Roguelikes aren’t for everyone. I’ll be the first to admit that. They’re for people who think “fun” means dying twenty times before you even reach the first boss and calling that “progress.” These games don’t hold your hand. They slap it away, point in a direction, and say good luck.
Every death teaches you something. In Hades, it’s learning which boons synergize best, how to chain attacks without leaving yourself open, and when to push for damage versus when to retreat. In Dead Cells, it’s understanding the procedural levels, picking the right weapons, and exploiting enemy weaknesses. You notice patterns, recognize tells before strikes, and remember which enemies are weak to certain tactics. Survival depends on understanding how systems interact with builds. Over time you learn all of this, not by being told but by doing. With enough knowledge, even a lack of skill can be overcome. And if you do have skill, you can beat the game on your first run.
Roguelikes don’t just teach mechanics. They teach you to take risks when the reward is worth it and when to bail. How to keep your resources for a better moment or spend it, whether that be currency or health. They teach you to think ahead, predict outcomes, and recognize what you need before you even need it. Say I’m playing DeadZone Rogue and I grab an early item that increases my damage the farther I am from the enemy. I’m looking for a sniper and maybe a complementary element. Things like this matter and you will have to memorize that, otherwise your sins will catch up with you. You don’t know true pain until you realize the item you just grabbed halves your speed right before a boss. These lessons get seared into the flesh of your brain becoming muscle memory ,instinct , a way of seeing the game that no tutorial could ever give you.
There’s a strange satisfaction in that cycle: pain, progress, mastery. The game taunts you, whispering that you could win any run if you were just good enough, but that’s also what keeps people coming back. Every failure is just another one on the pile. Every small victory is a feat worth celebrating. And unlike a carrot on a stick, roguelikes show you the finish line and dare you to figure out how to get there. Then the game tells you to do it again and again, even harder this time, just so you can unlock all the content. Simply beating these games is never enough. Mastery is always the goal.
If you want comfort, play Stardew Valley.
If you want mastery, play a roguelike.
See how long it takes you to get through that brick wall by smashing your head into it. GOOD LUCK!