Nethack posts

Independent Minds aims to take various aspects of indie gaming and present them to you each week. From game round-ups to design elements to interviews with prominent members of the scene, it's an exploration of what makes indie gaming great as well as what makes someone an indie.

Well, maybe not handicapped, but certainly accessible! Accessibility is an incredibly important aspect of gaming that nobody really pays attention to. Accessibility is really simple: how easy is it for a new player to come in and pick up your game. Most notably, you must pick up and hold your new player's attention, even if they don't completely understand the game right from the very start. In a way, this tied into both ambition and the principles of good design, but it goes a little farther beyond that into knowing your players. It's a guessing game, really.

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

Following in the theme of last week's Battle for Wesnoth, this week I have another game which can be considered an absolute must-play. It's the spiritual successor to the classic Hack and Rogue, and it's one of the deepest, most engaging RPGs of all time. Best of all, it can be played anywhere as long as the computer you are on has a telnet connection. The game in question in Nethack, and if you haven't played it, you are depriving yourself of one of the best experiences in gamings.