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This is not the current version.

There are several binaries available for the Mac: you only need one of the following packages.
Sorry, these binaries will not run on 68K-based Macs.

Step 1: download (MacOS X with tiles)
Click on the link below to download NetHack. Depending on your browser you may need to right-click so that the file is saved to disk and not displayed.

NetHack-3.4.2-2-MacOSX.tar.gz (4.6M bytes) (MD5 sum: d70aea1f87fe5249f99789c4edcafb02)
NetHack 3.4.2 for PPC Macintosh running MacOS 10.x. This version uses Qt to provide a tiles (graphical) display.

Download this file
Step 2: unpack.
Double-click on the icon to unpack NetHack.
Step 3: install.
You probably want to drag the resulting "NetHack" icon somewhere convenient.
Read the Guidebook for a general description of what NetHack is and how to play.

Step 1: download (MacOS X traditional)
Click on the link below to download NetHack. Depending on your browser you may need to right-click so that the file is saved to disk and not displayed.

nethack-342-mac-term.pkg.sit (1.7M bytes) (MD5 sum: b9b8c5b1ec5845960998656da378e989)
NetHack 3.4.2 for PPC Macintosh running MacOS 10.x. This version is a very traditional NetHack that runs in text mode from the command line.

Download this file
Step 2: Unpack
Unstuff with Stuffit Expander.
Step 3: Install
Double-click on package file. The MacOS X Installer program will start and ask for the root password. The game will be installed under /usr/games.
Edit your $PATH variable for your shell to include /usr/games.
Read the README file. Note that unlike other 3.4.2 binary distributions, the save and bones files from this distribution are not backwards compatible.
Step 4: Run
Run nethack in a terminal window.

Hosted courtesy of alt.org.