The GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast is a bi-weekly show about four friends talking about a featured Roguelike game. We cover the full spectrum of titles, from the more modern, action-oriented games like Binding of Isaac and Hades to the traditonal roguelike designs of games like Cogmind and Caves of Qud. Join us each episode as we unpack what makes a roguelike game fun (or not) and then rank it against the compendium we've compiled thus far.
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!
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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 grogpodzone@gmail.com!
https://grogpod.zone
Intro music: GROGPOD Theme 3 by Balatro composer LouisF - https://louisfmusic.com/
Outro music: Combolands Town Theme - Meydän
22 Sept 2026
Diablo 2: Resurrected (with Robert Lippens)
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.
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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 grogpodzone@gmail.com!
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
15 Sept 2026
The Void Rains Upon Her Heart: Interview with Developer Angel Polanco
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
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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 grogpodzone@gmail.com!
https://grogpod.zone
Intro music: TVRUHH OST - Blank Melody
Outro music: TVRUHH OST - Heaven Sends Its Love
Who has been a guest on GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Balatro
DoomRL
Heat Signature
Into the Breach
Inscryption
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
46,786
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.5 / 5
15 ratings
Spotify
4.7 / 5
25 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 62 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
74
Social presence
0
YouTube
76
Engagement
51
Contact GROGPOD Roguelike Podcast
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
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