Roguelike
Also said as Traditional roguelike
A turn-based dungeon crawl on a grid, generated anew each run, where death is permanent. It promises that you can never just memorise your way through: only what you have learned comes with you.
Permadeath gives every decision weight, and random maps stop it becoming rote. Together they turn knowledge of the rules into the only thing you keep.
Say it
“Keep it a true roguelike: grid-based, enemies move only when you do, a new map every run, and one death wipes the save file. No unlocks between runs.”
Where you’ve seen it
It is named after Rogue (1980). At the International Roguelike Development Conference in 2008, developers wrote the Berlin Interpretation, whose high-value factors are random environment generation, permadeath, turn-based play, grid-based movement, non-modal play, complexity, resource management, hack and slash, and exploration and discovery.
Not to be confused with roguelite
A roguelike keeps nothing between runs but what is in your head. A roguelite lets you carry permanent upgrades, so even a bad run moves you forward.