GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast

The Mass…it hungers! This week we’re chalking up our hands to summit White Knuckle: the precision platformer horror roguelite that blends Half-Life, Portal, and SCP into an adrenaline-packed horror hunting you down at every turn. You are a newly recruited maintenance worker arriving on site to service some haunted siloes. Luckily someone had the good sense to install some hand holds to help you escape, as well as leaving rebar rods, pills, fully loaded syringes, and cute gigantic grubs behind. Grip your way out of the substructure, uncover the horrifying experiments left behind, and seek the surface! Scott was able to interview the devs of White Knuckle for our 2025 winter special episode which can be found here! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 01:04 - Game Stats 02:21- One Sentence Description 4:00 - Control Scheme: Left Click & Right Click as Your Two Literal Hands 5:38 - Early Access Status, Difficulty Curve & Stress Factor 11:33 - Permadeath Anxiety 15:00 - Room Memorization, Module Rotation & Variety 22:40 - Item System: Pitons, Rebar, Power-Ups & DNA Altering Perks 25:46 - The Mass 33:02 - Score System 36:13 - Music & Sound Design 38:11 - Biome One: Deep Storage Silos, Giant Fans & Barnacle Enemies 41:47 - Interlude Lockdown: Safe Zone, Save System & Floppy Disc Biological Backup 52:22 - Pipe Works: Drainage System, Waste Heap Strider vs. Pipe Organ 1:21:43 - Rankings & Final Thoughts 1:32:10 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down Next episode: No Man’s Sky Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 3 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: White Knuckle OST - Lockdown

Death to Chronos! This week we brew up an incantation to summon the sequel of one of our top 5 roguelites of the podcast: Hades 2! The famed house of the Underworld has been captured by the Titan of Time and it’s up to you: Melinoë, the sister of Zagreus hidden away by the Halloween hat touting goddess of the Crossroads Hecate. The only way to restore your family is to destroy time itself by delving down into the Underworld, but also by summiting Mount Olympus itself. It’s twice the adventure, twice the polycule relationships, and twice the metaprogression resources! So mote it be! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 01:08 - Game Stats & Listener Request Week Returns! 03:00 - One Sentence Description 9:14 - First Impressions 16:57 - Melinoë & Her Motivations 34:30 - Arcana Cards, Omega Attacks, Magick & Selene’s Hex System 40:51 - New Gods: Selene, Hera’s Hitch, Hephaestus, Apollo & Elemental Infusions 50:32 - Erebus & Hecate 57:36 - Oceanus & Scylla ft. the Sirens 1:05:08 - Fields of Mourning & The Infernal Beast 1:09:59 - Tartarus & Chronos 1:20:33 - Mount Olympus Surface Path: Polyphemus, Eris, Prometheus & Beyond 1:38:39 - Rankings & Final Thoughts 1:49:53 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down Next episode: White Knuckle Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 3 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Hades 2 OST - Coral Crown

C-c-c-combo maker! This week we hunt through the forests of new roguelite releases and encounter Combolands: the town-building, deck-building, point-building game that takes its inspiration from the greats like Balatro and Luck Be A Landlord. Choose two of seven guilds to harness the power of natural resources, trade goods, sand fighting pits, and bees to clear a point goal every milestone. Grow your town council and make number go up! Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 01:13 - Game Stats 03:01 - One Sentence Description 4:16 - Splash Art: Board Game Cover, King & Council Aesthetic Debate 10:29 - Guild System: 7 Guilds, Pick 2 in Monster Train Style 13:03 - Ascension Difficulty System: Additive Modifiers Stacking to Level 10 16:50 - The Meeples: Horrific Shadow People & In-Game Pixel Art Praised 18:34 - Scoring Animations: City Building vs Balatro Flames 23:18 - Building System: Terrain Features & Placed Tiles All One Category 33:31 - Shop Design: Relics, Blueprints & No Elite Monsters? 37:56 - Council Request System 45:17 - Winning Moments 55:05 - Abstraction on Abstraction vs Universal Poker Knowledge 1:03:49 - Wish List For Future Content 1:04:58 - Rankings & Final Thoughts 1:14:02 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down Next episode: Hades 2 Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 3 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Combolands Town Theme - Meydän

Rakanishu! We have quite a treasure in the Horadric podcast this week by summoning the remaster of one of the highest rated procedural generation games of all time: Diablo 2 Resurrected! The first action-RPG to feature a permadeath option, Diablo 2 was nothing if not foundational for its particular genre what with selling at least 25 million copies. The remaster brings a fresh new lighting system, controller support, not having to fumble with weird ISOs, and a wildly imbalanced new character class with the Warlock. Stay a while and listen once more as we follow a mysterious wanderer to the east…always to the east. Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 01:44 - Game Stats 03:36 - One Sentence Description 04:12 - Yeah We Know It’s Not A Roguelike…But… 9:43 - Speedruns vs. Casual 20-Hour Experience 13:22 - Class & Build Variety 17:22 - Multiplayer Hardcore Act 1 21:38 - Growing Up With Diablo 2 36:24 - New Warlock Class 40:07 - Named Champion Packs: Color-Coded Elites & Monster Name Generator 44:58 - The Solo Hardcore Experience and Roguey-ness 47:37 - Story and Remastered Cinematics 1:09:22 - Diablo 2’s Diverse Cast 1:18:46 - Rankings & Final Thoughts 1:31:02 - Similar Games & Show Wind Down Next episode: Combolands Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 2 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/ Outro music: Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction Main Menu Theme

At PAX West this year I had a great time interviewing Angel Polanco: the solo dev behind the incredibly well-rated bullet hell roguelite The Void Rains Upon Her Heart! An incredibly interesting game from mechanics, boss designs, art, story, I couldn’t wait until our usual end-of-year PAX interview episode to publish. It was a great conversation where we talked in depth about the designs and motivations behind it. Very thankful again to Angel and the support staff handling the booth at PAX for letting me grab some interveiw time at the end of the 2nd of all day showcasing in front of the public! Find The Void Rains Upon Her Heart on Steam here! Soundtrack on Steam here Custom RSS Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Transcript 3:06 - Interview Start 4:10 - PAX Weekend Impressions 7:00 - Record-Breaking Steam Reviews 8:14 - Solo Dev Life: Programming, Art, Music & Community Bug-Hunting 9:28 - Development Prioritization: Following Gut Feeling to Avoid Burnout 11:02 - Touhou & Kirby Design Inspirations 13:15 - Difficulty Design & Accessibility 15:56 - Boss Design Philosophy: Start Simple, Combine Mechanics Progressively 27:39 - Undertale Influence: Pacifist-Only Path, Love Bosses Into Acceptance 31:17 - Hades-Like Story Driven Narrative 34:08 - Player Character Designs: Alien Looks & Deeply Human Feelings 45:43 - Success Beyond Expectations, Game as Diary & Future Plans Contact us at [email protected]! https://grogpod.zone Intro music: TVRUHH OST - Blank Melody Outro music: TVRUHH OST - Heaven Sends Its Love