Nethack
RPGs: The nerdiest games out there. Their hallowed ranks include Pokemon, the Final Fantasy series, and Chrono Trigger. Yet none of them would have come out if not for a little game called Hack, and it's better version, Nethack. It's a Luddite sort of game, based on Dungeons and Dragons. You have a little @ sign, which you move around a little dungeon made out of ASCII characters. The seemingly B-movieish plot states that you are searching for the Amulet of Yendor. But the game is so much more than that.
Most of the dungeon levels are randomly generated, making the game fresh and exciting every time you play. The potions, armor, etc. you find throughtout your journey are assigned different descriptions for each game, so, in combination with the various curses and blessings placed on them, you almost never know what any given item will do. You get a pet cat or dog at the beginning, who can battle alongside you, gain levels, and even shoplift. And of course, there's monsters. Hundreds of different kinds of monsters inhabit the dungeons and caves. There's everything from lowly newts to ice demons, dragons, and even Barney the Dinosaur (Take our advice: If you see him, RUN!).
But it's the dry sense of humor in the game that really makes it cool. These dungeons have kitchen sinks, credit cards (Useful for unlocking doors), and wererats. There are succubuses, demons that will seduce you, and then charge you for it. You might start hallucinating if you drink the right potion, which has the effect of making everything appear to shapeshift, but also to make the narration hippie style.
Don't underestimate this game. It's VERY difficult. In months of trying, our staff hasn't even gotten close to the fabled Amulet. We've been killed by gnomes, orcs, apes, ice demons, our ghosts from previous games, dogs, cats, spiked pit traps, arrow traps, dart traps, lynxes, dwarfs, starvation, and just about everything else you can imagine. And the thing is, we've seen a very small percentage of this game.
Nethack, and Hack, are like 20 years old. They are the precursors to 1000's of games. And they're still free. And the authors are still working on it. This game has to be one of the requirements of nerdhood. That's all we've got to say: We want to finish so we can go play Nethack.
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