When comparing Caves (Roguelike) vs Shattered Pixel Dungeon, the Slant community recommends Shattered Pixel Dungeon for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes on Android?” Shattered Pixel Dungeon is ranked 3rd while Caves (Roguelike) is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Shattered Pixel Dungeon is:
SPD's gameplay is intuitive, allowing for it to be easy to get into. What is great though is that it's also very challenging, quickly making the experience both rewarding and addictive. Just one more game is a thought many will have before actually turning off their device.
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 Challenging and fun gameplay that lends itself well to repeat plays
SPD's gameplay is intuitive, allowing for it to be easy to get into. What is great though is that it's also very challenging, quickly making the experience both rewarding and addictive. Just one more game is a thought many will have before actually turning off their device.
Pro Has a reasonable amount of strategical depth where the player can easily plan out their next move
The top-down, turn-based nature of the game gives the opportunity to plan out a complex series of moves. This way there is no time constraint, and the player can leisurely strategize what they would like to do next.
Pro Tons of replayability thanks to the randomly generated levels
In true roguelike fashion, levels are randomly generated each time a new game is started. On top of this mechanic, Shattered Pixel Dungeon goes one step further by randomizing effects of all items as well, so it's impossible to tell if a dropped item will have a positive or a negative effect based on its sprite representation.
Pro Frustrating in a good way
You have to learn in bits & pieces, requiring patience & tenacity. Then you get to do it all over again w/ different classes, challenge modes. Very replayable.
Pro Frequently updated
The creator updates this mod about once a month, bringing TONS of additions including skill trees, bug fixes, and difficulty tweaks.
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.
Con Not recommended for the impatient type of player.
Con Extremely, even maddeningly, difficult
Con Hard to master
SPD's difficulty can be a turn off for some players as it is quite challenging and takes a long time to master. While there will be those that enjoy such difficulty, those looking for something easy may not enjoy the game.
Con Strange graphics
The 2.5D graphics or how to call it is confusing even after days of playing - you tap where you don't want to all the time. Zoom levels are wrongly set - everything is either too big or too small. The smooth paning when moving your character is dizzying for someone's head...