Show HN: Asterogue, my sci-fi roguelike, is now playable on the web | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Asterogue, my sci-fi roguelike, is now playable on the web

asterogue.com

331 pointschr15m95 comments

Asterogue is a "juicy" graphical coffeebreak roguelike I made that is pretty much directly inspired by the original Rogue in terms of scope and features. You descend 17 levels into the heart of an asteroid to find The Orb and save the universe. There are a bunch of different monsters which get progressively harder as you descend. Instead of magic there is technology and you can pick up nanotech items and beakers of chemicals to buff your character (or hurt them if you get unlucky).

I built Asterogue over the course of a couple of months while I was bored on a break from work due to illness. The game was always built with web tech but I only released it on Android and Windows at first because that seemed to be the right way to release a game. Well I recently realized maybe the right way is the wrong way. Maybe this web thing really is catching on. So now I'm trying out a web release to see if I can make it easier for more people to play Asterogue. So far this is working well and the game is getting more daily players than it ever did as a native app, which I'm very grateful for!

For the web based version I am trying a new payment model. The original Asterogue was like most other games in that you simply buy it in the app store or on Itch and download the game. This time around I am trying a new experiment with this and instead of buying a downloadable binary, you can play the first few levels free in your browser and then you pay one-time to unlock the full game online if you want to continue. I think this strikes a nice balance for players as you get to try it out and only continue if you're actually into the game once you have picked up the vibe. I haven't really seen this done before with web based games so it's all a bit of an experiment.

This release also includes a bunch of fixes and new features based on feedback I received from players after the native version was release.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my little roguelike game. Have fun!

Quick question, does purchasing the game from your website also give you the windows version as well? I’d like to see if I can run it on my steam deck but it’s not clear to me if you only get the browser version or not. The Itch.io page for your game mentions the windows and Linux packages (and it’s cheaper?) so I wanted to check before buying.

No it is only for access to the web version at this point, sorry!

It is fun, nice one :-)

Glad to see more web games! The zero install/instant load aspect is such a huge advantage for the web. I am interested to see people's experience with monetization on web vs app stores.

These days it's possible to do almost any mobile game as a web game. I recently discovered this very polished (despite the cartoony graphics) battle royale: https://gooberdash.winterpixel.io/ and the creator has an HN post describing how they did it (Godot with wasm threads): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40372308

Another good source on the technical aspects of porting to the web is Sebastian Altonen, a very good graphics programmer who works at a company called HypeHype doing a kind of TikTok-but-Roblox hybrid. He is currently porting from WebGL to WebGPU and posting a lot about it here: https://x.com/SebAaltonen

Thanks for posting my game. Seeing this post get traction while my posts on HN got none was a bit of a heart breaker.

Well, I can understand why HN might go for a sci-fi roguelike over a game aimed at kids, even if it is technically impressive. If you made a blog post about a couple of interesting technical or business details you might get traction that way.

Stunning physics and guidance! It's a nice casual game

Game is super fun multiplayer experience, def recommend.

No need to be rude to OP. Their game is very nice, and is no more or less deserving of success than yours.

Would love to hear a bit about the tech stack or engine you used (if any)!

They reference these on the site's about page:

https://chr15m.itch.io/roguelike-browser-boilerplate

https://ondras.github.io/rot.js/hp/

https://www.oryxdesignlab.com/products/tiny-galaxy-tileset

https://nostalgic-css.github.io/NES.css/

https://sfxr.me/

This is a really neat game. I love how you're showing that you can build fun small games on the web. I always toy with the idea of doing gamedev and seeing things like this are both fun and inspirational.

Looks awesome, I really enjoy the atmosphere of the game.

This being Hackernews, there's is generally a great interest in both the technical as well as the business side of projects such as this. Would you be ready to share some insights into how well a game like this (which is targeting certainly a niche) can do financially, both with respect to the investment as well as the revenue side of things?

Sorry if this question might be out of your comfort zone.

This is awesome! I have made games for the browser a few times but always felt it wasn't a "serious" way to make a marketable game. Really cool to see someone else taking it seriously!

Thanks a lot ! That's a nice simple game that brings back good old memories !

I was playing from iPad on iOS 17 and when I've reached level 16 and went to the stairs to the next level, the page crashed and reloaded. Is that something of a bug? It didn't look like it was an ending (if there is one) and my high score didn't get saved :/

And also… what is it with monsters so often stealing the valuables? The items are degrading already, why everybody is just so often running away with your stuff? And why they just disappear and you can’t find and kill them yo get your stuff back?

And do items like discs change their function between runs? I’ve noticed that on some runs blue discs or Goonies increase health while on other runs they do nothing.

And sort of a bug report: on iPhone, if you switch from Safari to another app and then back, the music stops working until you reload the page, go to the settings, change music volume to 0 and then back to some value.

OMG I'm so sorry. See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42093590

I have fixed the bug and if you do a hard refresh you should get the fixed version.

PSA: I've pushed a new build that fixes the show-stopping bug where getting to the last level crashes your tab. A hard refresh (ctrl-shift-R) should get you the new build.

I'm absolutely mortified that 23k people played the game with this bug present. I can't facepalm hard enough right now. My apologies and thank you for your patience!

Thank you! Can hard refresh be done in some way manually on iOS without using “clear _all_ website data” option?

Great work!

I played for a few minutes but then I couldn't pick up anything because I could only carry 6 items. After a few cycles of "let's see what I can drop to pick up the new thing" I just stopped playing, because that is not a fun loop to me.

You have to go into your inventory to use/consume the items. It’s very nicely done.

tip: you can apply the medkits right away as you have less health

It's really nicely done. And the effort you put into it is clearly visible. Great work and all the best!

On the subject of scifi roguelikes, I've sunk 700+ hours into Jupiter Hell. I've been playing roguelikes since the original Rogue in the 80s and I think JH is the GOAT: skill tree that rewards experimentation, learning curve that never feels unfair, and that "just one more level" itch propelling you forward. Add in a fresh take on ranged combat mechanics, a strip-it-to-essentials design (a winning run takes me ~3h on Ultraviolence), and a legitimately good custom 3D engine, and you have something that I think will be recognized as a classic for years.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/811320/Jupiter_Hell/

You are me. Will check JH. Thanks.

Jupiter Hell is basically just the commercial release of Doom Roguelike, with better controls and graphics and the name changed because of copyright. So if you like Doom and you like roguelikes it's right up your alley.

Quite surprised to see JH mentioned here, it's a great game! Also in some way it reminds me of Heat Signature, which is not the same game at all, and yet somehow has the same kind of vibe for me.

If you want another way to lose time, check out Rift Wizard.

looks awesome. But I do not vibe too much with turn based games. Anything similar but "realtime" ?

Chris is also the developer behind rogule[0], a daily roguelike dungeon in a similar style as wordle or tradle type games.

Absolutely been enjoying it the past year.

[0]: https://rogule.com/game.html

Second that. Been roguling almost daily. It's great although I'm now finding it's either a bit too easy, or impossible.

Exactly. Sometime I’m surrounded completely without changes of going around something with two three level 5-6 creatures in the beginning at level 3.

Glad you're enjoying Rogule, thanks for playing!

It's amazing to me how often I hear things like this even though the level gen hasn't changed. I think maybe what happens is people get really good at it and can then only be defeated by really hard levels or unlucky combat rolls.

Yeah it's because of figuring out some strategy. Probably difficult to avoid that while keeping to the minimalist vibe of the game.

Adding potions/scrolls with random effects could mix it up. Maybe more of a fog of war/roaming monsters too?

I love the aesthetic.

Couple nits:

I have no idea how I expected the browser back button to work, but whatever it did do surprised me a bit. During gameplay, it might be nice to have an "are you sure you want to go back?" before it exits.

I'd recommend running spell check on your in-game messages. I already saw "Weilding X" instead of "Wielding X"

I'll give it a further go.

I just grepped the source and wow, literally every instance of wielding is spelled wrong, including variable names. I've updated it, thank you (will push it once HN is done thrashing my VPS). Will also have a think about how to improve the back button thing!

At least you're consistent! :)

I just did a quick run down to the paywall, and it's fun! Good coffeebreak game, and I like the vibe a lot. I'll buy it shortly.

I'm not sure if more mechanics show up later in the game, but this feels like the kind of game that needs traps or other landscape threats, even if they're 100% detectable. Maybe there are cooler / more complicated items coming, but the tactics so far are pretty light.

I personally also have qualms about tiled roguelikes that don't let you move/attack on diagonals, but I understand wanting to keep the keyset simple.

I was a bit confused by the sight radius at first, because it was hard for me to distinguish which parts of the map were uncovered and which parts were covered but black because of the background. I wonder if you could add some sort of transparent "fog" or something over unsighted areas, so that you still see the space background but also make it clear that tiles have not been sighted.

Hopefully this stuff helps.

The number of RPG players who think they're playing a 'rouge' is too damn high. It feels almost atmospheric that wield is misspelled.

Loving it so far!

My only comment is that it feels like there are too many items for the amount of inventory space.

There will be rooms completely littered with boots that you just walk past. Every time you see something interesting like a potion you have to first chuck away a pair of boots before you can pick it up and drink it.

One suggestion is to allow for HJKL or WASD movement. Arrow keys are fine and intuitive, but not in the best location. I remember playing nethack years ago and it had the HJKL system.

I wonder sometimes how much playing moria drew me to VI over emacs.

Emacs' dealing poorly with choppy internet connections was the main reason I went back to vi very quickly after trying it, but it wasn't the only reason.

One thing that I really liked was the "discoverability" of the user interface.

I started to walk around, picking things up. Then, I noticed a little "i" on the bottom left. I typed "i", and it opened the inventory. Very good!

Now, the "i" was replaced by an "x". I really expected that "x" would close the inventory... but it didn't. :-(

Unless the "x" letter is reserved for something important, it would be nice if it could be used to close dialogs!

Also wish "i" wasn't the only way to open inventory. It feels awkward having to move my hand from "i" to the top row numbers, then back to the arrow keys.

A nice game.

But when I drop something by clicking on the red X button, the item should drop to my feet and not become permanently lost. If the game can't stack items, it could go in a random nearby space. If there are no empty spaces, I can accept that I can't drop it. Oh, I didn't check if monsters can step above items.

It was pretty jarring when the game stopped 3 levels in to ask me for money. I guess it technically says "3 free levels" on the splash screen. Perhaps OP could use the word "demo" somewhere in this post.

Thanks for the feedback, I will update the landing page with make it clearer the full game is paid. I also added this paragraph to my post which hopefully makes it clearer:

> For the web based version I am trying a new payment model. The original Asterogue was like most other games in that you simply buy it in the app store or on Itch and download the game. This time around I am trying a new experiment with this and instead of buying a downloadable binary, you can play the first few levels free in your browser and then you pay one-time to unlock the full game online if you want to continue. I think this strikes a nice balance for players as you get to try it out and only continue if you're actually into the game once you have picked up the vibe. I haven't really seen this done before with web based games so it's all a bit of an experiment.

Thanks for checking it out!

The popup should show after clearing some goal. Up to level 3 all I've done is picked up items and slain a few small animals.

I think something about the timing of it feels off to me as well. I'm no stranger to payment screens; I grew up playing shareware floppies. I think the difference is that, let's take a game like Monster Bash for example: you can play up until you beat the first boss, and it feels pretty epic, and then there is a splash screen after the epic boss fight which is essentially a "You think that was awesome? Want more? Mail us at XYZ for Episodes 2, 3 and 4 to discover the rest of the journey."

I totally mailed them and had to have more of that.

For this I'm not sure because I don't suggest changing the game drastically, however it feels like there should be some epic fun thingfirst, usually after an hour or so, and then right after that is when you ask the player if they want more. In order for them to pay they would probably need to feel like they already got a very good amount for free and that they now feel generous. This is a cute game but I'm not getting that feeling so I struggle with this.

For the creator: please don't take this as anything negative about the game! It's fun and I like it. But monetization is hard and I'm just offering my previous experiences where I've personally seen it work successfully.

Wonder if OP has given any thought to an ad supported version for the cheapskates among us :-)

I enjoyed it, though for my taste it was maybe a little too simplistic and easy. The original rogue is before my time, but at one point I got very hooked on brogue (https://sites.google.com/site/broguegame/) and this reminded me very much of that.

If a game called 'brogue' doesn't teach you to understand a colloquial Scottish accent and slang, I don't even know what we're doing here.

Brogue also means "to fish for eels by disturbing the waters", and most pools of water in the game are infested with eels.

Great game! I like to experiment with different game frameworks myself (currently on pico8). What "web tech" did you use to build it?

It gives you a list of the tech in the About section when you first start the game.

Aha thanks!

It's HTML, CSS, and vanilla JS (except for the ROT.js library which is fantastic!).

Thanks for this! Some notes:

- food clock is kind of arbitrary (I went four levels without finding any food), or else I'm just not diving nearly fast enough.

- game crashed when I descended from level 16

- the only difference I can figure out between various monsters are: some are stationary, some wander, and some chase you. I can't tell whether they all steal money from you or steal items or just some of them.

Fun overall, I'm happy to have paid the $5 just for the chiptune Holst.

I'm really sorry about the crash! See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42093590

I have fixed the bug and if you do a hard refresh you should get the fixed version.

Sound settings should not wrap back around to max when you hit the "volume down" button a lot.

Thanks, will fix!

Love the 8-bit Holst :)

In Nethack, there is a command (i think under comma or semicolon) where you stand on an item and it tells you what it is. That is, what the character knows about the item. It helps when I run into an unfamiliar term.

It was quite unexpected that a hatchet is used up after you kill a monster with it and you need to go find another one. Same with boots/mitts, they somehow disappear, and I’m not sure they should. There is no descriptive message to know when exactly this happens, too.

The number of uses an item has before it is destroyed is listed right next to the item. xn means it will be gone after n uses.

I love rogue games and recently spent an unreasonable amount of time trying to beat Angband (and failing). This is refreshingly simple, very playable on mobile too. Good luck!

If anyone else wants to ride the angband-family-of-games train, join us at angband.live :) A bunch of angband variants are available to play in-browser!

I wake up, and go on hacker news to see what people are doing. With my coffee in hand I play your game, fingers still cold. I loved it. Reminds me of when I was younger. Fun names to all the monsters.

Also, even other lightweight games like this that I've tried before sometimes stutter, or take forever to load in, this is amazing.

If I can ask what kind of tech stack is used to make something this smooth, and run on the web?

I've been Rogule-ing for so long that I'll just buy it as a big thank you.

Also, why the gear cannot be dropped and only destroyed? :(

Spamming arrow keys makes you move faster than simply holding them down, this is pretty frustrating

You don't want to hold down keys in roguelikes. It results in you trying to queue up 20 attack commands on a monster you're way too weak to fight, or something similar.

Cool game! I just attempted to enter level 17, and there appeared to be an infinite loop which caused it to crash, and it no longer appears to remember my progress. Is this a really meta way to win, or just unfortunate timing?

I'm so sorry about this! See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42093590

I have fixed the bug and if you do a hard refresh you should get the fixed version.

Thanks for the fix!

Sooo, what is money for?

Cool game. I'm very interested in making web games in vanilla HTML/CSS/JS, so I'll take a better look at it when I have some time.

BTW, you might be breaking the Geneva Convention by using the red cross for the medkits.

Probably not related to this game exclusively but whenever I click on the screen, Firefox selects the canvas and the entire map gets a blue screen on top. Is there some way to modify this behaviour?

Wow, wonderful! Love the rendition of "Jupiter". Really a delightful experience.

On mobile, I'd prefer movement on the left, and inventory on the right.

How do I descend after clearing a level?

There is a stairs looking square in each level.

There were easily visible stairs in my level 1 and level 3, but on level 2 I walked around the whole map twice without finding them. Possibly I was just being oblivious, but I eventually tried moving sideways onto what I thought was a slightly odd looking wall segment (I wish I remembered what exactly made me think it looked odd), and suddenly I was on the next level.

I don't know whether somehow the stairs icon just blended in with the walls unexpectedly well and I managed to not recognize it in that context (which seems possible but hard for me to believe, given how much time I spent walking in circles looking for stairs), or whether something odd was going on with the icon being different or distorted for some reason.

Bought it after 5 minutes of play. Cool ambiance, great UI, will get a broader play in later!

Hey this is pretty nice.

Played it on my phone.

No minimap. Got lost. Starved.

Controls were surprisingly ez.

Catchy music. Good ui. Pretty graphics.

I dig it.

I assume that you are familiar with DCSS.

Great use of "Jupiter" by Gustav Holst on the main screen! Strong Bluey vibes. :)

I am somewhat confused by the item stats. What does “+2 (x3)” mean?

The things we'd do back in the day to find a system we could play rogue on.

I really love this game! Is there any plan to make it open source?

I love the 8-bit holst soundtrack. Great work and feel for the game!

I'd love to be able to make stuff like this, very cool!

Love the music retro look and feel. Awesome work here!

Finally, I have been waiting for this release :)

How are you selling it? If i put down my email and buy it, what do I get? A link to the complete version? Are you at all concerned that people would just copy the source code?

It was fun :)

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