When comparing Pathos: Nethack Codex vs Darkness Survival, the Slant community recommends Pathos: Nethack Codex for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes on Android?” Pathos: Nethack Codex is ranked 10th while Darkness Survival is ranked 26th.
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Pros
Pro Literally feels like Nethack, despite totally intuitive interface
Pro Active developer continually adding new content and features
Pro 100% free
No in app purchases either.
Pro Scales well on multiple sized devices
Supports phone, tablet, and desktop/laptop sized screens.
Pro Learn spells
There are magic scrolls that work once and rarer scrolls that let you learn the spell for the rest of the run.
Pro Can play for free
You can buy the premium currency, but you get enough of it through normal play that it's not required.
Pro Four character classes
One of them is a rogue, but you have to unlock it.
Pro Permanent upgrades
Each time you die or defeat a boss (every five floors) you get permanent upgrades, in the form of Runes (which you can swap out to customize your class at the start of each game) or Recipes (which you can use to craft items from materials found in-game).
Cons
Con Has ads
You can skip them with the premium currency. But the ads are always triggered by user action, so they don't randomly interrupt your games. This means they're also technically optional, but they give you bonuses you'll probably want.
Con Mediocre translation
While the basic spelling and grammar seem correct, the writing could really be better. It's often not clear what things do, even when they're documented.
