Comparison

iNethack2 vs Cataclysm

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Single-player dungeon exploration
  • Treasure collection and escape
  • Multiple graphical tilesets
  • Touchscreen gesture controls
  • Customizable keyboard shortcuts
  • Bones file sharing integration
Features
Read 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

About

Cataclysm

A challenging post-apocalyptic survival roguelike with procedural generation. Explore, craft, and manage your needs to stay alive in a world overrun by monsters. Build, customize vehicles, and discover secrets in a vast, open-ended experience.

Highlights
  • Procedural world generation
  • Deep crafting system
  • Vehicle construction and modification
  • Survival mechanics (hunger, thirst, morale)
  • Bionics and mutations
  • NPC interaction and quests
  • Open-ended exploration
Features
Read full description

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is a post-apocalyptic zombie survival roguelike game with procedural world generation. It is heavily focused on crafting and exploration. The game is set in near-future New England after a catastrophic event killed most of the human population and spawned various monsters and hazards. Surviving is difficult: you have been thrown, ill-equipped, into a landscape now riddled with monstrosities of which flesh eating zombies are neither the strangest nor the deadliest. Unlike most roguelikes, it has no goal: the player is free to explore the procedurally generated map, clear areas of monsters, work with NPCs, and build shelters and vehicles. The gameplay is mainly based on day-to-day survival, and the game tracks parameters like hunger, thirst, morale, illness and temperature which the player must manage to stay alive. There are several other things in the game such as NPC Quests and Secret Structures. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is heavily focused on crafting with many basic necessities such as clothing and food being craftable from raw items that are found lying around. There are several professions and scenarios to choose from during character creation, as well as a variety of positive and negative traits. The game also provides the player with a robust platform to construct structures and build/modify vehicles. The game includes vehicles, bionics, mutations, realistic fire and smoke effects, real-life seasons and a wide array of combat and crafting skills. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 Original author: Whales (retired) Project Manager: KevinGranade Website/Forum: GlyphGryph Current Main Developers/Github Managers: KevinGranade, Rivet-the-Zombie, BevapDin, Coolthulu, i2amroy For a full list of contributors please see: https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/contributors

Screenshots

iNethack24 screens
Cataclysm4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: iNethack2 at 4.4 against Cataclysm's 3.9. iNethack2 also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (84% vs 69%). Cataclysm's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 12.0). On price, ratings volume, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Cataclysm sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. iNethack2 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iNethack2 holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 137 and 323 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of iNethack2's written reviews are positive against 69% of Cataclysm's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iNethack2 ships an update every 2 months, Cataclysm every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
iNethack2 versus Cataclysm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriNethack2Cataclysm
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (137 ratings) — better3.9 (323 ratings)
Positive reviews84.1% of reviews — better68.6% of reviews
Number of ratings137323 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.07.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB146 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperFuture Shock Software LTDDancing Bottle

Customer experience

iNethack2

All ratings137 ratings
Positive85.4%
Neutral5.8%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews138 reviews
Positive84.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative10.9%

Cataclysm

All ratings323 ratings
Positive72.4%
Neutral4.6%
Negative22.9%
Written reviews245 reviews
Positive68.6%
Neutral8.2%
Negative23.3%

User reviews

iNethack2

From 137 App Store ratings

What 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

Cataclysm

From 323 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great game
  • 🚀 Highly customizable
  • 💡 Endless possibilities
  • 👍 Fantastic hardcore roguelike
  • 👍 Addictive

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Controls are clunky and unresponsive
  • 🐛 Language issues (game in Russian/other languages)
  • 🐛 Screen size issues (too small)
  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🐛 Outdated version, needs updates

Bugs and requests

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 more
  • 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 more
  • 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

Cataclysm

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Keyboard issues (gets stuck, doesn't work properly)
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices/iOS versions
  • Crashes and freezes

Requested features

4 requests
  • Update the game to latest stable version
  • Improve touch controls and UI for mobile
  • Add screen zooming/magnification options
  • Provide better language support and options

In-app purchases

None

iNethack2

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Cataclysm

One-time1
  • Awesome Sound Pack$0.99

Questions

Is iNethack2 free?
iNethack2 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cataclysm free?
Cataclysm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iNethack2 or Cataclysm?
iNethack2 is rated higher. iNethack2 averages 4.4 out of 5 from 137 ratings, while Cataclysm averages 3.9 from 323 ratings.
Do iNethack2 or Cataclysm have ads?
Neither iNethack2 nor Cataclysm shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iNethack2 or Cataclysm?
iNethack2 ships an update every 2 months, and Cataclysm every 3 weeks. Most recently, iNethack2 was updated on October 14, 2026 and Cataclysm on October 16, 2026.

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