Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress is a complex, ascii-graphics based city building and strategy simulation game focused around managing a dwarven fortress. Notable for its depth, expansive world generation, and steep learning curve.
city-building
strategy
dwarves
fortress-management
ascii-graphics
complex
expansive-world-generation
steep-learning-curve
Dwarf Fortress: Complex City Building & Strategy Simulation Games
Complex city building and strategy simulation game with ascii-graphics, focused around managing a dwarven fortress, notable for depth, world generation, and steep learning curve.
What is Dwarf Fortress?
Dwarf Fortress is an indie fantasy city-building video game created by Bay 12 Games featuring text-based graphics. The full title is Slaves to Armok: God of Blood Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress.
Gameplay revolves around building and expanding an underground dwarven fortress or city while facing threats such as goblins, titans, dangerous wildlife, cave-ins, starvation, flooding, and insanity. The game generates expansive and highly detailed randomly generated worlds with complex and self-sufficient ecosystems including creatures and landscapes reflecting climate conditions.
Dwarf Fortress stands out for its depth of simulation and intricate detail across areas such as history generation, economics, and even emotional states and interpersonal relationships of individual characters. This level of complexity comes with an extremely steep learning curve, as the game lacks graphics and tutorials. The ASCII text format provides flexibility to represent a wide range objects and concepts.
An active online fan community provides vital guides, tutorials, utilities, and modifications to help new players overcome the initial difficulty barrier. The game continues ongoing development exclusively by the original programmer brothers known as Bay 12 Games.
Dwarf Fortress Features
Features
- Complex world generation
- Detailed simulation
- Extensive crafting system
- Fortress mode
- Adventure mode
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Incredible depth and complexity
Huge amount of content
Active modding community
Completely free
Cons
Extremely steep learning curve
ASCII graphics
No official tutorials
Can be frustrating for new players
Official Links
The Best Dwarf Fortress Alternatives
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