· by zenorogue.bsky.social ·6h ago · view on bsky.app ↗

How popular are various keywords in the English #Steam reviews of games of different categories? Some categories are less popular, so we rescale accordingly. For example, "Metaprogression" appears in 0.28% bullet heaven reviews and 0.16% spirelike reviews, so the spirelike bar is shorter.

1 comments — live from bluesky

Zeno Rogue · 1 · 6h ago

And the color of the game corresponds to how many reviews containing that keyword are positive. For example, actual #roguelike games usually have no metaprogression, and reviewers who mention the lack of metaprogression in these games usually consider this a good thing.

Zeno Rogue · 0 · 6h ago

The word "synergy" appears mostly in Spire-like reviews, as could be expected. In the roguelike category it appears in Path of Achra and other Rift-Wizard-likes, but rare otherwise.

Zeno Rogue · 0 · 6h ago

Procedural generation is strong in roguelikes and spelunky-likes, but weaker in other roguelite subgenres. (Dwarf Fortress is counted as roguelike here, although probably most reviews are fortress mode. Stoneshard is weirdly popular despite rather negative reviews, it makes roguelikes look worse.)

Zeno Rogue · 0 · 6h ago

Caves of Qud, Dungeons of Dredmor, and Tales of Maj'Eyal seem to satisfy both people who like permadeath and people who are happy that it is optional, forced permadeath is considered good in Spelunky, while in Noita it seems not popular. Again, less permadeath talk in other roguelite subgenres.

Zeno Rogue · 0 · 6h ago

Free games get good reviews, while games that are typically free but paid on Steam do not (especially if there are concerns about who gets the money).

Zeno Rogue · 0 · 6h ago

Reviews mentioning savescumming are typically bad. The word was originally coined in the roguelike communities, but seems more commonly used in tactical RPGs and TBT games, and rarely in roguelites.

Zeno Rogue · 0 · 6h ago

I expected roguelikes to win in immersion but, from the categories in the review collection I have downloaded, other tactical RPGs in the list seem to talk more about it.

Zeno Rogue · 0 · 6h ago

Simulationism is common in roguelikes (questionably including Dwarf Fortress) and sandbox games, in roguelites is mostly only Noita (Terraria and Spelunky seem quite simulationist to me, but the reviewers don't talk frequently about it).

Zeno Rogue · 0 · 6h ago

The word "masterpiece" is most commonly used in metroidvania reviews. In other categories it tends to be heavily contributed by a single game.

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