About NetHack
NetHack is a free and open-source, single-player roguelike made by the NetHack Development Team, or DevTeam, a group of developers who collaborate over the internet. It was first released on July 28, 1987, as a fork of Hack, which is itself based on Rogue. It is one of the oldest video games still in active development, and version 5.0.0 came out in May 2026.
You create a character and then descend through the Mazes of Menace, a dungeon spread over many levels, fighting monsters and collecting treasure on the way. The goal is to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor and escape with it. NetHack has been cited as an influence on later games, Diablo among them.
The game is distributed under the NetHack General Public License, a copyleft license written in 1989. That makes it open source as well as free: anyone can play it, and its source code is public.
How it runs in your browser
Play opens NetHack’s page on dos.zone in a new tab. Rather than the current release, DOS.Zone starts an old MS-DOS build of the game inside js-dos, the open-source DOSBox build it uses to emulate a PC in the browser. The site supplies every file, so you don’t install anything or sign up, and there are no ads. The listing confirms it’s free to play without registration and shows a rating of 4.8 from eight player reviews.
The bundle carries some reading material too. Our check of its file list on 1 November 2026 found the license file, NETHACK.TXT and the Guidebook alongside the game itself. The listing doesn’t say how saved games are handled, so look at DOS.Zone’s page before you start a run you care about.
Controls and devices
DOS.Zone files NetHack under text-based RPGs, and you play it on a computer with a keyboard and mouse. The listing doesn’t spell out the commands, so expect to learn them from the game and its documentation. Click inside the emulator window after it loads so your input reaches the game.
On a phone, DOS.Zone can show virtual on-screen controls. NetHack wasn’t designed for a touchscreen, though, and a desktop or laptop suits it far better. We haven’t tested it on a phone, and Chromebooks haven’t been confirmed.
Who it’s for
NetHack suits patient players who enjoy turn-based dungeon crawls, and anyone curious about a game whose line runs back through Hack to Rogue. Because it’s open source, there’s nothing to buy. If you like the idea of fighting your way down a dungeon in real time instead, Diablo, one of the games NetHack is cited as influencing, also runs in the browser. For a bigger fantasy world from the 1990s, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is on DOS.Zone as freeware.
Is NetHack Free, Safe and Official?
Is NetHack free to play?
Yes. NetHack is free and open-source software under the NetHack General Public License. DOS.Zone runs it in a browser tab without registration and with nothing to install.
Is this the latest version of NetHack?
No. DOS.Zone runs an old MS-DOS build. The DevTeam still develops the game, and version 5.0.0 came out in May 2026, so the browser version is much older than the current release.
Can I play NetHack on my phone?
DOS.Zone offers virtual on-screen controls for phones, but this build was made for a computer and we haven’t tested it on a touchscreen. A desktop or laptop is the better fit.
