Ancient Domains of Mystery is the work of one man, Thomas Biskup, since 1994. You play as an adventurer who has travelled to the Drakalor Chain, a remote valley region. Strange happenings suggest that Chaos has once again awakened after thousands of years of slumber. An epic battle between Order and Chaos seems imminent, and you will have to take sides... or will you find another way?

Even more so than other roguelikes, ADOM features very detailed RPG elements. The game allows for so many different actions and possibilities. There are lots of skills and spells available to your character, each of which can be improved as you go about adventuring. Gods can be prayed to for divine aid, but overdo it and you may incur their wrath. Monsters have their own inventories, so you may find that foes will pick up loot to use against you! Corpses can be eaten to gain intrinsic attributes, or sacrificed to the gods. And here's something that I think is simply cool: herbs can be grown and harvested, and they grow based on Conway's Game of Life (a sort of simulation). It is no understatement that ADOM is a living world.

The quests also set ADOM apart from other roguelikes. In general, they are interesting and well designed, compared to the generic quests other roguelikes offer, if at all. Early on, you may have to deal with a mad carpenter, and you could heal him of his malady, or simply put him out of his misery. Your actions and choice of quests will determine your alignment (whether Lawful, Chaotic or Neutral), and this will impact on how the gods and NPCs respond to you.

What's more, for a game that easily surpasses commercial RPGs in depth and entertainment value, ADOM is released as freeware. Thomas Biskup asks for nothing more than a postcard. This is truly a game not to be missed.

The latest version is always available at www.adom.de

Check out ADOM Central, the official ADOM homepage, for ADOM news. Work on ADOM 2 (a.k.a JADE) has begun, and it looks to be even more incredible than ADOM. You can check on its progress here as well. Also, look in the gallery for some very interesting ADOM inspired art.

The official ADOM FAQ is available at www.aleph-null.com

The Drakalor Chain Board of Tourism features plenty of spoilers for the game.

The ADOM Comic takes a humourous look at the ASCII world of ADOM. Roguelike fans will enjoy this.

Discuss ADOM in the official newsgroup, rec.games.roguelike.adom