Brogue vs iNethack2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Brogue
Embark on a challenging 26-level dungeon crawl to find the Amulet of Yendor. Master strategic gameplay with a focus on a smooth learning curve and intuitive design within a classic ASCII/Unicode aesthetic. Experience high fantasy with a variety of creatures and magical items.
- 26-level dungeon crawl
- Strategic depth
- Smooth learning curve
- ASCII/Unicode display
- High fantasy theme
- Permadeath gameplay
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Countless adventurers before you have descended this torch-lit staircase, seeking the promised riches below. As you reach the bottom and step into the wide cavern, the doors behind you seal with a powerful magic... Welcome to the Dungeons of Doom! Brogue is a single-player strategy game set in the halls of a mysterious and randomly-generated dungeon. The objective is simple enough -- retrieve the fabled Amulet of Yendor from the 26th level -- but the dungeon is riddled with danger. Horrifying creatures and devious, trap-ridden terrain await. Yet it is also riddled with weapons, potions, and artifacts of forgotten power. Survival demands strength and cunning in equal measure as you descend, making the most of what the dungeon gives you. You will make sacrifices, narrow escapes, and maybe even some friends along the way -- but will you be one of the lucky few to return alive?" This app offers: Brogue Classic - Brian Walker's original vision and where it all started. Brogue CE - A community effort that fixes bugs and crashes and focuses on QoL. Brogue SE - A new variant by yours truly with original items, monsters, and mechanics "...on the iPad, Brogue is an even more incredible feat than it is on the Mac: there aren’t a lot of roguelikes that can jump from a keyboard to a touch-based interface without coming off worse for wear. It’s every bit as good on the iPad as it is on the Mac." - Cult of Mac "[...] it manages to make use of its ASCII visuals to create some truly impressive-looking environments [...] it’s high fantasy to the core; filled with kobolds, goblins, wands, spell scrolls, and more." - 148Apps "It's a bit weird and clunky, but yeah, it's still Brogue" - Roguelike Radio
iNethack2
Embark on a single-player dungeon crawl to collect treasure, find the Amulet of Yendor, and survive perilous mazes. This port offers graphical tilesets, touch controls, and customizable shortcuts for an enhanced roguelike experience.
- Single-player dungeon exploration
- Treasure collection and escape
- Multiple graphical tilesets
- Touchscreen gesture controls
- Customizable keyboard shortcuts
- Bones file sharing integration
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"NetHack is a single player dungeon exploration game. Your goal is to grab as much treasure as you can, retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, and escape the Mazes of Menace alive." -- iNethack2 is an iOS port of Nethack 3.6.7. Original port in 2009 by Dirk Zimmermann which was called iNethack. Updated by Jeff King to work on modern devices, and renamed iNethack2. Initial 3.6 update by Joe Doucette. Various other contributions from the open source community. iNethack2 features: · 9 graphical tilesets (plus IBMGraphics mode, and regular ASCII mode in color and monochrome) · 1 animated tileset: DawnHack Animated · Touchscreen gesture controls: swipe to pan, pinch to zoom · Customizable keyboard shortcut controls · Hearse (bones file sharing) integration · Works on iOS12+ Some facts about NetHack: · The first version of NetHack was released in 1987 · NetHack was a roguelike before people used the term roguelike · You can play NetHack for years and still make new discoveries · NetHack is one of the greatest games of all time
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Brogue at every 4 days against iNethack2's every 2 months. Brogue also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.4) and review sentiment (94% vs 84%). iNethack2's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.6). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Brogue holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 76 and 137 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Brogue's written reviews are positive against 84% of iNethack2's.
Brogue ships an update every 4 days, iNethack2 every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Brogue | iNethack2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (76 ratings) — better | 4.4 (137 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 93.9% of reviews — better | 84.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 76 | 137 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Seth Howard | Future Shock Software LTD |
Customer experience
Brogue
iNethack2
Bugs and requests
Brogue
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
iNethack2
Reported bugs
14 issues- Game crashes when using inventory (I command)
- Crashes on Plane of Water during save restore
- File corruption errors when switching apps
- Game freezes with Chinese pinyin keyboard input
- Crashes when equipping rings
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- Crashes when dropping items
- Crashes when accessing discoveries list
- Cannot open level files error (501mobile.50)
- Game unrecoverable after certain actions
- Double-tap causes unintended character movement
- Floor tiles not rendering in corridors
- Crashes on iOS 11+ when dropping items
- Waiting for logfile access message loops
- Game crashes immediately on startup for some users
Requested features
17 requests- Separate button labels from command values
- External Bluetooth keyboard support
- Directional pad for movement
- Swipe-based movement controls
- Character name customization
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- Pet naming functionality
- Partial item stack management
- Cloud save synchronization across devices
- iPad Magic Keyboard support
- Japanese language localization
- Toggle for sparkle effects
- Multiple simultaneous game saves
- NetHack version 3.6+ support
- Slash'Em port for iOS
- Voice over support for accessibility
- Options file editing capability
- Discoveries list access without crashes
In-app purchases
Brogue
No in-app purchases
iNethack2
No in-app purchases









