When comparing Dungeons of Dredmor vs Desktop Dungeons, the Slant community recommends Dungeons of Dredmor for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes/roguelites on PC?” Dungeons of Dredmor is ranked 19th while Desktop Dungeons is ranked 20th. The most important reason people chose Dungeons of Dredmor is:
The core mechanics of Dungeons of Dredmor are roguelike, but added on top of that is a silly humor that creates and endearing atmosphere.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Combines punishing roguelike game mechanics with silly and satirical humor
The core mechanics of Dungeons of Dredmor are roguelike, but added on top of that is a silly humor that creates and endearing atmosphere.
Pro Several community mods were bundled as a free official expansion pack
In a testament to the quality of the Dungeons of Dredmor modding community, one official expansion pack consists almost entirely of user-created content. It was released for free, since they're not total capitalist jerks.
Pro Skill-based class system improves replay value
A character has seven selected skills, which effectively define that character's class: they have access to every skill selected, and no others. The base game contains dozens of skills, with many more available through both mods and official expansions.
Pro Configurable difficulty accommodates both casual and hardcore play
In addition to basic difficulty adjustment, the player can choose whether death is permanent (in classic roguelike style) or merely resets the current level. There is also a mode called "No Time to Grind" where experience points are increased from all sources, but in compensation, levels are smaller.
Pro Mix of puzzle and roguelike
The game gets its roots from roguelikes, and the complexity of the combined genre really enhances the puzzle solving side of the game.
Instead of being real time, or taking place in a large expansive world, Desktop Dungeons games take place on a small 20x20 dungeon. Although the map is small, there is tons of strategy to figuring out the optimal way to clear the dungeon. Unveiling tiles is how you recover health and mana, so the game is fundamentally about efficiently using the tools and resources available to you in each map and coming up with unique strategies in such a small space. You must balance the risk between trying to get experience from exposed monsters and exploring deeper into the fog of war.
Pro Tons of character combinations
There are 7 races and 12 classes that are combinable as well as 4 extra monster classes that do not allow choosing of race making for 112 unique combinations, all with their own custom avatar. There are also 6 additional special races as well as 9 different gods you can worship during the game for even more abilities.
Pro Great for short bursts of play
Since each game takes place in one small dungeon, it's a great game to play in small bits of downtime.
Pro Humorous tone
The game doesn't take itself too seriously with lots of clever dialogue parodying the fantasy genre.
Pro Deep amount of content keeps strategy interesting and fresh
Even though the core gameplay is simple, the amount of power-ups and enemies create a massive amount of ways to play the game which keeps the puzzle solving aspect fresh.
Cons
Con Minor interface issues
The interface feels very unintuitive with aspects such as having to change the default action feeling overly complicated and unecissary.
Con While polished the graphics are still simple
Compared to other modern roguelikes the graphics are pretty minimal where the characters are tile based and lack animation when moving.
Con Hidden map means you can't solve the puzzles on logic alone
The map is hidden by fog of war until you explore it, meaning you can't devise a solution from the start. Because revealing the map regenerates your health and mana you can't explore everything at the start. You need to spend most of the game not knowing the state of the rest of the map.