GnollHack vs Direhollow
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
GnollHack
Embark on a perilous quest in a remastered classic roguelike. Explore procedurally generated dungeons, battle monsters, and uncover powerful artifacts. With deep strategy, a rich class and race system, and challenging permadeath, every playthrough offers endless replayability.
- Turn-based roguelike gameplay
- Modern user interface
- Procedurally generated dungeons
- 13 classes and 5 races
- Hundreds of items and spells
- Challenging permadeath mode
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ABOUT GnollHack is a remastered and enhanced version of the classic roguelike game NetHack, one of the most iconic games developed in 1980s and 1990s. With GnollHack, you get: - Traditional roguelike with turn-based gameplay - Modern user interface - Legendary strategic depth of NetHack - Endless replayability - Several new features, enhancing your gameplay experience STORY In GnollHack, you are a hero sent by your deity into the perilous Dungeons of Doom, tasked with recovering the stolen Amulet of Yendor from the clutches of the malevolent god Moloch, who has hidden it in the fiery depths of the underworld. Along your journey, you will encounter formidable enemies, discover great magical artifacts, and strive for glory. You must either triumph or perish in the attempt. ROGUELIKE GAMEPLAY Explore procedurally generated dungeons filled with monsters, traps, and treasures. RICH CLASS AND RACE SYSTEM - 13 classes: wizard, barbarian, rogue, etc. - 5 races: human, elf, gnoll, etc. DEEP ITEM AND MAGIC SYSTEM Hundreds of items, spells, and artifacts with diverse effects. CHALLENGING PERMADEATH (Classic Mode Only) Death is permanent, requiring players to adapt, plan, and learn from mistakes to progress further. TUTORIALS AND GAMEPLAY INFORMATION - GnollHack wiki: https://wiki.gnollhack.com SUPPORT - Discord: https://discord.gg/cQuExnzUQy
Direhollow
Experience a faithful mobile remake of the classic 1980 roguelike game. Navigate unforgiving dungeons, face a complete bestiary, and strive to claim the Amulet of Yendor with true permadeath. Enjoy the authentic ASCII graphics and a free, fair gameplay experience.
- Faithful remake of classic roguelike
- True permadeath with save deletion
- Complete A-Z bestiary
- Loot and identify mechanics
- Authentic ASCII graphics
- Touch-first controls
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Direhollow is a faithful mobile remake of Rogue — the 1980 game that started the roguelike. The same Dungeons of Doom. The same A–Z bestiary. The same unforgiving permadeath. Rebuilt for a phone: touch-first, free, and true to the original. We modernize the shell, not the rules. THE REAL GAME, ON A PHONE The same seeded dungeons, the same monsters, the same merciless math — with a 3×3 move pad, pinch-to-zoom, a tap-driven pack, and saves that actually survive a phone call. WHAT YOU'LL FIND DOWN THERE • True permadeath — one life, one seed. The save is deleted on death. No reloading an earlier turn. • The full bestiary — the complete A–Z roster, depth-ordered exactly as the original intended. • Loot & identify — per-run appearances for scrolls, potions, rings, and wands. Learn them, or risk them. • The Amulet of Yendor — descend to claim it, then climb back to the surface alive. Few will. • True ASCII — the authentic 1980 glyph grid. No tiles, no remix. The terminal classic, on a phone. FREE, AND FAIR No pay-to-win. No energy timers. No reloads sold back to you. The whole game is earned — exactly as it was in 1980. ——— "Rogue" is used here only descriptively, to say what kind of game this is. Direhollow is an independent work inspired by the BSD-licensed original; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by any trademark holder.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Direhollow at 5.0 against GnollHack's 4.7. Direhollow also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 85%). GnollHack's advantage is ratings volume (111 vs 4) and update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Direhollow holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: GnollHack has 111 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of GnollHack's written reviews are positive against 100% of Direhollow's.
GnollHack ships an update every 5 days, Direhollow fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | GnollHack | Direhollow |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (111 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 111 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 772 MB | 71 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Hyvän mielen pelit ry | HYMEL VENTURES LLC |
Customer experience
GnollHack
Direhollow
In-app purchases
GnollHack
No in-app purchases
Direhollow
No in-app purchases









