To me, rougelite games are defined by the following characteristics:
- Random world.
- Random challenges.
- Random loot/progression within a run.
- Permadeath within a run.
- Relatively short runs.
- You lose more runs than you win.
- Slow progression across runs, requiring you to play the game over and over again to unlock new content.
None of that is appealing to me. I like worlds that are worth committing to long term memory. I like challenges and loot to be balanced, and I like being able to plan ahead using the foreknowledge of what the challenges and loot are going to be. I like being able to see the good end of the game on my first run. I like long, epic games. I like putting the game away after my first run and starting a new game.
I never played Binding of Isaac, and based on its gross-out themes, I probably never will. I’m barely aware of Slay the Spire, although I’ve heard the name before. But I think I’ve played enough roguelikes and roguelites (ADOM, FTL, Dicey Dungeons, Darkest Dungeon) to know that they’re not my cup of tea.
The one roguelite I played recently that I actually enjoyed and played all the way to the end (of the plot, without all unlocks) was Desktop Dungeons. I liked how it balanced its random map generation with the most non-random combat system ever: I could calculate exactly how each battle would end, down to the last hit point, before even starting the fight.