Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2015
ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
Developer Thomas Biskup, Jochen Terstiege, Zeno Rogue
Ancient Domains of Mystery is a roguelike video game designed and developed by Thomas Biskup and released in 1994. The player's goal is to stop the forces of Chaos that invade the world of Ancardia. The game has been identified as one of the "major roguelikes" by John Harris. Like the original roguelike games, Ancient Domains of Mystery uses ASCII graphics to represent the game world. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
184 reactions from 1 source (Steam reviews) · newest Oct 2, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
70
Fresh
128 positive · 56 negative
95% range 63–76%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 128 | 56 | 0 |
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
1,359 of 1,618 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 184 · most liked firstI understand that roguelike games are meant to be difficult, but the developer seems to have not realized there is a difference between giving your players a challenge, and just flipping the table before shouting "♥♥♥♥ you, roll a new character!" The game can and has ended two of my runs by throwing invisible enemies at me very early in the game (before level 7). This was a point where I had no chance of being able to detect invisible creatures, and thus was completely incapable of defending…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played this game for about 30 years.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →To preface, I love rogue-likes and have played some of the most arcane in the genre -- to include one of the most complex: Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. This love isn't enough to overcome how much this game sucks. The experience is clunky AF. The UI is nearly unmanageable and includes no QoL. Frequently necessary meals must be made of LEAD, considering they weigh more than just about anything else in the game. What a frustrating, not fun mess. And to put it out there -- I was meeting a great deal…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ADOM is less a game and more of a pain simulator. I discovered this thing when I was 12 years old, and have carried it with me over the years in my pocket on a flash drive trying and consistently failing to reach new milestones of success. This is the only game I've ever played that made me think differently about how I define progress and literally put hair on my chest. The feeling of accomplishment and pure bliss when I finally shut the gates of chaos for the first time is second to no other…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ === ( 🎯 Difficulty ) === ☐ No Difficulty ☐ Easy ☐ Standard ☑ Big Learning Curve ☑ Hard ☐ Impossible === ( 👪 Audience ) === ☐ Everyone ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Mature === ( 👀 Graphics ) === ☐ What Is This? ☑ Bad (It's a classic dungeon crawler, it's going to be bad) ☐ Acceptable ☐ Good ☐ Great ☐ Stylistic ☐ Beautiful ☐ Masterpiece === ( Sound/Music ) === ☐ Bad ☑ Nothing Special ☐ Okay ☐ Great ☐ Beautiful ☐ I´m Gonna Cry === ( 🌏 Story ) === ☐…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game crashed and brought me back 30,000 turns when I rebooted. It's absolutely baffling, as there were at least 100 saved games since that time. I was really loving finding another classic roguelike, but now it feels pointless if I'm going to lose a weeks worth of heavy playing, completely randomly, after saving the game many many times. How is that even possible? The saves should be overwriting. Bleh. UPDATE: I started playing again from that reboot point. Saved game 40000 turns later. Game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd very much want to give this a thumbs up - the original ADOM is a masterpiece. But this version? Horrible, buggy mess. Considerable lag. Settings not saving. Fullscreen ASCII mode is somehow zoomed in and I can't see the whole screen. Can't exit the game, stuck in "Communicating with ADOM server".
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It a real shame I couldn't find a way to enjoy this game clearly had lot work behind it with creative team. However I just found the game confusing and boring. The game itself isn't bad I believe there people out there what will love this game. But am not one those people. I do recommend people checking this game out for thereself if there interested.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played this game for closed to 30 years now. And I'm still playing it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alright, so... I've been playing ADOM since around 2004, give or take. I was in primary school and my mum got me my first PC. Back then it was ASCII only. In 2015, ADOM got a Steam release, and along with it came some nice tiles and sprites to make the game more approachable. ADOM is a top-down, turn-based, traditional roguelike RPG that is EXTREMELY difficult and brutal. I think ADOM is a fantastic example of why older games are just better — the game is longer, the systems run deeper, and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Used to play a bunch of the old ASCII version back in the days. Tried the earliest graphical versions and didn't really manage to get into it. Recently returned to it to see how it has developed and I can just say that this is finally the version that brings back the magic of the original. Instantly hooked. I consider ADOM as one of the absolute best games ever made and the developers have managed to bring it back to life in modern format!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been playing it over 20 years. Will play it until I either beat it once or die.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's the best game ever made, at least to me. And I've played thousands of games. In the 90's and 2000's I spent well over 1000 hours on ADOM. That's a very conservative estimate. And over the past 15 years I've bought dozens of roguelikes, trying to recreate the experience that this game gave me. And some of those roguelikes were very good - but they never did what this did. Every single roguelike I've owned since around 1998, my first instinct is to compare how it does things to how…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i know that it says i've only played ADOM for 46 hours but in reality i've played ADOM for 25 years and counting. i stil love it and look forward to many more years of surprising but expected perma-deaths. also... i admit to using the occasional wand of wishing. that being said, i purchased this game and its sequel out of thanks for so many years of Freeware A.D.O.M. use. finally, if any ADOM title is ever upgraded or released again, i will purchase those as well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not really good. Its biggest failure lies in the fact that you are expected either to metagame a whole lot (which isn't especially engaging and doesn't feel rewarding at all) or to invest hundreds of hours into this. The gameplay itself (at least whenever you play a melee-focused character, which was what I mostly did) is just dull. Spam numpad key to pwn some goblin/orc/whatever until you make a wrong turn and suddenly there's an ogre emperor (whoever that is) going all over your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you enjoy poring over compendiums of information for context this is the game for you. My very best advice, use Ctrl + F to search for text in page while having multiple tabs open on a separate device, because you will either die so, so, so much or come to terms with processing around a master's thesis worth of information. I have played this game for twenty years and I still have pages for corpse effects, statues, locations, ultra ending quest requirements, and pool effects up regularly.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gameplay [8/10] Graphics [2/10] Music [6/10] Replay Potential [10/10] "It" Factor [9/10] Total Score [7.0/10] 5.0 hours in. That’s enough time to die to a hostile kitten, try to eat an unidentified corpse that gave me instant terminal corruption, and realize I still haven’t left the tutorial village. If you think *Dark Souls* is too casual, grab ADOM. This game doesn't have a learning curve; it has a sheer, frictionless cliff face that mocks your lack of skill while simultaneously demanding…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly a great game. Brutal at times, like any good roguelike, and sometimes RNG will screw you over, but if you're willing to be patient and learn from your deaths, it's definitely possible to improve and survive a bit further. Could use some quality-of-life improvements: - keyboard mapping should be easy to change in game, especially when you have commands that require typing a colon before quickly hitting a letter-- but then you also have commands that are [Ctrl + letter] that do…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Either I can't understand this game, or it's unplayable. I can't stay alive long enough to advance past level 8. No idea how to regain hit points at a rate enough to continue through the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's possible to play with only limited idea of what's going on but the mechanisms run incredibly deep and I'm still learning new tricks. So long as you like rougelikes already, this is definitely a great one.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the definitive games of the entire roguelike genre (along with Rogue, Angband and Nethack) back in the era when the word was much more precise than it is nowadays and meant simply 'randomized dungeon crawler with permadeath'. Also, the only one of the original four that's still very much playable, the others being very dated and/or not having aged well. In 2026 ADOM is just as fun and challenging as it was 30 years ago. Replayable, too - I can pick it up again after a long hiatus and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →a formerly free game from several decades ago, but now with added bugs and 2D cartoon graphics. at it's core it's still just a relic from a bygone era of gaming that most players never suffered through. it's HARD, unusually hard even for a traditional roguelike, and that makes playing it unrewarding and unfun for the vast majority of people. it literally requires a wiki and guides to get anywhere but even then you're left praying for the mercy of RNG constantly. and you won't get it.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First played this in 1995, and the Steam version is a nice update, been enjoying it again lately.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is very special for me. Plaing this gem for on and off 20 years or so? I couldnt quite tell why I like this much more than any other oldschool roguelike, but I really do. That does not say Im very good at it. Still waiting for my first victory. Strangly, again, I cant tell why this does not bother as it would with any other game. Maybe you can play it for a lifetime too :) Also Thomas Biskup is working on a new game so watchout! I 100% will!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have not played this game for 169 hours. I have been playing it, very irregularly, for more than a decade. I have never won, and in fact have never gotten very far. Despite this I still play it, so it must be a really good game. I guess. 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game and literally couldn't stop playing it. I lost sleep obsessing over it. I went to work and thought of little else but new strategies for getting to the new areas. I kept thinking do I really need to shower, clean my house, eat, or do anything else that isn't playing this game? It got its hooks in me so deeply that after beating it I awoke as if from a trance. This game is like an addiction that seeps into you and interferes with your life and responsibilities. Yeah, this is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Roguelike: This game loves to punish you at every corner. Reading the wiki is basically mandatory. Design/Progression: Mind-numbingly dull at first—be prepared to learn all the keyboard shortcuts. Story: Die 25 times trying to save a dog from the bottom of an 7-level-deep cave. Graphics: Glorious static 2D sprites. Pros: Very challenging, highly replayable, addictive once you get deeper into it. Cons: Absolutely not for the majority of players. With price of 15e I do not recommend.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Like most traditional roguelikes, this game is extremely tedious with a low rate of interesting interactions per minute. If my first few in-game hours are spent inputting the sequential commands 'check for traps', 'open door', 'pick lock', 'open door', ten times per dungeon floor, these actions should probably be automated or more involved. In essence it's a perfect roguelike.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the big 4
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →my dad wanted me to try this game since he played it long before it was on steam, so he has much more than the 171 hours steam says hes got, and even he couldnt fix the buggy ass resolution or any other menu problem i had, we spent probably 30 minutes as we both tried various things untill we gave up with something that would allow me to see the full screen at the very least. i stopped the session after a threat room filled to the brim of rattling master thieves kept stealing my money, i killed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Died from the crushing weight of my own inventory with a ~30hr character. 10/10 would get crushed again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been playing this game since the 90's on DOS. Still haven't beat the game properly. Play as Dwarven Bard.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game's too hard and too random, specially that achievements DO NOT count in normal mode, they only do in hard. Random Orc Patrol with range units that 3 shot my wizard build from a guide. Happens sooner or later, sometimes even RIGHT AWAY in the beggining of the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my favorite rogue-like game, and I've been playing them since the original rogue in the 80's. ADOM was better than rogue or nethack back in the day, and none of the more modern rogue-likes have reached ADOM's level. This game is a lot of fun but very difficult, I've been playing ADOM for more than 25 years and have literally never beat the game, most of the time I never even get close to winning. The graphical improvements in this version of the game are well worth it, and it's now my…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best in the genre
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I mean, it's kinda fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been playing this game for over 20 years and I still haven't won. Though the learning curve is steep, the game play is deep and there are so many little hidden things for you to uncover over multiple play-throughs. So many different endings and so many different character combinations to use. Don't ever get too attached to a character though as death can come swiftly in this game! Replay value is sky high and graphical demands are low. Brilliant game if you can stomach consistent failure :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I started playing this game when I was 10 in MS DOS. I haven't stopped playing this game. You ask me to recommend? I'm gonna go ahead and give you a HELL YEAH BROTHER
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve played tons of traditional roguelikes, but I just couldn’t get into this one. It’s buggy, clunky, lacks QoL features and has a bunch of design decisions that makes the experience completely unfun, at least for me. The devs also seem kind of notorious for abandoning their projects. If you really want to play this, just go with the free original version.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →he said the deep discounts are over for this game? thats crazy he even said it was a failure? so lets negative review woooo but it also does run like ♥♥♥♥
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Punishingly detailed.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A classical roguelike with options: play with ASCII tiles and permadeath like it's the glory days of 1980, or fancy graphical tiles and difficulty settings like any modern game, or mix and match. You choose how you want to play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't like Rogue or Nethack. I get so bored my eyes can't focus when I play DCSS or Caves of Qud. But ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ something about ADOM clicks in my brain and makes me think that if I was launched in to space alone with unlimited food and water and a laptop with nothing but ADOM on it I'd be happy for the rest of my life. Hate the tiles and SFX but it's easy enough to modify the settings to make it look like it's 1999 again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gajun Lord dan geldik. selamın aleyküm
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not Recommended ADOM isn’t a roguelike, it’s a fossil. Tileset & fonts? Illegible trash. Controls? Finger yoga from 1994. UI? A clown fiesta of menus. Difficulty? RNG cruelty, not challenge. Skills? Useless filler. Mechanics? Wiki-or-die. It’s 2025 — free CDDA and paid ToME wipe the floor with this relic. ADOM is just tedium embalmed in nostalgia.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lack of item/weapon descriptions and janky barebones ASCII menus are unacceptable for a paid roguelike.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ADOM is an absolute masterpiece in the roguelike genre. From the moment you dive into its vast, rich world, you're met with an experience that is both challenging and deeply rewarding. What sets ADOM apart is its sheer depth—every playthrough feels unique, and there’s always something new to discover. Whether it's the different character classes, races, or the dynamic storylines that evolve with your decisions, there’s a staggering amount of content here.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Okie dokie... I had to refund. If you're going to ask this kind of money for a game that I can get for free, it better be TIGHT and this game ain't. For the first 20 minutes I couldn't even get the game working properly, it kept on hanging/freezing in the menus, I couldn't ALT F4 and couldn't even open the task manager. Eventually I got a run going although I have no idea why it worked, must have been the 3 force-restarts of my PC? Not cool. In that run I started the tutorial, and had to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After years the "alpha channel" bug on text is still there. Never buying anything from them again
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Now that I've spent too much time on this game, let me just tell you what I like the most about it: there are multiple progression mechanics working throughout, so most of your actions feel like they're providing incremental progress toward some improvement. Some of the systems: * XP/leveling - overt and standard stuff, this is where your class powers advance * weapon skill - you level your effectiveness with weapon types (and shields) every time you use them * attributes - several actions…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best roguelike in existance.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's pretty good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best games ever made.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This a top tier true roguelike that has been around forever. It has amazing depth, and if you like roguelikes then you should definitely try this one. Skip Ultimate ADOM Caverns of Chaos, and play this instead.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not recommended: ADOM (Ancient Domains of Mystery) As its developers are proud to tell you on the Steam Store page, ADOM is "one of the most successful roguelike games ever created." This is mainly due to the fact that the original ADOM came out way back in 1994 and was, for the time, one of the best and most advanced roguelikes out there. The new ADOM is really just the old ADOM, but this time with graphics. And while the graphics are actually quite nice, it doesn't change the fact that the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →OG Text based D&D rogue-like; So deep you won't believe it. Been playing it since the orginal rogue, LARN, Telengard days to name some peers. Some narratives to follow, but mostly a procedurally generated single player D&D experience, the broadest and deepest rogue like I've even known.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Clunky UI, monotonous level design. As you can imagine it did not hook me. I'm back playing TOME & Rogue Fable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if you have linux, don't buy this. can't visualize even the text on the initial menu. i wish biskup focussed on keeping the game ascii instead of implementing these forced lameass graphics.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Old fashioned piece of crap, if you want something similar that at least have a modicum of player friendliness just buy Tales of Maj'Eyal or something. This type of game is just for people who likes it when the menus, ui and systems are more of an enemy than the monsters in the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Has a bug that causes stuttering every 2 seconds. This bug has existed for over a year based on complaints. Devs apparently don't care about fixing the game. No, ASCII mode does not fix it, stop telling people this, nobody cares that you use ASCII mode to mask the terrible optimization.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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