ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) Reviews

Still one of the best games ever made that you don't know how to play after 10 years. I can almost get to the mid game and then get randomly killed by one of the million ways the game can screw you over. It's an adrealine rush and dopamine high at the same time. And you are still encouraged to start again because of the high replay value. Addicting. ADOM deserves a place in the list of greatest games ever made.

I'd very much want to give this a thumbs up - the original ADOM is a masterpiece. But this version? Horrible, buggy mess. Considerable lag. Settings not saving. Fullscreen ASCII mode is somehow zoomed in and I can't see the whole screen. Can't exit the game, stuck in "Communicating with ADOM server".

Been playing this game since the 90's on DOS. Still haven't beat the game properly. Play as Dwarven Bard.

Been playing it over 20 years. Will play it until I either beat it once or die.

Worked fine the first time I used it but now it crashes on startup. I found a few janky "fixes" online from a few years ago but nothing helps. There's enough games that do work that I don't need to spend time debugging this one. Too bad because I really enjoyed the first few hours I played.

To preface, I love rogue-likes and have played some of the most arcane in the genre -- to include one of the most complex: Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. This love isn't enough to overcome how much this game sucks. The experience is clunky AF. The UI is nearly unmanageable and includes no QoL. Frequently necessary meals must be made of LEAD, considering they weigh more than just about anything else in the game. What a frustrating, not fun mess. And to put it out there -- I was meeting a great deal of success in the game and hated every minute even while kicking ass. Frankly, I'm THRILLED to come to this conclusion -- early in the process -- and walk away with my time intact.