Nethack, the Alphabet on Parade!

Nethack is like golf. Both are hard to do well. Both induce slavish devotion and soul-crushing frustration in their players. Most players never come close to a proper game (shooting Par 72 or Ascending a character), but we all dream of the day when the planets might align. In my case it took nineteen years of occasional play from the precursor 'hack' on 68000-based Sun workstations in 1987 to my first ascention.

In both, hours of careful gameplay can be rendered moot by one screwup. But golf is more forgiving because it lacks the concept of insta-kill. If Tiger Woods hit out-of-bounds on the first shot of a three day tournament, he would take a penalty shot and continue play. In Nethack, he would be frozen in place, devoured by a kitten, and never heard from again!

The secret of nethack is that, for twenty years, no effort has been spent on presentation. The screen is a cryptic jumble of letters and punctuation straight out of the 1980's. Instead, all effort has focused on covering each and every possible thing, no matter how unlikely, that someone might try.

If you would like to try, go to Alt.org or Hardfought!

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If I were a NetHack monster, I would be a dwarf. I enjoy using expensive, high-quality equipment, and I'm not afraid to work hard to get it.
Which NetHack Monster Are You?

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