I'm going to diverge from boardgaming for a post or two.  I want to cover my all-time favorite computer game, Angband.  Feel free to tune out if you're not interested, although I'm going to tie this game back to boardgames in a later post.

Recently, one of the Dallas Gamers (Dustin) posted a message on the list asking if anyone else had played Nethack.  I replied that I had, and we had a good discussion on the various Rogue-like games that are out there.  For those of you that don't know, there is a great primer on what a Rogue-like game is at Wikipedia.  In short, a Rogue-like game is a computer game that uses text (or ASCII) for graphics (but not a "text game" like Zork), and can trace its roots back to a game called Rogue, originally written on a Unix platform.

The game is played out on a gridded map, with the player being represented by a particular character, usually the '@' sign.  The games are usually fantasy themed, with the hero representing a warrior, wizard, priest, or something vaguely Tolkein-esque.  As the player, you move your character around using the number pad in 8 directions along the map.  Each object in the game is represented by a different character, with monsters being represented by letters like 'r' for rat or 'D' for dragon.  The games are usually played in multi-leveled dungeons, with each level being a new map.  The goal varies by game, but progressing further in the game usually means diving deeper into the dungeon to fight tougher monsters and collect better treasure and equipment.


Above is a screenshot from my current game.  The character (Trug IV), is a Golem Chaos Warrior, represented by the '@' symbol.  Along the left-hand side of the screen are the characters' stats.  He is level 31 (levels go to 50), and his experience and gold are listed.  Next are his 6 primary statistics, which are very similar to what you'd find in an RPG.  And finally, his current armor class, hit points, and spell points.  On the map, the dots represent floor tiles, while the solid squares are walls.  To the left of Trug is a 'V' which represents a vampire of some sort.  (in this case, it was a Master Vampire.)  The green 'd' to his lower-right is selected (noted by the yellow box around it), and is noted up a the top of the window to be a Chaos drake.  Various traps ('^') litter the room, and a pack of Cold Hounds ('Z'), clamor about below.  I'll go into more detail on my particular game and playing style in another post.

I got started playing Rogue-like games back in high school.  I started when Karl (my uncle) introduced me to Nethack.  At the time, I didn't appreciate the subtlety of the game, but still enjoyed it.  In college, I discovered Moria, and played much more than I should have.  And once I moved to Dallas, I discovered my favorite of the Rogue-like games, Angband.  These games are notable because as much as I've played computer games in my life, I've put more time into these games than any other computer or console game I've owned

It seems strange that a game with such rudimentary graphics could garner more playing time than any other video game I've played, but that's a testament to the incredible gameplay of the Angband & Nethack variants.  Each monster in the game has various abilities and tactics, and it takes months if not years of practice to be able to handle the wide assortment of creatures the game throws at you.  In fact, even though I've been playing this game for nearly 15 years, I've still never won.  That's right, I always lose in the end.  Although I've run a character all the way up to character level 50, I've never been able to dive deeper than about dungeon level 60 - just over half of the available 100 levels in the game.  There's no doubt about it, Angband is a brutal, challenging game.  I think that's one of the reasons I've played it this long.  I keep hoping that one of these days I'll join the elite few that's had a character win the game.

Character deaths are so frequent in Angband because of the myriad of variables the game can throw at you.  You may be a cautious player and carry around scrolls of teleportation so you can escape away anytime you get in a jam.  But what happens that first time you run into a monster that blinds you?  You don't think you can read that scroll of teleportation while you're blind, do you?  So maybe you start carrying around potions of cure blindness for just such encounters.  What happens when you run into a monster that paralyzes you, effectively holding you in place while it bites, claws, or blasts you with spells?  Or what about those silly deaths when you forget to buy food at the town and dive too deep, eventually starving to death before you can reach town again?  It's the wide variety of monsters, spells, equipment, statuses, and loads of other variables that keep the game interesting.  It's different every time you play.

Later in the week, I'll go over a bit more of how to play the game, and then do a quick post about the game I'm currently playing.  That's assuming Trug lasts that long - hopefully I won't go and do anything stupid before then.

In the meantime, if you're interested in trying out your first Rogue-like game, I recommend my personal favorite, Angband.  I've made the file available for download from my server, or you can also find it at the Angband homepage at www.thangorodrim.net, by clicking the "Download" section.

Until next time, have fun delving!