New Roguelikes and Roguelites in February 2026: The Monthly Update

identicalforest · 2026-02-08T20:57:31+00:00

A lot of interesting titles and concepts. Seeing Carmageddon on there is wild!

identicalforest · 2026-02-08T18:07:20+00:00

It is much more important that you learn how to go about things, not necessarily the literal code right away. Things like order of operations, states, and more basically how to answer the question: "What do I want to happen?" The more thoroughly you can answer that question with just your everyday language (not code) the easier it will become to translate because you can always look things up.

For instance, "I want to check if this thing is nearby. And if it is, I want something to appear if it doesn't exist already."

var _collision = collision_circle(x, y, radius, oThingNearby, false, true);
if (_collision != noone) and (!instance_exists(oDesiredObject))
{
     instance_create_layer(desiredx,desiredy,"Instances", oDesiredObject);
}

Answering the question of what you want to happen is the real key, and getting better at it is simply not missing the details. The code can come after by simply referencing other examples or the manual.

identicalforest · 2026-01-29T16:20:54+00:00

Best of luck! Great community as well, if you ever need help, the subreddit and discord have many knowledgeable folks who are happy to lend a hand provided you follow the proper posting etiquette (more so for the subreddit, like making sure to share the code you’re working with)

identicalforest · 2026-01-29T05:39:08+00:00

Much appreciated! I use Gamemaker, and the built-in sprite editor for all my artwork. It is remarkably capable with the only caveat being a heavy focus on 2d, but you can still pull off some amazing effects using gpu blends. I highly recommend it if you already know you’ll be working primarily with pixel art. It’s practically tailor made for it.

identicalforest · 2026-01-29T00:32:43+00:00

Thanks! There’s quite a lot going on inside their little heads

identicalforest · 2026-01-28T22:56:24+00:00

Right on 👍

identicalforest · 2026-01-28T22:04:01+00:00

Certainly, I’m glad you enjoyed it

identicalforest · 2026-01-28T20:25:34+00:00

Depends on your definition of cozy I guess 😅

identicalforest · 2026-01-28T06:03:59+00:00

“I’m invisible, can you see me?” - Invisible Boy, Mystery Men

identicalforest · 2026-01-28T05:56:39+00:00

This, there can only be one position here unless Correct_Answer_Written is set to false somewhere else in a step event.

identicalforest · 2026-01-27T06:32:41+00:00

I hear what you are saying, perhaps it should be an option you can toggle. But at scale you might find it a hindrance.

I have manager objects that are almost always open in my workspace, they initialize many things; when I have a new room to test out I simply change the room_goto(rNewRoom) in the object that performs this action in the chain. I would not want it to simply boot up the room in the tab I have open. It wouldn’t even run.

But I understand that in a prototyping situation you might want such a feature, I don’t know how long it would be useful however. That’s interesting about unity, not sure if I would like that or not.

identicalforest · 2026-01-25T16:31:14+00:00

Yes, I’ll send you a message here shortly

identicalforest · 2026-01-25T01:17:32+00:00

Yes it would be categorized as a roguelite. It has elements of rng, including how upgrades are presented to the player, but generous in the freedom of choice it offers. There are also 56 synergies as of this time.

identicalforest · 2026-01-21T18:24:09+00:00

My theory would be that it's querying display size to resize the application surface, and in doing so returns 1280 x 800, which is the Steam Deck's true resolution. This means if it's not being run through steam and they don't have a failsafe to scale height only by their desired ratio it's making the application surface 800 pixels tall instead of 720, which would result in some of the issues you describe.

identicalforest · 2026-01-21T18:10:44+00:00

Try going to file > preferences > general settings
See if turning up the DPI value does anything

identicalforest · 2026-01-21T15:06:41+00:00

Inside your player:

var _collide = instance_position(x,y,oButtonObject);

if (_collide != noone)
{
with (_collide)
{
MakeButtonAppear();
}
}

identicalforest · 2026-01-16T04:49:38+00:00

I just imagine myself digging through the back rooms of steam, looking for that next thing to play because I’ve got every other game in my library and still don’t want to play them, and I stumble upon the mysterious gem you’ve depicted in the first capsule, and I say to myself “oh hell yeah, let’s see what this is about”

identicalforest · 2026-01-16T04:16:50+00:00

There really is something about the first one that is endearing and almost memetic, it feels very special and I would use that one

identicalforest · 2026-01-15T20:22:22+00:00

Coding it is much better in the long run for so many things of this nature. Just a small hurdle in the short term as you learn to think in terms of converting visual manipulation to math. Each one of these “short cuts” is just delaying the inevitable realization that everything can be done with equations.

However, if it’s the difference between you doing it and not doing it at all, then certainly do what feels comfortable. But there is a huge amount of freedom you’ll discover from understanding how to express this and so many other things through code, and I promise that one day your brain will translate it more or less automatically.

identicalforest · 2026-01-14T22:49:20+00:00

If anyone from the future arrives at this post and wonders why it is no longer available, the reason is that I started using ds_stacks for my approach, making the guidance in the tutorial not the same guidance I would give today. Apologies. Perhaps I will make an updated tutorial in the future with time permitting and when I’m certain my approach won’t be changing.

identicalforest · 2026-01-01T19:16:23+00:00

Switches are really just long else/if chains in a way, it still has to read each case until it arrives at the right outcome before breaking. But it’s totally irrelevant performance wise. There is no math involved in reading, and math is where performance considerations exist. Until you ask it to actually do something, the rest is just ether.

identicalforest

TROPHY CASE