When comparing GTA San Andreas vs Pixel Dungeon, the Slant community recommends Pixel Dungeon for most people. In the question“What are the best Android games without in-app purchases/paywalls?” Pixel Dungeon is ranked 3rd while GTA San Andreas is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Pixel Dungeon is:
There are multiple [mods](http://www.slant.co/topics/1961/~what-are-the-best-pixel-dungeon-mods) available that extend the gameplay or even just change it outright. This way there are many choices to the player as to how they would like the game to play.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Tons of content will keep you entertained for a long time
You could spend days going through just the main story itself, but there is a ton more content as well. Side missions add numerous more hours of gameplay, and one-off encounters can help keep you entertained as well. Depending on your mood, you might even just want to try abiding by all the laws and driving around. In-game, there's always something to do, and you have a choice of what you want to do during that particular gaming session.
Pro A classic that translates great to mobile thanks to attention paid to the port
This game was originally launched on PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Tweaks were made to make it more mobile friendly - multiple ways to control the UI (optimized for touch), as well as cloud-saves which let you pick up where you left off on different devices (for example a tablet or a new phone).
Pro Familiar multi-city world that is actually based off of real locations
There are 3 huge cities to explore: Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas - each loosely modeled after certain real-world cities. In addition to the static map, other aspects of the game make it feel even more immersive. There's a fairly wide selection of vehicles, minigames and weird one-off events to find and take part in.
Pro Tons of vehicles
Tons of cars, bikes, planes, jets, tanks, jetpack, KTM rc, etc.
Pro 0sam
Pro A variety of mods are available, which extend the gameplay by a large margin
There are multiple mods available that extend the gameplay or even just change it outright. This way there are many choices to the player as to how they would like the game to play.
Pro Tons of replayability thanks to the randomly generated level
In true roguelike fashion, levels are randomly generated each time a new game is started. On top of this mechanic, 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 Challenging and fun gameplay that lends itself well to repeat plays
Pixel Dungeon'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 Detail-oriented design lends itself well to many gameplay elements, giving a feeling of polish and care not normally found on mobile
Small details in the art design helps to add immersion to the gameplay.
Pro A good variation in items allows the player to constantly discover new and exciting ways to tackle the game
Next to the typical selection of buffs, de-buffs, potions (that can be either consumed or thrown), weapons and armor (the latter two have to identified and can carry with them bonuses and curses), there are also less common items like random teleportation scrolls, map reveals, etc.
Pro Easily play without an internet connection as the game can be played in-full offline
Pixel Dungeon does not require an internet connection to use, making for a good game to play when there is no internet to connect to such as on flights.
Pro Beautiful pixel artwork that should offer a good bit of nostalgia for anyone who grew up with games that look similar
This looks like one of the good SNES RPGs. For someone who grew up loving those games, that's a huge plus.
Pro Being completely free and open-source means that anyone can try the game in order to see if they like it
No advertisements, no in-game store, and available for free with the source code available on GitHub.
*There is a link in the game where users can donate money to the developer. This of course does not mean you have to, but it is marked as a game with in-app-purchased because of it.
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 Hold your device as you like as the game can be played in portrait or landscape
Allowing the user to switch from portrait or landscape makes for an easy way to switch playstyles (one handed, two handed) depending on what device is being used (tablet, phone) as well as what is most comfortable for the user.
Cons
Con The control scheme doesn't translate well to touchscreens
For a game that was originally designed to be played with 14 physical buttons it can be difficult to translate that to a touch screen interface. Sadly, this shows when trying to play on a tablet or phone. To get the best experience, you're going to want to grab a compatible bluetooth gamepad/controller which adds cost, and you'll need to carry it around if you want to play on the go (likely at home you'll be playing on a console or computer).
Con Doesn't load on a Galaxy s20+
Hasn't worked for years. The game shows a black screen then immediately crashes.
Con Choppy performance at times
Sometimes framerates will drop, even on high end hardware. Typically framerates are good, but when there is a lot going on at once there will be dropped frames while the device tries to catch up with whatever is happening in-game.
Con Takes up a lot of space for an Android game
The game is 2 GB and does not fit most memory cards. but it's a very good game.
Con Expensive considering it's a port of an old game
The app costs $7, which is very expensive for a mobile game. In addition, this game is just a port of the original game (with a few mobile-focused optimizations) and there isn't any new content.
Con Bad graphics
The graphics aren't very good compared to newer games. Considering GTA SA is pretty old, it stands to reason that the graphics won't hold up as well as something newer.
Con Pixel Dungeon is hard
Pixel Dungeon's difficulty can be a turn off for some players as it is quite challenging. While there will be those that enjoy such difficulty, those looking for something easy may not enjoy the game.
Con Overly random
A lot of people see roguelike design as being based around randomness. It's actually a far more precise set of balances than that. A lot of roguelike developers shy way from "randomly generated content" in favor of the term "procedurally generated content." The reason for this is that a well designed roguelike is well balanced enough that if you lose or win, it's all because of the actions you took.
Pixel Dungeon has a habit of sometimes generating dungeons that are basically impossible and sometimes generating dungeons that are laughably easy.
Con Randomness cannot be turned off
Since everything in Pixel Dungeon is randomized, sometimes a player's character can get killed in ways that cannot be avoided. There is no way to escape this issue since randomization is baked in with no way to turn it off.