When comparing No Man's Sky vs Spelunky, the Slant community recommends Spelunky for most people. In the question“What are the best PC games with infinite replayability?” Spelunky is ranked 20th while No Man's Sky is ranked 25th. 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 Endless procedural generation
This game procedurally generates almost everything. Your spaceships are procedurally generated, so are the planets, moons, every animal on these planets, the resource nodes, trade routes, languages, etc. When discovering new species or planets, players get to rename these and leave their mark on the galaxy.
Pro Good graphics
The art style of this game is very colorful and saturated and uses hues in a way that it gives you an otherworldly feel. Graphics like these tend to remain good for a much longer time than classic 3D graphics.
Pro Massive galaxy to explore
Thanks to the fact that the entire galaxy of No Man's Sky is procedurally generated, the amount of planets to explore is almost endless. The number of planets would be 18,446,744,073,709,551,616. However, the fact that 2 players managed to find each other in game on the first day, seems to make this number quite questionable.
Pro Seamless space to planetary flight
Pro Freedom to choose how you want to play
Ally with factions, trade or just be a pirate. When trading with NPC aliens, you build up a positive reputation with the faction they belong to. Alternatively you can also be hostile and attack trade ships, or even be attacked by NPC pirate spaceships. Both can be ways to get what you need, so do whatever suits your play style.
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 No clearly defined missions
The objective of the game is to ultimately reach the center of the galaxy. However, the player is completely free and unguided from the beginning. You figure it out for yourself as you start mining, crafting and upgrading your ship and gear. This game doesn't have a big story to tell.
Con Expensive
No Man's Sky is a pretty big production for an indie game as the team of devs and artists consisted of 14 people in the later stages of development. The game stands out above most indie games in size, features, technology and graphics. Along with the amount of enthusiasm from the gaming community, this has allowed the studio to set the launch price at $60 (or €60).
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.