NetHack Online
The dungeon that has eaten decades. NetHack in the browser via alt.org, with persistent saves, public score boards, and thirty-eight years of accumulated lore.
Tune in
Play NetHack Online →Opens in a new tab on the original host.
Controls: vi keys (hjkl) or numpad to move. ? for help. Every key does something.
NetHack has been in continuous development since 1987. It is not a game that was built and then released. It is a game that has been accumulating — patches, monsters, behaviors, edge cases, interactions — for nearly four decades. The DevTeam does not advertise what changed between versions. You find out by dying.
The premise is simple. You are a human (or dwarf, or elf, or gnome) descending into the Mazes of Menace to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor. You will not survive your first attempt. You will probably not survive your tenth. The dungeon is procedurally generated, which means every run is different, and the game has twenty-six character classes with different starting equipment, spells, and gods, which means there is no single correct strategy.
What NetHack is known for is depth. The item interaction system is the most complex in any game that fits in a terminal window. Potions can be dipped into. Rings can be put on. Wands can be zapped at yourself, at monsters, or at the floor. Weapons can be thrown. Armor can be enchanted or cursed. A rubber chicken can be used as a weapon. The game tracks all of this. It also tracks your pet, the alignment of your god, whether you have broken any conduct rules, and the total number of turns the run has taken.
alt.org runs a persistent public NetHack server. Games are saved between sessions. Scores are posted publicly. You can watch other players’ games in progress.
Why it’s on the guide: The reference implementation. Thirty-eight years of the same dungeon, still adding rooms.