When comparing Brogue vs Nethack, the Slant community recommends Brogue for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes/roguelites on PC?” Brogue is ranked 9th while Nethack is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose Brogue is:
The gameplay itself is quite straightforward, making for mechanics that can be picked up within a few minutes of playing. Of course the challenge of the game is a whole other mater as like most roguelikes, this game can be quite challenging.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Easy to get into, hard to master
The gameplay itself is quite straightforward, making for mechanics that can be picked up within a few minutes of playing. Of course the challenge of the game is a whole other mater as like most roguelikes, this game can be quite challenging.
Pro Free to download and play for anyone
Doesn't cost a dime as the game is free to download and play. Which is great as there is no obstacle to one trying the game out.
Pro Simple and easy to understand design
The graphics of the game consist entirely of ASCII characters which keeps the design simple and easy to understand.
Pro Perfectly balanced rather than filled with features
The balancing is done quite well, as there is just enough elements to the gameplay to keep one interested without being overly complex or heavy weight.
Pro Open source
Pro Good graphics that are easy on the eyes
The game's dark, modern graphics help to make the game playable and look good even if you have very sensitive eyes.
Pro Can be played on persons preferred platform
It can be played on Mac OS X, Windows, or Linux, and on mobile devices running iOS or Android .
Pro Potential for enormous skill growth
Nethack is a game that you can play for hundreds of hours and still not master. But you'll have tons of fun attempting to master it.
Pro Depth
The gameplay is very deep due to the amount of skills and systems present in the game.
Pro Over two decades of constant development
Nethack was first released in 1987. The latest version, 3.6.0, came out in December 2015.
Pro ASCII and tiles available
Nethack is able to run on simple ASCII graphics or use graphic tiles instead.
Cons
Con Difficult to learn
You can easily get confused by this game, unless you have prior knowledge of what's going on.
Con No classes
While not having any classes for the main character means that any item can be equipped it does make for less replayability due to not having different classes to try out on multiple playthroughs.
Con Burden of knowledge
There's simply too much information that the game expects you to know before you can properly take advantage of the systems in the game.
Con Feature creep
NetHack has an overwhelming amount of features mostly because the development team found them cool at the time, but with little thought of their greater impact. For example, a Nethack staple is Sokoban as a built-in minigame, which feels out of place in a dungeon crawler.
The extremely large amount of items and abilities break the game's balance and coherence.
Con Outdated controls
You need to study a wiki just to learn the most basic controls. The game is broken in this regard.
Con ASCII Art
Con Run of the mill story
The story of the game is pretty generic fantasy fare. It features orcs, elves, and trolls in an effort for the hero to save the world. While it does not detract from the gameplay, it does seem very familiar to those interested in the genre.