First, TOME 4 is graphical by default: You're an icon, . To be very clear, the icons are static, 2-dimensional images with fairly basic art; you can tell an ant from a ghoul, and large creatures take up multiple squares, but that's about it. Don't expect --or even --quality here. However, that's not the point of a roguelike. The graphics are functional, they let you know what's about to kill you and how far away it is, and that's all they need to do. There are some minor animation effects for auras, and there's a dynamically adjusting line-of-sight which accounts for lighting, special senses, and blindness, as well.

Second, it's less random than most. You have a lot of quests to guide you, although you're still free to wander in any direction in order to meet something too tough for you and die. Item generation is mostly random, in the "adjective noun of noun verbing" mode, with a few powerful artifacts hand-placed. TOME 4'/ items can be very cool; I got some gloves, early on, that let me spit fire, a nice feature for an otherwise melee-bound combatant. There are also randomized areas within the quest areas to make sure things aren't too predictable.

Third, TOME 4 has an active community with a chat window. It's very nice to be able to ask for help while playing, or to show off the neat item you just found, or get sympathy on your latest demise. My experience is that the community is very friendly towards new players, which is only logical; as a genre, roguelikes have a small fanbase that isn't interested in driving off anyone who might just be dipping their toes in the water.

TOME 4 starts you with a limited set of possible classes and races, in order to ease you into the very deep mechanics of the game., But even the most basic class, a straight-up sword-and-shield fighter, offers you a multitude of options to pick from and choices to make as you gain in power. Playing also unlocks additional classes and races.

TOME is slightly more forgiving than many roguelikes, allowing you to optionally earn extra lives as you play, but these can go very quickly, especially as you pass the earliest levels of the game. A small run of bad luck, or a few poor decisions in a row, will take your lives much faster than you can earn them. Purists can choose to play with only one life, and there's also an option for unlimited lives.