When comparing Caves (Roguelike) vs Pathos: Nethack Codex, 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 Caves (Roguelike) is ranked 12th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
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.
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.
Cons
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.