One game that I really love and can play over and over again is Hades, the rogue-like dungeon crawler released by Supergiant Games. Like many rogue-likes, it uses its mechanics to limit and even take away the rewards of the player. Each run, all of the gold and gems the player acquires will be lost upon their death, as well as any weapon upgrades or “boons”, powerups from various gods within the game, that they managed to find in the dungeon. However, there are a few permanent powerups that can be achieved by managing other resources outside of the dungeon that will carry over throughout each run, but these are much harder to accumulate. An additional mechanic is the fact that the main storyline also will only progress after each death, oftentimes only after specific goals have been achieved, such as killing Hades and making it to the surface, or upon meeting certain characters within the dungeon, such as for the Orpheus and Eurydice plotline. However, these encounters are randomized and can easily be missed entirely from run to run.
Together, these mechanics that may seem limiting or frustrating when described make for a very satisfying and exciting gameplay experience. First and foremost for me is the joy and aesthetic of discovery, as well as challenge. Losing resources every run urges the player to spend it while they can rather than playing more conservatively, so before a big boss fight, for example, it is more wise to buy everything in the powerup shop, even if it’s not something you would normally use. Similarly, the randomized nature of encounters and boons creates an entirely new experience each run. While there are some powerups that permanently increase the chance of certain boons appearing more frequently, you can never be entirely certain what your build will be, leading the player to leaning in and adapting to new combinations they haven’t considered before. The necessity of death to advance the game also helps to sap some of the frustration of “losing” repeatedly, meaning at times I was almost excited to fail at my goal because it meant another chance to talk to my favorite characters. Overall, Hades does a great job of using its rogue-like mechanics to inspire huge amounts of fun rather than frustration by allowing players to try new things and go all in, and it ties it in well with the overarching narrative.
