Show HN: Risk of Train – a 1D roguelike drawn in one terminal font

2 points · 1 visible top comment · 2026-08-28 00:34:47 UTC

wookinarium.itch.io · Read Story HN original

THE 23:40 SERVICE TO ALL STATIONS IS NOW BOARDING.

This train is formed of twelve coaches. One of them is dark. Customers are reminded that the roof is not a designated walking route.

We apologise for the delay. It has been about eighteen months.

Anyway — I finished a game. It's a roguelike that takes place entirely on the roof of a night train, and the announcer talks like that for the whole thing. Ten minutes a run, plays right in the browser.

Comments

anigbrowl · 2026-08-28 01:22:16 UTC

It's clever, but I think there's more to a roguelike than 'ASCII graphics and you die a lot'.

To be honest, I did not care for the real-time experience, with a combination of conceptual (ASCII) enemies and complex animation, and constant text messages. The actual gameplay experience felt kind flappy bird like, with little time for contemplation, impending doom or otherwise. I quit before dying, which is a bad sign. The concept is intriguing but needs refinement.

anigbrowl · 2026-08-28 05:39:08 UTC

I think your response got flagged because it reads as AI generated. I lost interest before the trolley arrived, although I liked he concept as described. I think the main problem is there is too much visual clutter on the start page and game pages if you're going to have rapid real-time interaction then the interface has to be stay out of your way. It's fine to read it in a turn-based game, but once the clock is ticking I don't want to be figuring out the UI at the same time.

devenvdev · 2026-08-28 15:19:33 UTC

It's good feedback, thanks! At this point of the game development I'm happy it starts and you can tell what's going on :)