Does anyone know whether this "deluxe" version of ADOM can be played simply by downloading the files and running it, without any installation procedure?

I want to play ADOM on my work computer, yet my employer strictly forbids and monitors any non-work related apps on my PC

No - although it is possible to use InnoExtract or (more usefully) UniExtract 2 to open up a GOG offline installer, any recent one (including ADOM) contain data streams that have to be re-assembled, rather than files that can be copied.

However, you could install ADOM to another (presumably personal) PC, zip up the contents of its Program Files folder, and then copy that to another system. ADOM does store configuration and savegame data to the My Documents\ADOM subfolder (in the %USERPROFILE% directory) so it needs write access to that, but it will recreate the folder if it is not present.

Any competent workplace system administrator though, is likely to notice a new executable being run at some point. Given ADOM's modest system requirements (1GHz CPU, 512MB RAM) a safer option might be to run it on a UMPC small enough to be smuggled in to work.

Why bother with file copying when you can just install the game on your laptop? If you want to transfer your character then it *should* be a simple case of copying that Documents folder across (aside from the graphic front-end supplied by NotEye, most of the differences between the free and paid versions of ADOM seem to come down to more choice in character creation and new styles of gameplay - but I can't be sure how easy character migration might be, if it is possible at all).

The only risk factor then is if your work system has a webcam that can see you bashing away on another keyboard - you could probably blag that as you using an alternate keyboard/monitor via a KVM or such-like. Running ADOM on a work system (where anyone with access to Task Manager can see the CPU time it racks up...) would seem a good way to being a real world Emperor Moloch into your life. ;)

I'd agree it's impressive to see a game with such history still going strong - a pity that its successor seems to have crashed and burned. If you ever get bored of it and fancy another rogue-style game, Tales of Maj'Eyal (currently 50% off) and its three expansions should be worth investigating - the base game is available as a free download from te4.org.

All installations are monitored and logged. So that's a no-no for non-work related software. Running tasks are also probably at least scanned for anything forbidden, but so far I haven't gotten any notice about an UE4 project that I build and beta-test on my work laptop (to see if it can run on potato-setup). As well as the free version of ADOM. So that's why I'm asking about the "install on one computer and copy the folder on another" scenario. Thanks for the tip, looks nostalgically similar to Exile games or older Ultima games I used to play on my 486 back in the day :P

Sorry, I was talking about you using your personal laptop to install and run ADOM, not your work one.