When comparing Retro Rogue vs Caves (Roguelike), the Slant community recommends Caves (Roguelike) for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes on Android?” Caves (Roguelike) is ranked 12th while Retro Rogue is ranked 54th. The most important reason people chose Caves (Roguelike) is:
Anyone with any familiarity with roguelikes at all should be up and running with the basic game mechanics within seconds.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Simple gameplay for newcomers to the roguelike genre
For those that are new to the genre Retro Rogue is a good game to play to get their feet wet and learn the mechanics.
Pro Slider for graphics to emulate look of playing on a CRT
There is an option in game to allow an effect on the graphics that makes the game look as if it is being played on a CRT.
Pro Easy to pick up and play for those familiar with roguelike gameplay
Anyone with any familiarity with roguelikes at all should be up and running with the basic game mechanics within seconds.
Pro New experience every time
It's Minecraft, but roguelike. Awesome game.
Pro Game is in early dev, where new content is constantly being added
A lot of new content is planned. The game is constantly updating. No need to start a new game after each update. Old saves are compatible with new versions.
Cons
Con Not a free software
There are some libre alternatives.
Con Not much replay value
Once one has beaten the game, there is not much incentive to play again.
Con Poor documentation
While figuring it out as you go is part of the charm of roguelikes, this gives you nothing at all. Press "new game" and go.
Con Resets to start of floor when app is idle for too long
Whenever you reload, it sets you back to the start of the current floor if you have had the app running in the background for long enough that it forgets where it was. More frequent saving would alleviate this problem somewhat.