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Hack
Saved games stay in this browser only.
About the game
Hack is the game that connects Rogue to NetHack. Jay Fenlason wrote the first version in the early 1980s, with help from Kenny Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne, in the spirit of Rogue but with its own ideas. A few years later, in 1984 and 1985, Andries Brouwer, at the Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica in Amsterdam, took it over, rewrote a large part and shared it on Usenet, where it went through versions 1.0.1, 1.0.2 and 1.0.3. NetHack, which most people know today, was started from this last version, and most of what you see here (the symbols, the shops, the little dog) is still in it.
You descend into the dungeon looking for the Amulet of Yendor, said to lie on the twentieth level. Each level is made of rooms and corridors drawn with letters and symbols: a wall, a door, a staircase, a potion. Monsters are letters too, and the game lets you ask what any of them is. Your starting equipment depends on the hero you get, and there is a little dog that fights at your side and can be trained. Along the way you find shops, where shopkeepers sell things and become very angry if you try to leave without paying, and a pile of unknown potions, scrolls, wands and rings that you learn about by trying them. You also get hungry, so food matters.
The game is turn-based and hard. When your character dies it is final, and the game writes your name in a list of the best (and worst) runs. The ghosts of dead heroes can also turn up on lower levels, with their old belongings.
Playing it here
This is Hack 1.0.3 as it is kept in the bsd-games collection, compiled for the
browser from its source code. The screen is the game's own text screen. There is
no sound. When the game asks "Are you an experienced player?", answer n to
be given a hero, or y to choose one. Save with S; the game picks the saved
character up when you come back, and the best scores and the ghosts of dead
heroes stay in this browser too. The commands for starting a shell (!) and for
suspending the game (Ctrl+Z) do nothing in the browser, and the long
encyclopedia texts that the / command used to show for some monsters were
left out because they quote books that are not free; the short names remain.
The game is in English and needs a keyboard (touch screens get on-screen keys).
Controls
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| h j k l y u b n or arrow keys | move left, down, up, right and diagonally (and attack) |
| H J K L Y U B N | keep moving in that direction |
| f then a direction | move until something interesting appears |
| m then a direction | move without picking things up |
| s | search for hidden doors, traps and monsters |
| < and > | go up or down a staircase |
| , | pick up what is here |
| i | inventory |
| e, q, r | eat, quaff a potion, read a scroll |
| w, W, T | wield a weapon, wear armor, take armor off |
| P, R | put on, remove a ring |
| t, z | throw something, zap a wand |
| a | apply (a key, for instance) |
| d, D | drop one thing, drop several |
| p | pay your bill in a shop |
| / | tell what a symbol is |
| . | rest a moment |
| Ctrl+R, Ctrl+P | redraw the screen, repeat the last message |
| S, Q | save and stop, quit |
| ? | the help |
Tips
Let the dog work. It fights for you and finds out which items are safe: a dog will not step on something cursed.
Pay before you leave a shop. Press p to pay what you owe. If you walk out with unpaid goods, the shopkeeper comes after you.
Do not eat the unknown. Eat food you know, and keep some in reserve.
Fight in corridors, where only one monster can reach you at a time.
FAQ
How do I save? Press S. The game ends and your hero is waiting when you open the page again.
What is the difference from NetHack? NetHack is the later, much bigger game that grew out of this one. Hack is smaller and quicker to learn, with fewer kinds of monsters and items and a simpler help.
Does it work on a phone? It needs a keyboard. On a phone or tablet you get on-screen arrows and a few keys, and the Aa button opens the keyboard.