DROD is a highly addictive game somewhere between nethack and sokoban. It looks like an action hack'n'slay game on the first sight but really is more of a logic/strategy game.

The idea is simple: You're a swordsman moving through dungeons with hordes of monsters. Everytime you make a move the monsters make a move. If a monster touches you – you're dead. If a monster touches your sword – the monster is dead.

Sounds easy but gets really hard fast.

• of squares, so counting square distances is important. serpents, which are (mostly) invulnerable to the sword), so they can be invaluable as a tool to block monster advances and therefore protect you.
• All monsters have logical movement patterns based on a certain set of rules unique to each. Getting to know them better and predict how they will move next is an important part of the strategy to playing this game.
• Another important part of the strategy is the mastering of certain special techniques based on the mechanics of DROD. One such technique is the backswipe, which makes use of the fact that DROD is turn based, and you move before other monsters do.
• Once you've mastered the basics of DROD, or even completed the official hold, King Dugan's Dungeon, then there are a whole host of user-made holds (dungeons) that can be downloaded (though you require the 1.6 or 2.0 version to do this). They vary in length and difficulty, from easy to insanely difficult, some of them many times harder than King Dugan's Dungeon, and most are also very fun to play. The 1.6 version comes with the level editor, so you can also build your own levels too and show them off to the rest of the DROD community.
• Get stuck in one particular room? Use the excellent search function in the forums to search for threads that give hints on any room in any uploaded dungeon.
• Finally, a completely new version of DROD, DROD 2, Journey to Rooted Hold (DROD: JtRH), has been released. It contains many new features like vastly updated graphics, new monsters and elements, a new hold and a scripting system, new sounds and music, voice talent, as well as many improvements to the user interface and the gameplay experience. Get it from www.caravelgames.com !

Both of the most recent versions of DROD, 1.6 and 2.0, come with their own graphical installer. Download them from http://drod.caravelgames.com, set the permissions to executable, and run them from there. If you run arts you need to start it with artsdsp or it will hang on init:

$> artsdsp ./drod