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Roguelike vs. roguelite, and two other splits the labels gloss over
The first glossary post covered what each label on the index means on its own. A few of those labels only make sense in contrast to a near-neighbor that looks similar from the outside but plays differently. Three worth splitting apart.
Roguelike vs. roguelite
“Roguelike” gets used loosely enough now that it mostly just signals “runs that end and restart.” The stricter, older sense means something closer to the original Rogue: permadeath, procedural levels, turn-based or grid-based play, and systems complex enough that no two runs solve the same way. “Roguelite” is the looser modern branch — it keeps permadeath and procedural structure but adds something a strict roguelike wouldn’t: meta-progression that survives a death, unlocks that carry between runs, sometimes real-time action instead of turns.
Most games marketed as “roguelike” today are, by that stricter definition, roguelites. The index tags Sovereign Tower with the broader, popularly understood label rather than litigating which side of that line it falls on — the useful thing to know going in is that “roguelike” here means runs with real, remembered consequences, not necessarily a return to Rogue’s specific rule set.
Simulation vs. sandbox
Both describe systems with real inputs and outputs you’re meant to learn, and the index uses both labels — but they answer different questions. A simulation has a goal already built in: a recipe to get right, a wave to survive, a batch to optimize. You’re measured against something. Schedule 1 and Iron Nest are both this — mix calculators and wave math exist because there’s a correct-ish answer to find.
A sandbox hands you the same kind of interlocking systems but no built-in goal — you decide what you’re optimizing for. Sandustry is the network’s sandbox entry: nothing tells you what to automate next, which is also why its label on the index is “Sandbox / Factory” rather than plain “Simulation.”
Cozy sim vs. farming sim
Every farming sim is a cozy sim, but not every cozy sim is a farming sim, and the difference is whether there’s a production loop at the center of it. Doloc Town is cozy without that loop — the town runs on routines, relationships, and seasons, but there’s nothing you’re growing or harvesting on a schedule. Fields of Mistria adds that loop back in: crops, seasons, and townsfolk, but with planting and harvest timing as the thing the whole game is actually organized around.
If a distinction on the index still isn’t clear after this, that’s worth flagging — tell us which two entries you’re comparing and we’ll either fix the wording or write about it.