When comparing Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic vs Angband Variants, the Slant community recommends Angband Variants for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes on Android?” Angband Variants is ranked 25th while Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic is ranked 28th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Pixel perfect
Graphics and fonts are pixel perfect.
Pro Retro look, sound & feel
Authentic 8bit visuals, sound & music. Also with authentic low screen resolution.
Pro Quick save
A feature that should be necessary for all mobile games, quick save allows the user to set the game down at any time by saving quickly, making for a game that can be played in plenty of short bursts without loosing any progression.
Pro Humorous with nerd culture references
The game has a good sense of humor with many inside jokes referencing things such as Tolkien, Lovecraft as well as modern day dev. culture.
Pro Tons of loot
Pro Contains ToME 2.3.5 -- which is a fan favorite
Pro Can be customized
Using the right app you customize the variant through the files.
Pro Based on Tolkien universe
Being based on the Tolkien universe makes for a familiar environment for fans as well as a deep offering of texture that would be hard to match from scratch.
Pro Five variants in one game
There are 5 variants of the original Angband included in this app, Sangband, Steamband, ToME, NPP Angband and Sil. With 5 games in 1 this app offers a robust offering of playtime.
Cons
Con Limited starting characters
Starting characters are limited and random, which can be frustrating, especially when the game is centered around restarting many, many times.
Con No roguelite features
Pixel Heroes subscribes to Roguelike rules where there is zero carry over from previous playthroughs. When compared to the small amount of progression seen in Roguelites this may be a turn off for some users.
Con Status effects overpowered
Status effects have too much of an advantage over the player, which means a focus has to be on countering them, leaving other elements to not be focused on due to being under-powered in comparison.
Con Not a lot of inventory space for storage of items
Con You need a physical keyboard to really enjoy this game
You can't select / customize software keyboards, which makes controlling the game more difficult than using a real keyboard that can.
Con Cannot change the game
It always starts with ToME.
Con Enemies can target from off screen
While enemies can target from off screen the player is unable to target them until they show onscreen, which means the player can get hit from enemies they can not see or retaliate.