Brogue
Ranked 11 of 12 roguelike games by recommenders
A free, simple and well-executed roguelike that people recommend for its balanced, ingeniously designed play and its influence on other roguelikes.
A free, simple and well-executed roguelike that people recommend for its balanced, ingeniously designed play and its influence on other roguelikes.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple, well-executed, balanced design
“perfectly simple but perfectly well-executed, a five-ingredient recipe that lets every ingredient shine”
Comment from 2 Nov 2025 in “HyperRogue – A non-Euclidean roguelike” “insanely balanced and ingeniously designed”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Xs of Y – roguelike that names itself every run. Written in 4kLoC” Inspires players' own roguelike designs
“I took things I like from Brogue and added my own spin on it.”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Xs of Y – roguelike that names itself every run. Written in 4kLoC” “I love Brogue and have been inspired by it.”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Xs of Y – roguelike that names itself every run. Written in 4kLoC” Recommended alongside NetHack and DCSS
“Brogue, Nethack, DCSS are good if you like roguelikes.”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “Battle for Wesnoth: open-source, turn-based strategy game” “I'm a hardcore fan of CDDA, Nethack, even Brogue”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “NetHack4 Philosophy”
Other roguelike games people recommend
The four most recommended other roguelike games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetHack | 60 | 7 | 90% | 11 | 26 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| Chess-Inspired Roguelike | 33 | 3 | 92% | 1 | — | — |
| Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup | 16 | 6 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Xs of Y | 14 | 5 | 74% | 1 | — | — |
| BrogueThis page | 7 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the lighting effects are very brogue and like nothing I've seen in angband”
“insanely balanced and ingeniously designed”
“I took things I like from Brogue and added my own spin on it.”
“I love Brogue and have been inspired by it.”
“Brogue, Nethack, DCSS are good if you like roguelikes.”
“I'm a hardcore fan of CDDA, Nethack, even Brogue”
“try the GUI ("tiles") version of Brogue”
“perfectly simple but perfectly well-executed, a five-ingredient recipe that lets every ingredient shine”
“Brogue (Community Edition) also is awesome!”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.