by Nethack and Dwarf Fortress are known as some of the toughest games around – both for their unforgiving gameplay (the former being an expanded version of the actual Rogue…kinda), their remarkably complex rule sets, and for their occasionally impenetrable user interface. Roguelikes probably deserve an entire article on their own on any self-respecting games review site…okay…new article idea.
Anyway – in an attempt to make Nethack more accessible (or at least have a user interface that clues you in a bit more to the rules underlying the game), Pathos was born. Perhaps it loses a bit by showing you the statistics and cluing you in to what actions you can take – and I’m pretty sure the food randomization was tweaked. My only real complaint is that it handles boundaries poorly – sometimes you won’t be able to see the other side of a room until you enter the tile right next to the edge of the screen. But in the end, it’s the first version of Nethack I’ve been able to play on the go, on my iPad, without slowly losing the will to live. Someday, I will ascend.