for context, I discovered nethack about last year. since then, i have been playing the game periodically, getting frustrated at several points in the game and trying again days, weeks, or sometimes months later. I recently started playing nethack again on a variant called xnethack, and dear god do I love this variant so much more. your inventory shows the weight and maximum capacity of your pack (why doesn't vanilla have this?), balances the game, asks if you want to step into a trap, and introduces a ton more QOL of life features. Now, one of my runs in this variant has reached somewhere around 7000 turns, and I made it to level 12. This game is slowly, but surely, becoming more bearable to play, and I notice myself playing it more not out of boredom, but simply because I want to. I got vanilla nethack on my phone but it doesn't feel the same as xnethack. I see why people like this game.
crossposted to my website: https://nebula42.neocities.org
As a very long time DCSS player I've recently discovered and been having a ton of fun with Zorbus, which I found on Steam. It isn't intended to be a DCSS 2 but it does feel like one in a lot of ways. It's paid, but dirt cheap. I recommend it.
Thanks for the rec.