Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
A subgenre of roguelikes, characterized by non-rushed gameplay, levels not being saved upon being left, large numbers of items and a steep power curve.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A game of this genre.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From * (“wildcard”) + band, after the roguelike Angband, after the fictional fortress of Angband in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion. Angband, in turn, is from Tolkien's fictional language Sindarin, where it literally means "iron prison"; ultimately, the part "band" means "prison" in Sindarin.
