GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast

• Kingdom: New Lands

  My kingdom for a horse! This week we play the minimalist, yet deceptively deep tower defense strategy roguelite Kingdom: New Lands. This one-dimensional game is anything but as we dive deep into advanced peasant managing strategy not seen since Warcraft. You have crash landed on an island and must lead it to survival against greedy forest dwelling goblins. Your royal rule by hurling coins at downtrodden beggars is the only thing that stands between you and sailing off into the sunset with your pet wolf and whatever knights you may have paid handsomely to protect you. What else awaits your majesty on the wavey shores to come? Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:20 - game stats 3:02 - one sentence description 5:17 - Basic gameplay mechanics and controls explanation 8:40 - Game’s origins as Flash project for horse animations 11:25 - Tutorial experience and early game confusion 17:27 - Death mechanics and learning curve discussion 24:56 - Attack patterns and timing strategies 29:25 - Frustration with long run times and restarts 36:29 - Wiki usage debate and game inscrutability 44:10 - Blood moon mechanics and visual/audio cues 54:27 - Farming mechanics and builder management confusion 59:03 - Game’s difficulty scaling and strategic depth 1:07:48 - Portal mechanics and teleportation discovery 1:15:20 - rankings and final thoughts 1:25:03 - similar games Next episode: Spelunky Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Harold Land - Lands End Outro music: Amos Roddy - Meadow

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• Best of Roguelike Music - 2025 Summer Music Fest

  Jammin! Summer jammin, that is. Our mid-year summer break featuring the best of roguelike and roguelite music returns featuring some really old games and some really big budget scores. Featuring artists ranging from Makeup & Vanity Set, Noisestorm, Mili, OC Remixers, and shirtless indie devs weilding spears and axes, you have 2 hours of solid roguelike tunes to blast on the UE4 rendered crab rave beach. We’ll turn the clocks backward (as well as our baseball hats) and revisit some certified classics while also shredding and shedding some light on some lesser known titles. A talking-free version of all the tracks featured today can be found on our youtube playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ShOmyMvd4iiH7UO17MilF87AkzdDG2a Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 00:00 - Azure Dreams GBC - Title Theme 05:09 - Cave Noire - Combat Dungeon 11:27 - Toejam & Earl - Toejam Jammin’ 19:20 - Fatal Labyrinth - Floors 1-9 24:36 - Tangledeep - Mysteries of Time 32:50 - Moonring - Angels 40:00 - UnReal World - Outro Theme 48:49 - Noita - Beat of the Kosmos 53:40 - Diablo - Tristram 1:05:40 - Shogun Showdown - Hibiku Wastelands 1:11:25 - AK-xolotl - Sakura Pink Inferno 1:15:27 - Quasimorph - Storm of the Formorians 1:21:05 - Roboquest - Metal Hero 1:26:23 - Crypt of the Necrodancer - Mausoleum Mash 1:31:42 - Brigador - Solo Nobre Must Fall 1:38:13 - Synthetik - Hypernoma 1:44:37 - Crab Champions - Ace 1:48:55 - Library of Ruina - String Theocracy 1:56:00 - Slay the Spire - Battle with the Champ 2:05:00 - Show wind down and next episode preview mystery track! Next episode: Clues in the final outro song for this! Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone

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• Vellum

  The pen is mightier than the sword! This week we crack open that new book smell with a first edition copy of Vellum: the third-person literary hack-and-slash game. We navigate the maze-like stacks, pet some colorful wolf friends, and talk about how many puns is TOO many for understanding a game properly. Don’t be quick to judge a book by it’s steam store page! There’s plenty of spells and quills and swords, but remember: A game a lone a last a loved a long the- Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:22 - game stats 2:50 - one sentence description 6:47 - Hub world complexity and literary theming commitment 12:37 - Overly complex terminology and ability descriptions 19:04 - Enemy design and literary theme implementation 25:33 - “One more run” phenomenon and replay motivation 29:17 - Positive aspects including UI and visual effects 33:00 - Inscription system and meta progression mechanics 38:26 - Vignette encounters and their effectiveness debate 42:54 - Tome selection system and special level rules 48:07 - Progression gating and attunement level complaints 55:39 - End game content and endless mode discussion 1:01:29 - Boss strategy discovery and magical lamp exploit 1:14:13 - rankings and final thoughts 1:22:08 - similar games 1:24:50 - listener correspondence: does the GROGPOD need a public discord channel? Next episode: 2025 Summer Music Fest Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: My Little Brown Book - Duke Ellington, John Coltrane Outro music: Vellum OST - Boss Battle

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• Spiritfall

  Dat ain’t Falco! This week we wavedash into Spiritfall: the platformer beat-em-up with strong influence from the Super Smash Brothers series as well as Hades. The Blight has taken over the lands and your mysterious animal gods have tasked you, the Omenforged, to beat them back. With an array of weapons ranging from an axe-hammer to a scythe that transforms into a baseball bat, join us as we down-smash, L-cancel, and neutral-air our way across deserts, jungles, frozen wastelands, and all the way up to the source of the Blight itself! No Johns in this episode, we promise. Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 2:04 - game stats 3:16 - one sentence description 5:57 Story Overview 8:58 Controls & Tutorial Complexity 12:46 Smash Bros Experience & Wave Dashing 18:10 Combat Mechanics & Arena Types 25:44 Generic Terminology & Art Style 32:38 Comparison to Dead Cells & Boss Fights 39:31 Map Navigation & Decision Making 50:39 Story Completion & Meta Progression 57:28 Hypothetical Smash Bros Crossover 1:22:39 - rankings and final thoughts 1:34:52 - similar games Next episode: Vellum (for real this time) Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Charles Mingus - Mood Indigo Outro music: Spiritfall OST - The Frigid Veil

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• Blue Prince

  Day 967… This week we unlock the enigmatic puzzle adventure / drunken architect simulator Blue Prince! Your wealthy great uncle has left you his strange estate for you to claim as your own, only if you can unravel the mysteries that lie within. I see a black cat with a red flag… pawns among bishops… ChatGPT solving wild word puzzles… IQ bending logical mysteries and more! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 1:04 - game stats 2:33 - one sentence description 4:07 - Spoiler-Free Initial Impressions 9:00 - Multi-Brain Gaming & Spoiler Transition 10:37 - Puzzle Spoilers & Game Mechanics 16:11 - Story Setup & Opening Cinematics 22:13 - Room Drawing Mechanics & RNG 29:05 - Foundation Room & Basement Mechanics 34:13 - Puzzle Solutions & External Help 40:43 - Digital Journal Critique & Comparison to Other Games 50:35 - Board Game vs Video Game Format 55:27 - Specific Gameplay Elements 1:03:02 - Game Design Analysis & Improvements 1:20:26 - listener letter on game pricing 1:29:00 - rankings and final thoughts 1:41:26 - similar games Next episode: Spiritfall (due to last second schedule change after the recording) Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: Dave Brubeck Quartet - Someday My Prince Will Come Outro music: Trigg & Gusset - Bequest

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