Overview

Rogue Legacy is a 2D indie medieval-fantasy action-adventure platformer developed and published digitally by Cellar Door for the PC on June 27, 2013. It received Mac and Linux support on October 15, 2013, was ported to the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita (all released via PlayStation Network) on July 29, 2014, and was ported to the Xbox One (with assistance by Abstraction) on May 27, 2015.
Combining elements of Metroidvania and roguelike games, Rogue Legacy has players exploring the procedurally-generated Castle Hamson as a valiant knight in order to level up and defeat the four bosses scattered throughout. In a twist on the perma-death mechanic, each death causes the player to proceed through their knight's lineage with a choice of one of three randomized descendents (each with their own class, gender, and "special" traits, such as gigantism, color-blindness, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
While the castle is procedurally re-generated for each heir (unless it's "locked down" by the Architect for a fee), the descendent can spend the gold coins collected by their predecessor to upgrade their camp and unlock new upgrades (such as additional character classes, gear, and modified abilities). However, the castle's gatekeeper Charon takes most (if not all) of the heir's leftover gold as a fee for entering the castle.
The game received some updates throughout 2013 (mostly bugfixes), the last being the major v1.2 patch (adding five challenging boss "remixes", one secret class, four additional traits, 28 new room types, the ability to reduce shader effects, and new Steam achievements). It later received a sequel in 2022, known as Rogue Legacy 2.
Classes
Class | Health | Mana | Strength | Intelligence | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barbarian Barbarian King / Queen | 150% | 50% | 75% | 100% | Special: Barbarian Shout - knock back enemies and destroy projectiles. |
Dragon | 40% | 25% | 100% | 100% | Infinite Flight Automatic Mana Regeneration Throws Fireballs instead of attacking. |
Knave Assassin | 75% | 65% | 75% | 100% | Special: Mist Form - turn invisbile and become immune to damage. +15% Critical Chance +125% Critical Damage |
Knight Paladin | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | Special: Guardian Shield - block attacks from any direction. |
Lich Lich King / Queen | 35% | 50% | 75% | 150% | Special: HP Conversion - convert half of Max Health into Max Mana Every kill grants +4 Max HP |
Mage Archmage | 50% | 150% | 50% | 125% | Special: Spell Cycle - switch between three spells. Every Kill grants +6 Mana |
Miner Spelunker / Spelunkette | 50% | 50% | 75% | 100% | Special: Headlamp - removes darkness filter in Dungeon. +30% Gold Earned Can see location of chests in unexplored areas of the map. |
Shinobi Hokage | 60% | 40% | 175% | 100% | Special: Replacement Technique - replaces self with a log, and teleports forward. (Reference to the substitution jutsu from the popular anime series Naruto.) No critical hits |
Spellthief Spellsword | 75% | 40% | 75% | 100% | Special: Empower Spell - casts a more powerful version of equipped spell, does double damage. 30% of damage is converted into Mana |
Note: All values are listed as a percentage of the base stats (Knight / Paladin).
Traits
Trait Name | Game Description | Effects |
---|---|---|
Vertigo | Welcome to barfs-ville. | Inverts the screen. |
Dwarfism | You never get to ride rollercoasters. | The character is about half-size and can get through small passages around the castle. |
Hypergonadism | You're perma-roided. Attacks knock enemies further. | The character's sword attacks have extra-strong knockback. |
O.C.D. | Must. Clear. House. Break stuff to restore MP. | The character gains 1 MP for each object destroyed. |
Dementia | You are insane. | False enemies appear that don't do damage and can't be damaged. |
Ectomorph | You're skinny, so every hit sends you flying. | The character suffers a large amount of knockback when hit. |
Dyslexia | You hvae trboule raednig tinhgs. | Scrambles all but the first and last letter of every word. |
Hypochondriac | You tend to EXAGGERATE. | When the character takes damage, the damage number shown is much higher than the actual value. |
Muscle Wk. | You have weak limbs. Enemies won't get knocked back. | Enemies aren't knocked back when hit. |
Nostalgic | You miss the good old days. | A sepia filter is applied to the graphics, and the first loading screen says "Reminiscing". |
Eid. Mem. | You remember things with extreme clarity. | Enemy locations are tracked on the map. |
Tunnel Vision | No peripheral vision. | No warning indicators for off-screen projectiles. |
Savant | You are very talented. With a few issues | The character's spell changes to a random new one each time it's used. |
Gay | You like the ladies. / You're a fan of the man. | No apparent effects. |
I.B.S. | Even the most valiant heroes can suffer from irritable bowels. | Random fart noises occur. |
ADHD | So Energetic! You move faster. | The character moves much faster. |
E.D.S. | You are very flexible. | The character can change direction while attacking. |
Alektorphobia | Chickens freak you out. | Chicken legs are replaced with headless chickens that run around, dealing minor damage, until they are killed and turn into a normal chicken leg. Chickens appear slightly more often than chicken legs do for other characters. |
Alzheimers | You have trouble remembering where you are. | The main map no longer works and is replaced by question marks. The mini map remains functional. |
Ambilevous | You've got two left hands, and can't cast spells properly. | Projectile spells emit from the character's back when cast. |
Baldness | The bald and the beautiful. | The character is bald, and the first loading screen will say "Balding" rather than "Building". |
C.I.P. | Congenital Insensitivity to Pain. Know no pain. | The health bar is invisible. |
Color Blind | You can't see colors because of monochromancy | The world is entirely black and white. |
Coprolalia | %#&@! | The character swears when hit, and his/her Last Words are a curse rather than a hint. Also reduces recovery time. |
Dextrocardia | Your HP and MP pools are swapped. Who knew? | HP and MP bars swap positions and values. |
Locations
Castle Hamson
Castle Hamson is the first area the player enters with each character, and is connected to the other three areas. It also contains the door leading to the final boss as the player enters. The area's boss is Khidr.
The Forest
The Forest is to the far right of the Castle, and is the third most difficult area. It is the only exterior area of the four, but it is segmented into 'rooms' just like the others. The area's boss is Alexander.
The Maya
The Maya is above the Castle, and is the second most difficult area. It looks like a run-down version of Castle Hamson. The area's boss is Ponce de Leon.
The Darkness
The Darkness, situated below the Castle, is the most difficult area. As the name implies, it is dark, except for a small sphere of light surrounding the player. However, the room's contents can still be seen dimly. The area's boss is Herodotus.
Enemies
Normal
Mini Bosses
Column Head | Column Head |
---|---|
Amon and Barbatos | Amon and Barbatos are giant, twin versions of the game's warlock enemy types. Black in color, they can only be distinguished by the projectiles they fire. Amon favors large ice attacks similar to the Icens and Frostens. While Barbatos casts massive strings of fire balls similar to the Flamelocks and Blazelocks. |
Bosses
Name | Description | |
---|---|---|
Khidr | A giant version of the game's flying eyeball enemy type, Khidr attacks by launching a larger type of the same teardrop shaped projectiles in either a random spread or 4 spiraling lines. | |
Alexander | A giant version of the game's flaming flying-skull enemy type, Alexander attacks by launching a constant stream of energy attacks in the same pattern that the smaller skulls use to attack. As Alexander is damaged smaller skulls spawn to attack the player. | |
Ponce de Leon | A giant version of the game's pyrite/infernite enemies, Ponce de Leon attacks by chasing the play around his chamber in a similar manner to its smaller counterparts while also leaving behind a stream of massive stationary fireballs. | |
Herodotus | A giant version of the game's slime enemy type. The arena contains multiple platforms, and spiketraps along the floor. Herodotus will attack by jumping into the player. Upon "death" will spawn two more smaller slimes and will continue to do so until all are defeated. |
System Requirements
PC
Minimum
- OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
- Processor: 1.6 Ghz
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: X1950 Pro, 7900 GT
- DirectX®: 9.0c
- Hard Drive: 400 MB HD space
Recommended
- OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
- Processor: 2 Ghz
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: HD 4770, 8800 GTX
- DirectX®: 9.0c
- Hard Drive: 400 MB HD space
Mac
Minimum
- OS: Snow Leopard 10.6.8, 32/64-bit
- Processor: Dual Core CPU
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: OpenGL 3.0+ support (2.1 with ARB extensions acceptable)
- Hard Drive: 400 MB HD space
Linux
Minimum
- OS: glibc 2.15+, 32/64-bit. S3TC support is NOT required.
- Processor: Dual Core CPU
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: OpenGL 3.0+ support (2.1 with ARB extensions acceptable)
- Hard Drive: 400 MB HD space