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Dev tools · February 22, 2011

A RogueLike demo in 17 languages

A minimal "@ moving around a hardcoded map" implemented in a bunch of languages, some by me and some contributed by others. A slightly more interesting riff on the Hello World or 99 Bottles of Beer theme. More languages or improvements on existing ones would be nice :) There's a github repo at: https://github.com/nrkn/SimpleRL

A RogueLike demo in 17 languages launched on February 22, 2011 with 12 votes, #45 of 163 launches that month and more than 50% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 15 years on.

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In plain words

SimpleRL is a minimal roguelike demo where a character moves around a hardcoded map, implemented across 17 different programming languages. Designed for developers learning new languages, it serves as a more practical alternative to Hello World or similar learning exercises. The project follows each language's idioms and conventions while keeping implementation simple, with plans to gradually add features and refactor code over time. Community contributions of additional languages and improvements are welcome.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

An @ moving around a hardcoded map, in several languages, trying to be as simple as possible and stick to that language's idioms. Intent is to gradually refactor and add functionality. Would love to get contributions, any other langages not already here, improvements etc. - nrkn/SimpleRL

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