EvilHack

So you thought NetHack was a punishingly tough game that took ages to clear for the first time?

You haven't seen anything yet.

EvilHack is a NetHack variant created by Keith "K2" Simpson. Initially based on NetHack 3.6.2, the variant has since diverged into its own relatively unique take on the old-edition-Dungeons & Dragons-like world that NetHack began life with.

EvilHack was designed from the outset to be a much more difficult game to win; while not at all impossible to ascend, several aspects of this game that the player might take for granted from vanilla NetHack have been changed and can easily end a promising run. In general, monsters are tougher and have more hit points, they can fight more intelligently, and they can and will use a variety of items and spells against you that previously only the player could use. While plenty of improvements have been made for the player as well, EvilHack still present a significant challenge for even the seasoned player.

The variants GruntHack and SporkHack are cited as major inspirations, incorporating many of the same features that make those variants difficult in their own right. Elements from other variants (e.g. Slash'EM, SpliceHack, UnNetHack, and xNetHack) as well as from later and newer version of the vanilla NetHack are included; while some of those features have remained many have been altered to set them apart and provide the player with a new experience, and there is also a significant amount of custom content not found in any other variant, with much more to be added in the near future.

Work on EvilHack first began on October 20th, 2018, and it was released for public play in April of 2019 on the Hardfought public NetHack servers. The Github repository for EvilHack can be found at https://github.com/k21971/EvilHack; a direct link to the change log can be found here, and is updated on a regular basis.

To download the official release (version 0.6.0), which includes windows binaries, visit this link. This page lists the current players that have successfully ascended.


 * Acquired Poison Immunity: Played with from the original NetHack; intrinsic resistances are now measured by percentage.