When comparing Minecraft - Pocket Edition 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 Minecraft - Pocket Edition is ranked 81st. 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
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Pros
Pro Completely new experience with each generated world keeps the game fresh
Each new world a player starts is randomly generated, making for a different experience every time a new world is started. There are 38 biomes - snowy, cold, medium/lush, dry/warm, and neutral biomes, each with numerous sub-biomes (such as mountainous, rivers, forested, swamp, beach and more). These biomes each have their own set of blocks and configurations, and each frozen river biome will be different from the next frozen fiver biome you see.
Pro Great freedom of expression thanks to the sandbox gameplay
In Minecraft you can really do whatever you want. If exploring different landscapes is your thing, creative mode lets you do that. Building castles or villages, or even sculptures, computers (complete with redstone logic), or unique builds can be done such as roller coasters or replicas of objects like the Enterprise from Star Trek.
For more combat focused gameplay, enter survivor mode and you can fight monsters, gather resources, craft weapons, build traps and farms and much more.
Pro Local multiplayer option for when there is no internet connection
Minecraft can be played with other people locally over Wi-Fi. This is great for those that have friends or family they would like to play with locally, or when there is no way to connect the device to the internet.
Pro Plenty of fun customizable skins for those interested in customizing their look
Minecraft for Android offers player skins, so users can customize their avatar's look. While some of the skins are free, there are others that cost money through in-app-purchases offered as skin packs. All skin packs are $0.99 a piece.
Pro Active development means plenty of new features and fixed bugs
There are updates to the game all the time, new features do get added at a good pace, which means that not only do bugs get fixed but that the game will constantly be growing as the platform grows with it, which allows more demanding features to be added with time.
Pro Plenty of expansive mods available if the core game gets too boring
Minecraft can be modded in order to bring extended functionality to the game. Using mods created by the community, users are able to theme the game to their liking, such as theming the game to look like Grand Theft Auto or adding extra crafting objects.
Pro Addictive gameplay makes the title difficult to put down
There is always one more thing that the player can get done before turning off the game. Building a structure and wanting to complete it - oh but you ran out of materials. Well you will therefore need to go down into the caves again. Oh you died in a cave and need to go back before your items disappear - better get down there again. And so it continues. There is always one more thing to do before you are "done", which is the underlying appeal of the game, never wanting to stop playing.
Pro Monika
This is cool!!
Pro Good controller and button mapping support allows the game to be easily played with many different controllers
For those who would like to play with a controller, support was added in July 2015. Anyone with a HID supported controller can easily connect through Bluetooth. They can then go into the games settings to map which buttons they want to use. This customizability means that you can now adjust the controller to your liking when using an HID controller.
Pro Do not log
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 Laggy multiplayer gameplay
Depending on the speed of your device and graphics quality, this game tends to lag and load slowly when using the multiplayer function.
Con Not as deep as other versions
Minecraft - Pocket Edition does not have as much content as other versions due to the app needing a limited size for mobile devices and their small storage. This means there is missing content in the mobile version over the PC or console versions. It is getting comparative better, but still is lacking due to the platform.
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.