Comparison

Brogue vs iNethack2

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 26-level dungeon crawl
  • Strategic depth
  • Smooth learning curve
  • ASCII/Unicode display
  • High fantasy theme
  • Permadeath gameplay
Read full description

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

About

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.

Highlights
  • Single-player dungeon exploration
  • Treasure collection and escape
  • Multiple graphical tilesets
  • Touchscreen gesture controls
  • Customizable keyboard shortcuts
  • Bones file sharing integration
Features
Read full description

"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

Brogue4 screens
iNethack24 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Brogue versus iNethack2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrogueiNethack2
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (76 ratings) — better4.4 (137 ratings)
Positive reviews93.9% of reviews — better84.1% of reviews
Number of ratings76137 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB15 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperSeth HowardFuture Shock Software LTD

Customer experience

Brogue

All ratings76 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral6.6%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive93.9%
Neutral5.1%
Negative1.0%

iNethack2

All ratings137 ratings
Positive85.4%
Neutral5.8%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews138 reviews
Positive84.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative10.9%

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
Show 9 more
  • 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
Show 12 more
  • 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

None

Brogue

No in-app purchases

None

iNethack2

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Brogue free?
Brogue is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is iNethack2 free?
iNethack2 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Brogue or iNethack2?
Brogue is rated higher. Brogue averages 4.6 out of 5 from 76 ratings, while iNethack2 averages 4.4 from 137 ratings.
Do Brogue or iNethack2 have ads?
Neither Brogue nor iNethack2 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brogue or iNethack2?
Brogue ships an update every 4 days, and iNethack2 every 2 months. Most recently, Brogue was updated on October 7, 2026 and iNethack2 on October 6, 2026.

Other comparisons