POWDER vs iNethack2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
POWDER
Embark on a fast-paced, turn-based dungeon crawl inspired by classic roguelikes. This hack-and-slash adventure offers a polished and approachable experience for fans of the genre.
- Turn-based combat
- Dungeon crawl gameplay
- Hack-and-slash adventure
- Roguelike tradition
- Polished gameplay
Read full descriptionHide full description
POWDER is a fast-playing turn-based dungeon crawl in the roguelike-tradition. Years of polish have refined this hack-and-slash adventure into one of the most approachable examples of the roguelike genre.
iNethack2
Embark on a single-player dungeon crawl to collect treasure, find the Amulet of Yendor, and survive perilous mazes. This port offers graphical tilesets, touch controls, and customizable shortcuts for an enhanced roguelike experience.
- Single-player dungeon exploration
- Treasure collection and escape
- Multiple graphical tilesets
- Touchscreen gesture controls
- Customizable keyboard shortcuts
- Bones file sharing integration
Read full descriptionHide full description
"NetHack is a single player dungeon exploration game. Your goal is to grab as much treasure as you can, retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, and escape the Mazes of Menace alive." -- iNethack2 is an iOS port of Nethack 3.6.7. Original port in 2009 by Dirk Zimmermann which was called iNethack. Updated by Jeff King to work on modern devices, and renamed iNethack2. Initial 3.6 update by Joe Doucette. Various other contributions from the open source community. iNethack2 features: · 9 graphical tilesets (plus IBMGraphics mode, and regular ASCII mode in color and monochrome) · 1 animated tileset: DawnHack Animated · Touchscreen gesture controls: swipe to pan, pinch to zoom · Customizable keyboard shortcut controls · Hearse (bones file sharing) integration · Works on iOS12+ Some facts about NetHack: · The first version of NetHack was released in 1987 · NetHack was a roguelike before people used the term roguelike · You can play NetHack for years and still make new discoveries · NetHack is one of the greatest games of all time
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: iNethack2 at none against POWDER's 1. iNethack2 also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 7 months). POWDER's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 12.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. POWDER sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. iNethack2 asks for nothing beyond the download.
iNethack2 holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 120 and 137 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of POWDER's written reviews are positive against 84% of iNethack2's.
POWDER ships an update every 7 months, iNethack2 every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | POWDER | iNethack2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (120 ratings) | 4.4 (137 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.6% of reviews | 84.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 120 | 137 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Jeff Lait | Future Shock Software LTD |
Customer experience
POWDER
iNethack2
User reviews
POWDER
From 120 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great roguelike gameplay
- 🕹️ Customizable controls
- ⏱️ Quick gaming sessions
- 🔁 High replayability
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional UI issues (button placement, screen rotation)
- 💰 Expensive full version
- 🔍 Lack of visual polish
iNethack2
From 137 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎮 Faithful port of classic NetHack game
- 📱 Well-designed touch interface for mobile
- 🎨 Multiple tileset options available
- ♾️ Infinite replayability and depth
- 🆓 Free to play with no paywalls
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 💾 Game files corrupted or lost unexpectedly
- ⌨️ Limited external keyboard support
- 🎮 Clunky movement controls
- 🖱️ Double-tap sensitivity issues
Bugs and requests
POWDER
Reported bugs
3 issues- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
- Occasional save data loss
- Unresponsive controls
Requested features
4 requests- Multiplayer mode
- More enemy/item variety
- Save/load functionality
- Difficulty settings
iNethack2
Reported bugs
14 issues- Game crashes when using inventory (I command)
- Crashes on Plane of Water during save restore
- File corruption errors when switching apps
- Game freezes with Chinese pinyin keyboard input
- Crashes when equipping rings
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Crashes when dropping items
- Crashes when accessing discoveries list
- Cannot open level files error (501mobile.50)
- Game unrecoverable after certain actions
- Double-tap causes unintended character movement
- Floor tiles not rendering in corridors
- Crashes on iOS 11+ when dropping items
- Waiting for logfile access message loops
- Game crashes immediately on startup for some users
Requested features
17 requests- Separate button labels from command values
- External Bluetooth keyboard support
- Directional pad for movement
- Swipe-based movement controls
- Character name customization
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Pet naming functionality
- Partial item stack management
- Cloud save synchronization across devices
- iPad Magic Keyboard support
- Japanese language localization
- Toggle for sparkle effects
- Multiple simultaneous game saves
- NetHack version 3.6+ support
- Slash'Em port for iOS
- Voice over support for accessibility
- Options file editing capability
- Discoveries list access without crashes
In-app purchases
POWDER
- POWDER Full Version$9.99
iNethack2
No in-app purchases
