A roguelite is a run based game that borrows procedural generation and permadeath from roguelikes but adds permanent progression between runs, so each failed attempt still unlocks upgrades, characters, or story. The lite marks its distance from the stricter roguelike form.
The distinction is about what death takes away. In a strict roguelike, death erases the run and the next attempt starts equal to the first, with knowledge as the only carry over. In a roguelite, death erases the run but banks something durable: currency for permanent stat upgrades, new weapons added to the pool, characters rescued, or plot advanced in a hub area visited between attempts.
Rogue Legacy made the model widely visible by giving each new heir gold to spend on permanent castle upgrades before the next descent. Hades built its entire story around repeated death, with characters reacting to each return and relationships advancing only because the player keeps failing and coming back. Dead Cells and Slay the Spire show the range, one an action platformer and the other a card battler, both structured as short runs with unlocks feeding future attempts.
Purists note that permanent progression softens the permadeath that defines the parent genre, which is precisely why the separate word exists. Roguelite does not mean lesser. It names a different contract: mastery still matters, but persistence is rewarded as well as skill.
In play"Hades is a roguelite because every death still buys progress toward the next escape attempt."