GnollHack

It's tiled nethack, but free, and better then the other priced version on steam (Vulture for NetHack). Also a big plus that the developer is active. I can't wait to put many hours in this, and I'm excited to see what new things will be added in the future.

+Free +Player choice +Some VO, which is a nice thing +Some actual SFXs -Extremely cumbersome to play -> low QoL -Bugs, eg. VO lines keep playing even if you skip the lines making even the reading more difficult --- While I absolutely love roguelikes, classic roguelikes, anything emergent from Nethack to Angband to ADOM, ToME etc. Gnollhack just doesn't work for me in 2025. My "reviews" are always based on if I personally would play the game and sadly for Gnomehack, that's a NO. I couldn't find a way to use keyboard to pickup items, even browsing through the whole keyboard list. The game did not do a good job telling that. Instead you start with a weird visual tutorial that goes through various elements on the screen, missing the obvious basics. I don't want to use my mouse while playing a classic rogue-like. Some items are automatically looted in various bags, which do not show when you open inventory or equipment. Instead you will have to manually open the said bag to see the contents. This is extremely cumbersome. The game doesn't warn you about anything either, even on the lowest (standard) difficulty. E.g. I had a blessed crystal orb (or something similar). There was two options to "use it". Invoke and apply (or something similar). Invoking it just permanently blinded my character. I've no idea what the logic is there. = the Quality of Life felt terrible. Playing the game felt like chore and I really didn't feel like I want to keep playing at all. Here we are. I'm absolutely certain you COULD enjoy the game if you get past these hurdles, but with so many games out there, I see no reason to bother.

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I've played about 100 hours between mobile and the standalone desktop version. GnollHack is a solid successor to NetHack, one of the greatest roguelikes of all time. I have ascended Caveman, Monk, Priest, Wizard, and Tourist. Most were powerful spellcasters. Pass Through Wall allows you to move like a Xorn any time. Mass Hold is also very powerful, paralyzing whole hordes. And Petrifying Gaze does what you would expect. But if you dont like spellcasting, the new melee weapon overhaul makes every run very unique. My Tourist dual wielded a vampiric sword that leeched life and a "witch king's" sword that drained max health. Some key differences from NetHack: - Overhauled spellcasting, far more spells (and very overpowered ones which are super fun to cast) - New gear slots and equipment, much more variety to your ascension kit - Plenty of new monsters and unique foes to fight, some are quite challenging - New playable race GNOLL very fun - Better Gehennom - shorter and more difficult - Easier early game, harder late game, but you still can get very OP in the end This is one of the best roguelikes out there IMO both because of its inspirations from NetHack and it's own innovations.

great D@D game. Finished on hardest level no deaths. Make a two handed cylco primordial crystal sword of sharpness. Best weapon I could think of. Then get the Mattock of the Titans as weapon 2 to cut through walls. Tourist seemed the best character overall.

everyone should try nethack/gnollhack

What a nice game. It's a modern remake of an old roguelike, Nethack, that adds modern mouse controls and graphics. I haven't gotten very far, but if you liked, for instance, Dungeonmans, or similar type games, I feel that you'd like this as well. I found a few bugs related to the interface, but overall it's a fantastic dungeon explorer. There's also a little bit of a learning curve, especially with the controls and interface. But I had things pretty much figured out after 15 or 20 minutes. I also wanted to leave a review in support of the game because it's free, which is pretty unbelievable considering how well done it is. GnollHack is obviously a high quality passion project from some talented people, and I highly recommend adding this game to your library.

Yet another game that reminds me of Castle of the Winds (from the Windows 3.1 days), such a pity that most of these games have more to do with perma-death.