Caves of Qud
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 6 of 12 roguelike games by recommenders
A deep roguelike that people keep replaying and often compare to NetHack, with ASCII-style graphics that feel friendly to many players.
A deep roguelike that people keep replaying and often compare to NetHack, with ASCII-style graphics that feel friendly to many players.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Captures NetHack-style feel without spoilers
“games like Caves of Qud are probably better at evoking the feelings of Nethack without being so absolutely reliant on spoilers”
Comment from 3 May 2026 in “NetHack 5.0.0” “fun game. Book of the New Sun meets Nethack meets Gamma World.”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “How Did Rogue Generate Its Random Dungeons?” Widely called incredible, even by repeat players
“Qud is legit incredible. ... I've finished Qud a few times. It is still a really deep game.”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “How Did Rogue Generate Its Random Dungeons?” “Still an incredible game though.”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Caves of Qud: A Review”
Other roguelike games people recommend
The four most recommended other roguelike games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetHack | 60 | 7 | 90% | 11 | 26 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| Chess-Inspired Roguelike | 33 | 3 | 92% | 1 | — | — |
| Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup | 16 | 6 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Xs of Y | 14 | 5 | 74% | 1 | — | — |
| Caves of QudThis page | 10 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
7 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's use of ASCII plus ASCII-like graphics makes the experience a lot friendlier imo”
“Caves of Qud had it right all along.”
“Qud is legit incredible. ... I've finished Qud a few times. It is still a really deep game.”
“fun game. Book of the New Sun meets Nethack meets Gamma World.”
“I picked up Caves of Qud recently, highly recommend.”
“games like Caves of Qud are probably better at evoking the feelings of Nethack without being so absolutely reliant on spoilers”
“Still an incredible game though.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.