Red Rogue announced, playable

I’m a little late, here: Red Rogue has been out in various playable-but-incomplete forms for months now. (This is what happens when you don’t write in, developers: games bloggers seldom act sua sponte, and I am certainly no exception.)

Red Rogue is a side-scrolling graphical roguelike by Aaron Steed, pitched as a reimagining of the original Rogue. If that sounds like the definitely-not-an-RPG Spelunky, consider that Red Rogue features loot drops, magic spells, stats and leveling-up. It also eschews jumping in favor of walking and climbing ladders. It’s still an RPG, in other words, despite the side-on perspective: it’s not a platformer.

The game uses pixelated sprites for its graphics, and goes for a Schindler’s List aesthetic with black-and-white visuals punctuated by the occasional burst of red. The look has a certain charm to it, I think. Currently, the latest build of the game is freely available to play right here on the developer’s website.

“But Craig,” you might say, “I’m too lazy to click once and instantly play a free game in my browser.” Well, you’re in luck! You can click below and watch someone else play it instead, if that suits you better. Lucky you.

There is no date mentioned as far as a final release goes. However, Aaron tells me that he expects development to continue until the end of the year. He also tells me that he has no plans to make any money off of the game, though he might accept donations once Red Rogue is completed.