I have trawled most of the roguelikes out there and the one thing that really is a draw for me is the level of depth and detail that other games don't offer. I've been playing games very consistently since I was 3 (I'm 25) and nowadays the over simplified games just bore me so even though I'm late to the scene I went pretty hard into roguelikes the last few years.
Cataclysm DDA and unreal world are tops for two very different reasons. Unreal world is the pure experience of nothing but me vs nature using historical techniques and when I'd rather scratch that itch from the comfort of my recliner instead of actually running around the forest thats my go to. It rains all. freaking. winter. Even i can only take so much rain.
Cataclysm has its tedious points but it also has its strokes of pure genius. It aims to be the most realistic unrealistic apocalypse simulator if that makes sense. So it does involve a certain amount of tedium. After all, life does too. But what really brings me back aside from the everything you can imagine in one game aspect is the sheer limitless ways to solve a problem ranging from the wholly pragmatic to the downright silly (and maybe stupid). You want whats in that science lab dont want to bother trying to find an ID card? Get a cargo truck, drive really REALLY fast and pray you dont die from the car crash and that you dont stop 1 tile short of the turret you needed to crush under your merciless tires. Ive built sound traps on the other side of lava fissures to bait zombies into the fire. Ive burned down whole fields of woman eating fungus with nothing but matches. Ive made fire traps as a mutant spider lady just by laying web and burning it, maybe throw some ammo or explosives in the middle and you have a very... interesting.. bomb. The sky is really the limit but it is a bit of an acquired taste.
Neo scav is nice as a much more relaxed post apocalyptic urban survival game. You have no zombies you do have strange creatures, a mysterious cataclysm, a rough story to follow and all the loot you could ever want. Even better with mods like extended neo scav or Mighty mini mod of doom (Mmod).
The long dark is my go to when i wish Unreal World had a 3d version. Its nowhere near the beautiful level of depth but it does give me that minutes away from death feel. On interloper of course. Thats the only way i play it. I gather what meager scraps of loot I can and stave off starvation, freezing weather and wolves long enough to get to timberwolf mountain where i finish my days. Its brutal when i play it that way and I love every minute of it.
A couple of honorable mentions the table top style mount and blade esque games, Battle Brothers and and low magic age. They are both low to middle fantasy "mercenary band" roguelikes. Pretty self explanatory but they scratch my tactical strategy itch when i don't want to go full masochism and play XCOM + long war or xenonauts + Xdivision.
Darkest Dungeon for the ultimate experience in battling despair and Don't starve for a rather odd take on survival. It wasn't quite my cup of tea but plenty of people love it to death.