Strategy Roguelike RPG - NetHack is Epic Part I

NetHack first released in 1987 just seven years after the original "ROGUE." That's the same gap of time betwen Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. But NetHack has been in continued development on and off for the last 30 years. It's not "Early Access' but rather, a polished puzzle that continues to get more solutions and variety as players and devs alike play the game again and again.
You choose your name, your role, a race, and an alignment, and you descend into the Mazes of Menace. Your goal is to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor for your deity to be granted immortality. On your way, you'll face a unique quest and quest nemesis depending on your role. The weapons you can use and the powerful artifacts at your disposal depend upon your role and alignment.
A Lawful Valkyrie can safely wield Excalibur, while a Chaotic Ranger will be blasted by its power. The Mazers of Menace comprise a total of under 50 levels in depth which must be traversed down and back up once you obtain Yendor's Amulet. There are various "branches" or unique biomes so to speak that you will pass through.
In NetHack, you don't just go down. There are various subteranean towers and entire lakes with islands. The Dungeons of Doom, the Gnomish Mines, Sokoban Tower, The Quest, Medusa's Island, The Castle, and finally Gehennom. And you can go back to any level, any time. This allows you to stash items on a safer level allowing you to loot more on deeper levels. Like a more dangerous Mother Lode.
NetHack like its predecessors has a very punishing early game. But you quickly gain levels and equipment which greatly increases your likelyhood of survival. So if you die a lot in the beginning, just be patient for that character that survives a little bit longer - they may make it further than you expect.
In NetHack you are given much freedom for every encounter. Do you zap your wand of digging at the floor making an escape hole, invoke an artifacts teleport power, read an unidentified scroll with fingers crossed, enscribe "Elbereth" and hope they've read Tokien, polymorph yourself into a Master Mindflayer and suck some brains, or simply bash your way through every threat with Mjollnir? Every scenario has at least one answer, but usually a dozen or so. And every playthrough is very unique, even with the same role. And if you get tired after ascending every role, you have fan-made variants which add even more depth and zaniness to the game.
And you're guaranteed to get certain items like the Wand of Wishing every game if you make it far enough. This will allow you to wish for anything you've missed in the Mazes of Menace and prepare you for facing the various hordes of monsters, Demon Princes, and the Wizard of Yendor himself.
NetHack is a whacky and extremely thought-out Sandbox that is entirely a labor of love. The game is free on nethack.org. There are two versions it will download, one with ASCII graphics and one with Tiles. Just open both till you find the one you want. I recommend playing with the charm and color of the tiles, the origin I know not but have loved dearly since my childhood.
Special Thank You to all the NetHack devs and variant devs, you made my childhood and my adulthood filled with adventure. You have a hall of glory in my mind.
Music OSC - / @opusscience
Chill ambient tracks to listen to for hours, many inspired by my favorite TV show "Adventure Time."

[@LidlRaccoon]

If you want to download NetHack (always free) you can visit: www.nethack.org/v367/ports/download-win.html There will be 2 applications, one will give you ASCII and one will be Tiles, you can try them both. I recommend tiles to new players to roguelikes. There's also a mac version and multiple mobile versions. If you want to check on NetH@ckathon status check out: nethackathon.org/ Streamers will be switching off every 2 hours or so for continuous NetHack play on the 13th-15th. www.twitch.tv/lidlraccoon I will have higher quality big tiles for later NetHack content, I really like the pixel art in this game. So vibrant and detailed and cute. Sorry some are blurry in this video.