Once every few years I find myself dumping many many hours into Nethack (the open source successor to rogue). Never once have I beaten it, despite playing usually with several tabs open to various wikis and guides. Eventually I die while on a super long run (by my standards) and totally give up in frustration, beginning the next several-year dormant period until the next time I play.

To any game developer planning to call their game with random upgrades a "rogueli[tk]e": play Nethack. Your favorite roguelike was almost certainly created by someone who did.