Roguelike ancestry network visualisation: insights from the roguelike community

Idea networks are inherently illustrative of the domain knowledge they seek to capture. They provide pathways to retrace known paths, and to explore the unknown. In this study, we conceptualised an idea network of 639 roguelike games, using data collected from RogueBasin and other sources, and conducted a user study for designer insight. Study participants interacted with three idea network visualisations that support exploration of design influence, accompanied by a brief historical context of roguelike games, and our design process of visualisations. The study uncovered 6 classes of insights from game developers: thinking in networks, insights on data consistency, accessibility and usability, visualisation preferences, exploring related games, and data contributions from the community. The study is limited by the data sources available about design influences, acknowledging that idea networks are only a partial representation of the full picture, which cannot be known. However, this paper shows that even a partial idea network can be useful for exploring the ancestry of roguelikes and their design influences. It also showed how idea networks can facilitate knowledge sharing through online conversations and new lines of inquiry.