Rogue Legacy Dev Open Sources Game Code for Knowledge

Indie developer Cellar Door Games has generously shared the source code for its acclaimed 2013 roguelike, Rogue Legacy, making it freely available for educational use. This act of knowledge-sharing, as the developer stated, allows the game's inner workings to be explored and learned from.

Cellar Door Games Opens Rogue Legacy's Source Code

Game Assets Remain Proprietary, but Collaboration is Encouraged

In a Twitter (now X) announcement, Cellar Door Games revealed the release of Rogue Legacy 1's source code on GitHub under a non-commercial license. This grants individuals the opportunity to study the game's programming for personal learning and development.

The GitHub repository is managed by Ethan Lee, a developer and Linux porter with experience in open-sourcing other indie game code. The move has been widely praised by the gaming community, offering a valuable resource for aspiring game developers.

This release also serves as a form of digital preservation, ensuring the game's code remains accessible even if it's removed from online stores. This proactive approach to game preservation has even caught the attention of Andrew Borman, Director of Digital Preservation at the Rochester Museum of Play, who expressed interest in collaborating with Cellar Door Games.

While the source code is freely available, game assets such as art, graphics, and music remain under copyright and are not included. Cellar Door Games encourages those wishing to use assets outside the scope of the license or incorporate elements not included in the repository to contact them directly. Their stated goal is to foster learning, inspire creativity, and facilitate the development of new tools and modifications for Rogue Legacy 1.