music: Blue Rescue Team OST - Sky Tower

If the weather outside is frightful, then curl up in front of the fireplace with your favorite roguelike gaming podcast! That’s how the song goes, right? Well in order to find those new favorite permadeath games, Scott travelled back in time to August for the Penny Arcade Expo in downtown Seattle. With only one day’s worth of ticket time this year, we had to cram as much into one recording as possible before familial duties took precedence. Check the timestamps below for interviews with friends of all sorts and their games and studios!







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3:09 - Live on the streets!
6:10 - Jacob from Better Publishing showcasing Don’t Wake the Beast, Void Dungeon, and Order Automatica
11:07 - Holly, Jack, and Quinn showcasing White Knuckle
16:58 - Hasban showcasing Rogue Eclipse
21:28 - Andrea and Bob showcasing Arcane Eats
30:12 - Shiv showcasing Pax Autocratica
35:12 - Special message from the Roguepod Litecast! and a note about Master of Piece
42:04 - Pax Panel Q&A with the folks from Being and Older Content Creator Doesn’t Have to Suck
47:24 - Risk of Rain 2 Tournament, Swap Meat
49:56 - Show wind down

Next episode: Season 4 kicks off with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Recue Team!

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Barbara Dennerlein - Let It Snow

Outro music: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team OST - Title Theme

Season 3 concludes with some of the heaveist hitter games we’ve ever covered for the podcast! From titans of tradtitional roguelikes like Path of Achra and Caves of Qud, to titans of real-time explosiveness like Noita and Hades, this is sure to be an Omegabowl for the ages. We have a great array of listener letters, co-host bickering, and wacky coin flips to make sure everyone is as equally mad as possible. So fire up those spacetime vortices and pray you don’t run out of footsteps before reaching Room 46 of the end of year recap tournament!

Our finalists include:

Blue Prince
Caves of Qud
Deadzone: Rogue
Elden Ring Nightreign
Hades
Halls of Torment
Hero’s Hour
Noita
Path of Achra
Rift Wizard
Spiritfall
The King is Watching

There can be only ONE to hoist the Trophy of Yendor!

! The full tournament bracket with spoiled results can be found here







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0:50 - Intro
3:04 - Tournament plan, categories, and games
10:02 - Wildcard 1: Halls of Torment vs Rift Wizard
20:21 - Wildcard 2: Elden Ring Nightreign vs Hero’s Hour
33:44 - Wildcard 3: Spiritfall vs Deadzone: Rogue
46:14 - Wildcard 4: The King is Watching vs Path of Achra
53:10 - Division 1: Caves of Qud vs ???
1:02:58 - Division 2: Blue Prince vs ???
1:13:19 - Division 3: Hades vs ???
1:15:50 - Division 4: Noita vs ???
1:21:36 - Semi-finals 1
1:28:58 - Semi-finals 2
1:39:08 - Grand finals
1:59:56 - Show wind down

Next episode: Roguelike developer interviews from PAX West 2025!

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: John Williams - Wide Reciever

Outro music: Craig Hamilton - Onward (Kitfox recording)

The agony and terror of season 3 of the podcast comes to a close with the Survivor-like, Diablo-lite game Halls of Torment! Hear the demonic horns and twisted drums that lay down the epic background music, feast your eyes on the gorgeous low poly, highly pixelated 90’s inspired spritework! Collect those soul stones, find the artifacts and items from the demonic lord’s hallowed halls and see firsthand the horrors of greed!







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1:29 - Game stats
3:07 - One sentence description
06:48 - Comparison to Vampire Survivors
10:05 - Difficulty progression & enemy density
15:42 - Character classes & abilities overview
22:18 - Quest system & progression mechanics
29:03 - Item system & build variety
35:47 - Boss fights & challenge mechanics
42:31 - Movement mechanics & gameplay strategy
49:15 - Accessibility & difficulty options debate
55:58 - Art style praise & technical performance
1:02:44 - Endgame content & replayability
1:27:24 - Rankings & final thoughts
1:36:39 - Similar games & show wind-down

Next episode: Omegabowl 3

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Cyrus Chestnut - Precious Lord

Outro music: Halls of Torment OST - Chambers of Dissonance

Stay a while and listen! The sanctity of this podcast has been fouled as we turn back the clock to cover the 1997 groundbreaking procedural action RPG: Diablo. From humble origins as an Angband clone, to global standardbearer for game design polish, this titan of the horror genre greets us with a few haunting guitar chords and a cathedral of the damned. Join our descent into terror as we encounter vegetable hating butchers, skeleton kings, multiplayer friends running ahead and leaving us behind, sultry winged demons, poorly-aged game mechanics, and many more devlish delights! Perhaps there you will find answers. Or perhaps, salvation!







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2:35 - Game stats
5:44 - One sentence description
07:17 - Original turn-based design & real-time conversion
10:04 - Berlin interpretation & roguelike elements debate
19:48 - Character classes overview (Warrior, Rogue, Sorcerer)
29:35 - Town mechanics & NPC interactions
39:21 - Dungeon structure & difficulty progression
49:08 - Loot system & item identification mechanics
58:54 - Combat feel & clicking gameplay
1:08:40 - Multiplayer experience
1:18:27 - Soundtrack praise & atmosphere creation
1:28:13 - Hellfire expansion & cut content discussion
1:38:32 - Rankings & final thoughts
1:52:02 - Similar games & show wind-down

Next episode: Halls of Torment

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Nat Adderley Jr. - Old Devil Moon

Outro music: Diablo OST - Tristram