iNethack2 vs Nethack Helper
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
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
Nethack Helper
This app serves as a comprehensive toolkit for NetHack players, offering tools to master shops, spells, and character progression. It provides detailed information on items, spells, intrinsics, and includes animated solutions for puzzles. The app also features score logging and progress tracking.
- Item identification by price
- Spell success percentages
- Intrinsic monitoring
- Animated Sokoban puzzle solutions
- Score logging and ascension tracking
- Progress timeline chart
- Offline functionality
Read full descriptionHide full description
NetHack Helper - Everything you need to remember in one tiny app The ultimate toolkit for NetHack adventurers. Master shops, spells, and character progression with precision tools designed by players, for players. • Identify items by price with charisma-based calculations • Covers potions, scrolls, rings, wands, armor & more • All 43 spell books with success-to-learn percentages • Factors Intelligence, XP level, and skill enhancements • Monitor 18 intrinsics, protection, and prayer status • Step-by-step animated solutions for all 8 Sokoban puzzles • Toggle between DawnHack tiles and classic ASCII views • Comprehensive score logging with ascension tracking • Hidden timeline chart reveals your progress over time • Uses DawnHack Tileset • Works offline with persistent data • Auto-resets between characters for streamlined gameplay Unofficial companion app - not affiliated with NetHack DevTeam - We use it with iNetHack2 on iPhones
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Nethack Helper at 5.0 against iNethack2's 4.4. Nethack Helper also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months). iNethack2's advantage is ratings volume (137 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). 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.
Nethack Helper holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iNethack2 has 137 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
iNethack2 ships an update every 2 months, Nethack Helper every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iNethack2 | Nethack Helper |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (137 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 84.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 137 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Future Shock Software LTD | David Konshuh |
Customer experience
iNethack2
Nethack Helper
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 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
Nethack Helper
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
iNethack2
No in-app purchases
Nethack Helper
No in-app purchases
