New Scientist - 21.09.2019

32 | New Scientist | 21 September 2019

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WHEN Apple launched the iPod

Shuffle, people complained that

its shuffling function didn’t work

as advertised – songs by the same

artist seemed to be clustering, so

one David Bowie track, say, would

swiftly be followed by another.

In fact, this kind of clustering

is exactly what we would expect.

A random algorithm makes no

effort to “remember” what has

come before, so it makes for an

unsatisfying listening experience.

In the end, Apple tweaked its

software to avoid repetition.

“We’re making it less random to

make it feel more random,” said

the CEO at the time, Steve Jobs.

I was reminded of this playing

Rad, a game set in a 1980s-tinged

future following not one, but

two apocalypses. As you explore

a nuclear wasteland and vanquish

enemies, your character randomly

mutates to gain new abilities, such

as an arm that shoots fire or a

snake head that spits poison.

Rad is a roguelike, a genre

named after the 1980 game Rogue,

which sees players delve into a

dungeon full of monsters and

magic items (itself inspired by

the classic Dungeons & Dragons).

Rogue uses text characters to

represent everything in the world,

for example, the @ symbol is the

player. Meanwhile, the dungeon

is generated by an algorithm

each time you start up, giving it

the potential for huge variety.

I like to think of roguelikes as

storytelling machines – ideally,

your experience will be

completely different from

someone else’s, making it fun

to swap anecdotes with friends.

That said, like the altered version

of the iPod Shuffle, roguelikes

aren’t truly random – if they were,

you’d end up with a game that was

impossible to complete. In other

words, a dash of order is key to

making randomness enjoyable.

Unfortunately, Rad hasn’t quite

got the balance right. Surprise and

discovery are a huge part of the

Who wants a predictable life? Roguelike games are storytelling machines

in which everyone’s experience is different. But they only work if the balance

between order and randomness feels right, says Jacob Aron

“ Roguelikes are not

truly random – if

they were, the game

would be impossible

to complete”

Game

Rad

Double Fine

PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

and Nintendo Switch

Jacob also

recommends...

Games

Spelunky

Mossmouth

PC and PlayStation 4

FTL: Faster Than Light

Subset Games

PC and iOS

roguelike genre, but with Rad, I

found myself acquiring the same

mutations again and again. Each

time I died and started a new game,

I had less of an urge to continue

playing, as it felt like I wasn’t

seeing anything novel, which

doesn’t make for a great story.

Other roguelikes are well worth

checking out, however. Spelunky,

the king of modern roguelikes,

is a near-perfect balance of order

and chaos. The levels are never

the same, but everything within

the game is utterly predictable,

allowing you to set up chains

of actions such as throwing a

bomb to blast a stone into the air,

triggering a trap to kill a snake. You

can’t help but laugh as you play.

For my taste, though, Spelunky

is still a bit unforgiving as you

start from scratch every time.

I prefer Rogue Legacy, which

sees you play as a member of a

long-running dynasty, each with

their own quirks such as short-

sightedness or vertigo. When you

die, you get to keep certain items

and upgrades from the previous

run, allowing you to progress

further into the game’s randomly

generated castle. This persistence

isn’t completely true to the roots

of the roguelike genre, but it

strikes the right balance for me.

Finally, some roguelikes

abandon the dungeon trapping,

but retain the randomness to

generate unique experiences.

If you are a Star Trek fan, check

out FTL: Faster Than Light, which

has you command a spacecraft

and crew. Hopping between

star systems, you can live out

your Captain Picard fantasies,

managing power levels, or

depressurising the ship to put out

fires. Just don’t jettison the crew. ❚

BANDAI NAMCO

In Rad, your character

randomly mutates to

gain new abilities

The games column

Jacob Aron is New Scientist’s

deputy news editor. He has

been playing video games

for 25 years, but still isn’t

very good at them. Follow

him on Twitter @jjaron