{"slug": "nethack", "name": "NetHack", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.641, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2025-11-12", "latest": "2026-10-23", "why": "I find NetHack more enjoyable to play because it has real character/soul/heart.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I find NetHack more enjoyable to play because it has real character/soul/heart.", "icon": true, "domain": "tnnt.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.nethack.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["NetHack"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 803270160, "item_id": 50204385, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50204385", "by": "stickfigure", "date": "2026-10-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love NetHack dearly", "excerpt": "I love NetHack dearly, but I am waiting with great anticipation for a roguelike whose procedural level generation is AI-driven. Imagine NetHack where every level is like the hand-built special levels! I know it's coming.", "context": "", "use_case": "roguelike gaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dungeon generation in the Gnomish mines of NetHack"}, {"id": 787280624, "item_id": 49205039, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49205039", "by": "hosel", "date": "2026-08-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I did love Nethack.", "excerpt": "I never got into Rogue, though I did love Nethack. If you\u2019re into these actual rogue-likes, I picked up Caves of Qud recently, highly recommend.", "context": "", "use_case": "playing roguelike", "switched_from": "", "story": "How Did Rogue Generate Its Random Dungeons?"}, {"id": 770534449, "item_id": 48158403, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48158403", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-05-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I could even play Nethack on the go.", "excerpt": "I used to have that; it was a better GBA than a GBA itself, and I could even play Nethack on the go. WIth a custom CFW you OFC could play Nethack at 50MHZ (With a MIPS CPU even 25MHZ would suffice), where I was more hooked than with Castlevanias... Oh, and Scummvm, too with Broken Sword, Future Wars and the like. And ScummVM still makes releases so you can totally play Blade Runner in a PSP (and far more).", "context": "", "use_case": "playing on PSP", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Bought a \"Junk\" PSP from Japan: Here's How It Went"}, {"id": 734539872, "item_id": 45908742, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45908742", "by": "chongli", "date": "2025-11-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I find NetHack more enjoyable to play because it has real character/soul/heart.", "excerpt": "I'm not the person you replied to but I'll give you my link [1]. At one point I had all species, backgrounds, and gods won but they've added a couple since I stopped playing. My win-loss ratio isn't anything to write home about but in my defence, many of my losses are scum losses (early deaths from messing around and not taking it seriously). When I take the game seriously I can win fairly consistently. The main thin", "context": "", "use_case": "roguelike gaming", "switched_from": "DCSS", "story": "NetHack4 Philosophy"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["roguelike gaming", "playing roguelike", "playing on psp"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50154109", "title": "Dungeon generation in the Gnomish mines of NetHack", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49199092", "title": "How Did Rogue Generate Its Random Dungeons?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48115425", "title": "I Bought a \"Junk\" PSP from Japan: Here's How It Went", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45811026", "title": "NetHack4 Philosophy", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 803270160, "item_id": 50204385, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50204385", "by": "stickfigure", "date": "2026-10-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love NetHack dearly", "excerpt": "I love NetHack dearly, but I am waiting with great anticipation for a roguelike whose procedural level generation is AI-driven. Imagine NetHack where every level is like the hand-built special levels! I know it's coming.", "context": "", "use_case": "roguelike gaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dungeon generation in the Gnomish mines of NetHack"}, {"id": 787280624, "item_id": 49205039, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49205039", "by": "hosel", "date": "2026-08-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I did love Nethack.", "excerpt": "I never got into Rogue, though I did love Nethack. If you\u2019re into these actual rogue-likes, I picked up Caves of Qud recently, highly recommend.", "context": "", "use_case": "playing roguelike", "switched_from": "", "story": "How Did Rogue Generate Its Random Dungeons?"}, {"id": 770534449, "item_id": 48158403, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48158403", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-05-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I could even play Nethack on the go.", "excerpt": "I used to have that; it was a better GBA than a GBA itself, and I could even play Nethack on the go. WIth a custom CFW you OFC could play Nethack at 50MHZ (With a MIPS CPU even 25MHZ would suffice), where I was more hooked than with Castlevanias... Oh, and Scummvm, too with Broken Sword, Future Wars and the like. And ScummVM still makes releases so you can totally play Blade Runner in a PSP (and far more).", "context": "", "use_case": "playing on PSP", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Bought a \"Junk\" PSP from Japan: Here's How It Went"}, {"id": 734539872, "item_id": 45908742, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45908742", "by": "chongli", "date": "2025-11-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I find NetHack more enjoyable to play because it has real character/soul/heart.", "excerpt": "I'm not the person you replied to but I'll give you my link [1]. At one point I had all species, backgrounds, and gods won but they've added a couple since I stopped playing. My win-loss ratio isn't anything to write home about but in my defence, many of my losses are scum losses (early deaths from messing around and not taking it seriously). When I take the game seriously I can win fairly consistently. The main thin", "context": "", "use_case": "roguelike gaming", "switched_from": "DCSS", "story": "NetHack4 Philosophy"}]}