iBrogueCE vs ArcEmu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iBrogueCE
Experience a classic roguelike adventure on your iPad. This community-enhanced port offers deep tactical gameplay and challenging dungeons.
- Classic roguelike gameplay
- Community Edition enhancements
- Tactical dungeon crawling
- Challenging gameplay
- iPad optimized
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iBrogueCE is an iPad OS port of Brian Walker's rogue-like game Brogue. This is the Community Edition version, based on tmewett's development work, and Seth Howard's Objective C port to iPad OS, recently enhanced with Bryan Turner's integration work into the Community Edition repository.
ArcEmu
Experience retro gaming on your Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. This emulator supports Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges. Enjoy features like multiplayer, cheats, and customizable controls.
- Game Boy, GBC, GBA emulation
- Multiplayer support
- Cheat codes
- Customizable on-screen controls
- Save State sharing
- iCloud support
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ArcEmu brings retro game emulation to Apple Watch. It also works on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, delivering a seamless gaming experience across your Apple devices. Supported Consoles - Game Boy (.gb) - Game Boy Color (.gbc) - Game Boy Advance (.gba) - Pokémon Mini (.min) - Nintendo Entertainment System (.nes) - Super Nintendo Entertainment System (.sfc and .smc) - Atari 2600 (.a26 and .bin) Main Features - Accurate, high-performance emulation powered by the mGBA and Ares cores - Game Link Cable support with online multiplayer for up to four players* - Cheat-code support with a built-in database of popular codes** - Frame-independent emulation at 30 or 60 FPS - Multi-touch and Digital Crown support on Apple Watch - Support for all screen orientations on iPhone and iPad - Precise, thoughtfully designed on-screen controls - Customizable control position and transparency on iPhone and iPad - Fast-forward at 2×, 4×, or maximum speed - Slow motion at 0.5× speed - Touch-based light gun controls for NES and SNES - Custom color palettes for Game Boy games - Button hold/sustain feature - Accelerometer support - Gyroscope support on iPhone and iPad, with Digital Crown input on Apple Watch - Haptic feedback on iPhone - Game controller support with customizable button mappings - ZIP archive support - Automatic saving - Save-state sharing between devices - iCloud support for ROMs and save states - ROM sharing through iCloud using share codes - Support for Apple Watch devices configured with Family Setup - ROM sorting and search Apple Watch Compatibility - Apple Watch Series 4 or later - Apple Watch SE or later - Apple Watch Ultra or later ArcEmu does not include any games or ROMs. You can import compatible ROM files from your iPhone and store them in iCloud. Your Apple Watch can then download them directly from iCloud. On an Apple Watch configured with Family Setup, ROMs can be downloaded from iCloud using share codes. Games Featured in the Screenshots - Acorn Grove: https://gibbongl.itch.io/acorn-grove - Anguna: https://gauauu.itch.io/anguna - Hauntsfield: https://alliemackie.itch.io/hauntsfield - µCity Advance: https://skylyrac.itch.io/ucity-advance * Requires a Game Center account. ** Cheat codes may cause unexpected behavior or affect game stability and save data. ArcEmu is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Nintendo. Nintendo and the names of its game systems are trademarks of Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: iBrogueCE at Free against ArcEmu's $1.99. ArcEmu's advantage is ratings volume (1.3K vs 23) and device support (5 vs 1). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
iBrogueCE is free to download; ArcEmu costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for iBrogueCE against 4.9 for ArcEmu. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ArcEmu has 1.3K ratings behind it against 23, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of iBrogueCE's written reviews are positive against 95% of ArcEmu's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iBrogueCE | ArcEmu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (23 ratings) — better | 4.9 (1.3K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 94.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 23 | 1.3K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.5 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 172 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Robert Taylor | Raffaele D'Amato |
Customer experience
iBrogueCE
ArcEmu
Bugs and requests
iBrogueCE
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
ArcEmu
Reported bugs
3 issues- Occasional crashes
- Graphical glitches with certain ROMs
- Save data not transferring properly between devices
Requested features
6 requests- Add cheat/GameShark support
- Improve volume controls
- Implement fast forward/slow motion options
- Allow multiple save slots per game
- Improve Game Boy Color support
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- Add joystick/button support for Apple Watch
In-app purchases
iBrogueCE
No in-app purchases
ArcEmu
No in-app purchases
