ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) Review Summary

A definitive roguelike classic with exceptional depth, high replayability, and a coherent multi-ending story, but harsh onboarding, brutal difficulty, and unfair mechanics may frustrate newcomers.

Definitive roguelike classic: Reviewers consistently describe the game as one of the best and most definitive traditional roguelikes ever made. It is praised as a gem of the genre with classic dungeon-crawling roots.

Exceptional depth and replayability: The game offers incredibly deep mechanics, immense variety, and tremendous replay value. Many reviewers consider it among the deepest and most replayable games they have ever played.

Multiple endings and coherent plot: The game features a decent story with multiple possible endings. Reviewers note that it manages a coherent plot alongside its gameplay.

Hundreds of hours of fun: The game provides many hours of fun and entertainment. Reviewers report hundreds of hours of enjoyment.

Best RPG in genre: Some reviewers consider it the best RPG in its genre. It is also described as one of the greatest RPGs ever played.

Poor new player experience: New players are often overwhelmed by the lack of guidance, unclear mechanics, and hostile design. The tutorial is inadequate, and many essential systems are unexplained, forcing reliance on external resources.

Extreme difficulty and brutal learning curve: The game is exceptionally hard and unforgiving, with a steep learning curve that often requires extensive external research (wiki, guides) to make any progress. Many players report dying repeatedly in the early game and finding the experience frustrating.

Unbalanced and unfair gameplay: Many design decisions feel unfair, such as monsters leveling infinitely while the player is capped, respawn rates that softlock progress, and random effects that can destroy essential items. Combat is often swingy and reliant on RNG.

Clunky UI and keyboard controls: The interface is widely described as clunky and outdated, relying on an extensive set of keyboard commands that are difficult to learn and use. Many actions require multiple key presses, and the lack of mouse support or hotkeys adds to the tedium.

Tedious and repetitive gameplay: The game is often described as tedious, with repetitive actions, monotonous level design, and a lack of variety across playthroughs. Many tasks feel like chores, and the overall pace is slow.

Classic Roguelike Identity: The game is predominantly described as a traditional roguelike with old-school mechanics, turn-based gameplay, and deep character building. It is recognized as one of the major roguelikes with a long heritage dating back to the late 90s.

High Replayability and Depth: The game is highly replayable due to randomized dungeons, multiple races and classes, and various endings. It offers a massive roleplaying sandbox with deep mechanics.

Extensive Character Creation: Players can create characters with many races, classes, and birthsigns, leading to a wide variety of combinations. Some combinations are easier for beginners while others are for experts.

Procedural Dungeon Exploration: Most dungeons are procedurally generated, though they remain static once created. There are multiple key dungeons and an overworld map to explore, with no hand-holding guidance on where to go.

Multiple Endings and Modes: The game features multiple endings including a normal ending, and offers different game modes such as story mode and hardcore mode. There is also character and game mode customization to adjust difficulty.

Crashes and instability: Multiple reports describe frequent crashes and overall instability, affecting gameplay and progress. Players mention crashes on startup, during play, and on quitting, with some losing progress or characters.

Linux version severely broken: The Linux version suffers from numerous issues, including unreadable menus, missing text, and the need for binary patches. A long-standing unfixed issue from 2019 is still present, and the game does not work under Wine.

Severe performance issues: Players experience stuttering, lag, and poor optimization, even on systems that should handle the game easily. Stuttering occurs every few seconds, and the game runs poorly despite low-complexity graphics.

Menu text rendering problems: Text in menus is often unreadable due to rendering issues, such as colors matching the background or missing glyphs. This is particularly problematic on Linux.

Game won't launch on Windows: Some Windows 10 and 11 users report the game fails to start, often resulting in a black screen with only audio. Common troubleshooting steps do not resolve the problem.

Recommended for roguelike fans: A large number of reviewers explicitly recommend the game to players who already enjoy traditional roguelikes. Many highlight it as a strong entry for fans of the genre, including those new to roguelikes but interested in real complexity.

Free version recommended instead: Several reviewers suggest playing the free version instead of the paid Steam version, stating it loses nothing. Others advise trying the freeware version first, especially for new players.

Support the developer: Several reviewers recommend purchasing the game to support the developer, even if a free version exists. This is seen as a way to acknowledge the labor of love.

Positive generic recommendations: A few reviewers simply recommend the game without detailed reasons. These are generally positive but lack specific feedback.

High difficulty appeals to some: The game is recommended for players seeking a real challenge and those up for a difficult experience. Some compare its difficulty favorably to Dark Souls.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00.

Game completion: 500.0h.

Session length: 15.0h.

ADOM most often clicks after players push through a dull, steep early learning curve and spend time getting deeper into its systems; some reviewers report it never hooks them.

Reported time to anchor: 2h.

Friction: Steep learning curve and opaque mechanics; Clunky interface and tedious keyboard controls; Dull early progression and keybind learning; Need for external guides or wiki; High difficulty, permadeath, and random deaths; Early game lacks direction or useful information.

Unlock drivers: Overcoming the learning curve; Getting deeper into the game; Letting go of the tutorial; Reading guides or wiki.

Lifelong Roguelike Veteran: Devotes hundreds to thousands of hours across many classes and runs, often on the free classic/ASCII version, treating ADOM as the benchmark for the entire genre. Motivation: Continuous mastery and comparison — after decades the game still teaches them new things, and every other roguelike is measured against it. Stance: buy.

Hardcore Death-Seeker: Leaves permadeath on, plays dangerously and accepts constant character deaths as the point of the experience rather than a failure. Motivation: The thrill of permadeath and the glory of surviving a brutally difficult, often unfair world. Stance: buy.

Roguelike-Curious Newcomer: Learns slowly, uses guides and the free version first, and may disable permadeath to explore and grind before committing. Motivation: Wanting to break into deep traditional roguelikes and gradually grow into ADOM's systems without being overwhelmed. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: The feedback centers on Linux and Proton compatibility rather than direct Steam Deck hardware reports. Users describe unreadable text and menus in the Steam Linux build that require a binary patch or Proton, along with long-running Linux stability bugs. The game is not seamless out of the box, but it is playable after tinkering, so the friction falls in the Tinkering Required range and meets the minimum 40 threshold for Proton-based workarounds.

Linux and Proton: Linux and Proton feedback for ADOM is mixed but mostly workaround-dependent. The native Steam Linux build has menu and text rendering defects that require a binary patch or Proton, and some users recommend avoiding the Steam version on Linux. However, other users confirm the game can be made playable with a little tinkering or Proton, so Linux support is not completely broken, just clearly rough around the edges.

External guides: Across the filtered reviews, the dominant Wiki Tax complaint is instructional: players report that ADOM's steep learning curve, cryptic mechanics, quest outcomes, storylines, and hidden secrets effectively require constant consultation of the Ancardia Wiki and external guides. No review explicitly cites drop rates, loot tables, farming locations, safe-to-sell decisions, inventory management, crafting requirements, or blueprints. The Korean-language review concerns needing the wiki for item information and scroll scarcity, which per the exclusion rule maps to Tier 3 (Exploration) rather than Tier 1 farming. A notable positive theme is the quality and upkeep of the community wiki, but this reinforces the dependency on external data rather than removing it. Under strict priority scoring, no Tier 1 or Tier 2 keywords appear, while Tier 3 keywords (Quests, Complex Mechanics, Hidden Secrets, learning systems) are pervasive.

Free version available: A completely free version exists on the official website and other platforms, missing only graphics and sound. It serves as a try-before-you-buy option and loses nothing over the paid Steam version.

Steam release with enhancements: The Steam version adds graphics, sound, and quality-of-life improvements over the original ASCII release. It also includes new content compared to the last pre-Steam version.

Long development history: The game originated as an MS DOS title in 1994 and has been continuously developed since, though not always full-time. It predates many modern roguelikes by decades.

Favorable comparisons to peers: Some reviewers find it more fun and identity-rich than Caves of Qud and Tome. Others note it demands foreknowledge unlike fairer roguelikes such as Nethack.

Decades of dedicated play: Multiple reviewers have played the game for over ten years, with one noting they started in 1998. This demonstrates exceptional longevity and lasting appeal.