When comparing WazHack vs Desktop Dungeons, the Slant community recommends Desktop Dungeons for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes/roguelites on PC?” Desktop Dungeons is ranked 20th while WazHack is ranked 32nd. The most important reason people chose Desktop Dungeons is:
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.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Offers an impressive amount of variety in items and monsters, which keeps the experience fresh
Over 300 items and 130 monsters, WazHack offers a lot of variety that will take a lot of play throughs to experience.
Pro Unique twist on roguelike gameplay where the game takes a side-scrolling approach
A 3D rendered side-scrolling roguelike, makes for some very unique mechanics, thanks to not being top down like many traditional roguelikes. While it will still have the player progress in randomly generated dungeons, exploring for new items and gear, the battle mechanics will be more akin to side scrolling platforming.
Pro Surprising depth
Many approaches and strategies are viable in a simple shell.
Pro Controller support
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 Costs money to get the full experience
The game asks to spend money on each character type separately to go deeper than 300 feet; cost about $1 each.
Con Some quirks with control scheme and interface
Some specific action in the game are hard to pull off with touch screen, causing the player to move when trying to open menus.
Con Somewhat crude art-style
Graphics are reminiscent of freeware games from the early 2000's.
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.