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25 October 2025
Hack is a roguelike game (a game descended from Rogue), thus, it has procedural map generation, and when you die, it's permanent. Nethack is descended from it. I played Hack because it comes with the version of the bsdgames package that one of my computers has. Maybe if I had been thinking of recommending a game, I would have gotten Nethack, because I think it's better-known. I'm not sure exactly how much of the following applies to Nethack.
Hack vs. Angband: Angband is a serious, sort of industrial roguelike. Hard work and dedication (and some luck), may enable you to win. Emphasis on combat and inventory management. You can set a kind of "policy" for how you play and stick with it. Setting that policy is part of the skill of the game. Hack is a more luck-based, improvisational roguelike. Harder to stick to a policy because you can't control your inventory as much. Sheer number of times playing make it more likely you will eventually win (in that sense rewarding hard work and dedication), but luck is a big part of the game, as opposed to Angband's emphasis on thinking and planning (another meaning of "hard work"). Trying things out is rewarded (like the potions and scrolls that come unidentified and that you can't reliably identify). Angband is a world that in many ways has infinite resources. The basic consumables you need to survive can be purchased from the town. Some other items can be purchased, and the dungeon has a lot of items, plenty of good armor, weapons, spell books, etc. You can store some items in your home for an added element of plentifulness (can keep some items for later use). Hack does not have infinite resources. You can run out of food. No town, no home, there are some shops in the dungeon that you might randomly encounter but not reliably. Angband is in some ways a better model of real life, but sometimes Hack is. Angband and Hack could be labels on patterns in life.
I think Angband and Hack complement each other. If I had to recommend one, it would be Angband. But Hack makes an interesting commentary on Angband.
JRPGs are a different perspective that also complement Angband and Hack. (I can't recommend a particular one off the top of my head.)