Rogue-likes and Japanese Architecture

Like many people, I enjoy rogue-likes and dungeon crawlers.  The mix of loot, exploration and a possibility of the game-ending death create an enjoyable experience.  For me this started with Dungeons of Dredmor; one of the more recent examples of the traditional rogue-like formula which I played a lot in my second year at uni.  As well as experiencing my first rogue-like, I was learning about Japanese architecture and today here I am mashing the two together like some Frankenstein’s monster. 

Japanese design (like other nations) is connected to its culture and heritage; with particular mention of Shinto-Buddhism and its mythology of ‘balance’.  In Japanese architecture, one of the tenants of design is ‘symmetrical design within asymmetrical concepts’ or something along those lines.  The delivery system for this is most commonly the tatami mat; a straw mat roughly 900x1800 (mm +/- 10%) used to plan floor layouts.  Examples of this which I particularly like are traditional farmhouses which use the mats and different height levels to make cool looking pieces.  So, by taking this philosophy of design one can see some similarities in the spotlight. 

Rogue-likes and dungeon crawlers (Torchlight 2 being my favourite of the later) work on a creation of random maps within a catalogue of possible fragments pieced together.  When it all comes together (combined with a horde of goblins and loot bags) it creates the whole package, much like the tatami mats and houses under the Shinto theory of balance.  Every game and every player experiencing the genre can be given the same building blocks but create their own adventure and explore their own world. 

There are some games that do this while applying their own design flourishes which I feel are worth discussing.  The 2d-castlevania rogue-like ‘Rogue Legacy’ uses these tenants alongside distinct environments that have their own sets of pieces like traps, platform formations and general obstacles.  Beyond the rogue-likes, there are other genre’s that also take this design theory, like Warframe (which I’ll look to do a talk on at a later date) that breaks down the design room by room.  Next time you look to play a game (particularly a rogue-like or dungeon crawler) consider this design philosophy and where the pieces maybe fitting together.  The literal pieces will be at door-frames and corridors, but maybe some pieces will be a bit harder to define. 

As I mentioned in my introduction, I believe architecture and video games have an interesting connection that can be drawn if one takes a minute to have a look.  To use a ‘correct’ term you’d probably say transformative work but I feel that this blog is trying to have a bit of fun exploring the medium. 

I hope this provides some thought and I look forward to writing more in-depth pieces in the future.  

References:

*Dungeons of Dredmor, Gaslamp Games, July 2011

*Torchlight 2, Runic Games, September 2012

*Rogue Legacy, Cellar Door Games, June 2013

*Warframe, Digital Extremes, October 2012 (ongoing)

*Oliver, P. Dwellings, Phaidon, London. (2007)