Week 4

Item system

In almost all roguelike games, items play an essential role in making the game fun and complex. Items in these games work by dropping from a source, an enemy or chest for example. When these items are picked up by the player, there are usually displayed in the UI of the game, usually at the top or side of the screen as shown in games such as the Binding of Isaac, Risk of Rain 2 and Hades.

These games take on different forms of UI design to show off the items that you have collected. Hades takes on an interesting design for each item/buff while Risk of Rain 2 and The Binding of Isaac take a more simple design. They also display if items are stacked. Stacking items means possessing more than one of the same item. In Hades, this is shown in the items level which can be seen on the item itself. In Risk of rain 2, there is a number next to the items that are stacked indicating how many the player has. In the Binding of Isaac however, items cannot be stacked as they can never be found more than once in the same run.

Items are broken down into different category's: 

Attacking - These items main uses are to increase the players damage output. This is usually done in forms of increasing base damage, releasing projectiles, apply constant damage etc. Some examples in the 3 games mentioned are the Soldiers Syringe (Risk of Rain 2) which increases attack rate.

Defensive - Defensive items help the player survive. This is usually done by items that make the player take less damage, heal the player and can combine with attacking with a life steal ability or release an attack when damaged etc. An example is the Topaz Brooch (Risk of Rain 2) that gives the player a shield on an enemy kill which slowly degenerates.

Mobility - These items make the player move faster and allow the player to avoid attacks via dodging. An example is the energy drink (Risk of Rain 2) which increases running speed.

Utility - These items are generally useful to the player that do not affect any attacking, defensive or mobility capabilities of the player. For example, an item that helps the player gain currency or XP points. An example is the pills (Binding of Isaac) which when used gives a positive or negative effect to the player.

Additionally, items are dropped in a variety of ways in these games. In the binding of isaac, items are found in item rooms, devil rooms, angel rooms and more. In risk of rain 2 items are dropped from chest that cost coins which are earned by killing enemies. Hades items are given to the player by different Gods which all have certain gimmicks.