When comparing Dungeon of the Endless vs Spelunky, the Slant community recommends Spelunky for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes/roguelites on PC?” Spelunky is ranked 15th while Dungeon of the Endless is ranked 35th. The most important reason people chose Spelunky is:
Spelunky features 4 player local co-op where players share the same screen, which can get a bit hectic.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Excellent pixel art
The art in this game is vibrant and colorful. It has a level of detail that many pixel games lack.
Pro Risk and reward
The game is semi-turn based. Basically, when you clear all the enemies, no more enemies will spawn until you open the next door. Which door will you open? Once you have a path to the next floor, will you continue to open the rest of the doors in case you find some rare loot? It's a wonderful gamble on your life!
Pro Great soundtrack
Pro Mixes genres of tower defense and roguelites
The game fuses the two genres in a unique way. The permadeath and random gen of roguelites mixed with the necessity of setting down strategic defensive turrets which comes with the tower defense genre.
Pro Varied game start by choosing different heroes
Pro Up to 4 player local co-op
Spelunky features 4 player local co-op where players share the same screen, which can get a bit hectic.
Pro Provides an interesting challenge by heavily relying on increasing your skill
Spelunky gives the player everything needed to succeed from the start so it is only when the players skills get better will they advance.
Pro Quick sessions so you can play in short bursts
Being that Spelunky is at its heart a roguelike the gameplay sessions can tend to be quick as the player will die quite often. This makes for something that can be played in quick bursts throughout the day. The convenient saving also lends to this as a game that is still ongoing can be quickly saved in order to be picked up at a later time.
Pro Expanded gameplay through mods to improve replayability
Ranging from Mega Man to Metroid, there are a tone of great mods for Spelunky all of which make for a new experience in the game which vastly expands the replayability.
Cons
Con Tower defense can become daunting
If you prefer relaxed gameplay this can be difficult.
Con Co-op is boring and confusing
In co-op this game is very confusing with little instruction on how to play. With little to spice up the game play, it gets boring quickly.
Con Difficult to the point of frustration
Spelunky is pretty difficult and some could say abusive, but with practice and a desire for masochism the game can be mastered.