Each summer, the r/roguelikedev community has a tutorial series where we all follow along to build a roguelike. I had attempted it in 2018 but got stuck in the middle. I attempted it again in 2020 and made it all the way through. I attempted it again in 2021 and made it halfway. I’m attempting again in 2022.

For the 2020 version I wrote mine in JavaScript instead of Python. Unlike some of the other JavaScript projects, I didn’t use node.js or a build step like webpack. It’s one html file and one js file included with a <script> tag. This is how I prefer to code small projects, and only switch to more organization once the project gets larger.

For the 2021 and 2022 versions I used TypeScript and multiple files bundled together using esbuild so that it is still included with a <script> tag.

I wrote notes in 2020 about how my version differs from the Python tutorial, especially around UI, where I used the browser’s HTML+CSS to build a UI instead of using a console menu. I wrote notes in 2021 about switching to sprites, thin walls, a different map generator, a different visibility approach, and other features I wanted to try. I wrote notes in 2022 about a more “fortress mode” game instead of “adventure mode”. I wanted to implement friendly NPCs and room building.

If you want to build this yourself you’ll need to download the sprites from game-icons.net and put them into the game-icons/ folder.