In 1980, computers were instruments of science and mathematics, military secrets and academia. Stern administrators lorded over sterile university laboratories and stressed one point to the wide-eyed students privileged enough to set foot within them: Computers were not toys.

Defying authority, hackers seized control of monolithic mainframes to create a new breed of computer game: the roguelike, cryptic and tough-as-nails adventures drawn from text-based symbols instead of state-of-the-art 3D graphics.

Despite their visual simplicity, roguelike games captivate thousands of players around the world. From the author of the bestselling Stay Awhile and Listen series, Dungeon Hacks introduces you to the visionaries behind some of the most popular roguelikes of all time, and shows how their creations paved the way for the blockbuster video games of today—and beyond.

Classic roguelike games may seem like yesterday's news, but they inspire game designers the world over to this day. Dungeon Hacks tells their story in compelling fashion and explains what they still have to teach us. —Warren Spector, director of Deus Ex and Disney's Epic Mickey

Not only is David telling interesting stories, and illuminating the history of an enduring genre of games, but he's performing an invaluable service in capturing the human element behind the games—the particulars of the people, the context, and the time period. Dungeon Hacks is great stuff, and we're lucky to have someone with such an eye for detail and the nuts and bolts of development to put it down on paper for us while there's still time. —Travis Baldree, co-designer of Torchlight 1-2 and the Rebel Galaxy franchise, lead designer of Fate

Dungeon Hacks is the definitive text on early roguelikes. —Goodreads review

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of over a dozen nonfiction books about video game development and culture, including the bestselling Stay Awhile and Listen series, Arcade Perfect: How Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, and Other Coin-Op Classics Invaded the Living Room, and fiction for young adults including The Dumpster Club and Heritage: Book One of the Gairden Chronicles. Find him online @davidlcraddock on Twitter.