Comparison

iNethack2 vs Direhollow

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

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.

Highlights
  • Faithful remake of classic roguelike
  • True permadeath with save deletion
  • Complete A-Z bestiary
  • Loot and identify mechanics
  • Authentic ASCII graphics
  • Touch-first controls
Features
Read full description

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

iNethack24 screens
Direhollow4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Direhollow at 5.0 against iNethack2's 4.4. Direhollow also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 84%). iNethack2's advantage is ratings volume (137 vs 4) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Direhollow 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 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of iNethack2's written reviews are positive against 100% of Direhollow's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iNethack2 ships an update every 2 months, Direhollow fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
iNethack2 versus Direhollow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriNethack2Direhollow
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (137 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews84.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings137 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB71 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperFuture Shock Software LTDHYMEL VENTURES LLC

Customer experience

iNethack2

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

Direhollow

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Direhollow

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

iNethack2

No in-app purchases

None

Direhollow

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iNethack2 free?
iNethack2 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Direhollow free?
Direhollow is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iNethack2 or Direhollow?
Direhollow is rated higher. iNethack2 averages 4.4 out of 5 from 137 ratings, while Direhollow averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do iNethack2 or Direhollow have ads?
Neither iNethack2 nor Direhollow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iNethack2 or Direhollow?
iNethack2 ships an update every 2 months, and Direhollow fortnightly. Most recently, iNethack2 was updated on October 14, 2026 and Direhollow on October 12, 2026.

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