iNethack2 vs Cataclysm
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
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"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
Cataclysm
Experience a turn-based survival RPG in a procedurally generated post-apocalyptic world. Scavenge for resources, craft items, and battle a variety of dangerous creatures and hostile survivors to stay alive.
- Turn-based survival gameplay
- Procedurally generated world
- Scavenging for resources
- Crafting and item management
- Combat against monsters and humans
- Vehicle exploration
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Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is a turn-based survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world. Struggle to survive in a harsh, persistent, procedurally generated world. Scavenge the remnants of a dead civilization for food, equipment, or, if you are lucky, a vehicle with a full tank of gas to get you the hell out of Dodge. Fight to defeat or escape from a wide variety of powerful monstrosities, from zombies to giant insects to killer robots and things far stranger and deadlier, and against the others like yourself, that want what you have… The previous, 0.E version, is here: https://apps.apple.com/app/cataclysm-roguelike-rpg-0-e/id1547835881
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: iNethack2 at Free against Cataclysm's $9.99. Cataclysm's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 12.0). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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
iNethack2 is free to download; Cataclysm costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for iNethack2 against 4.3 for Cataclysm. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 150 and 56 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 84% of iNethack2's written reviews are positive against 77% of Cataclysm's.
iNethack2 ships an update every 2 months, Cataclysm every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | iNethack2 | Cataclysm |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (150 ratings) — better | 4.3 (56 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.1% of reviews — better | 77.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 150 — better | 56 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 169 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Future Shock Software LTD | Yury Apollov |
Customer experience
iNethack2
Cataclysm
User reviews
iNethack2
From 150 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
Cataclysm
From 56 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great game complexity
- 👍 Fantastic port quality
- 👍 Good for on-the-go play
- 👍 Fair pricing for support
- 👍 Appreciated for being available
Room to improve
- outdated Port version
- 🐛 UI issues with ASCII
- 🐛 Controls can be difficult
- 🐛 UI takes up screen space
- 🐛 Button resizing needed
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
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- 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
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- 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
21 issues- UI goes wonky with ASCII
- Zoom in/out function not working
- Walk button too close to corner
- Game breaks after a while
- Menu frozen
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- Nothing displayed after re-opening
- Major bug locks you into dialog screen
- Graphical Overmap mod not working
- Touchpad controls not responding
- Pressing keys results in double input
- Displays black screen
- Crashes extremely often
- Resolution resets when keyboard is swiped up
- Rarely loads properly, black screen with overlay
- Crashing when driving
- Keyboard swapping is cumbersome
- Game sound doesn't work
- Terminal width and height settings reset on app restart
- Game crashes very often when traveling
- Enter key is small
- Action menu obstructs view
Requested features
19 requests- Update to latest PC version
- Deploy version 0.H
- Swipe interface on iOS
- Update to newest stable version
- Release O.G stable release
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- Add 0.G version
- Customizable UI
- Change fonts on iOS
- Add page up/down buttons
- Always visible Esc and Tab keys
- Toggle number/arrow keypad
- Create custom buttons for functions
- Add modding capabilities
- Allow mod installation
- Fix sound issues
- Transfer settings and keybindings on update
- Fix terminal width/height reset
- Customizable UI interface
- Add mods
In-app purchases
iNethack2
No in-app purchases
Cataclysm
No in-app purchases
