A Game of Dwarves

Genre: Strategy, Casual

Developer: Zeal Game Studio

Publisher: Paradox Interactive

System: Windows

 Holy awesome crap, guys. This game is pretty friggin’ neat! I’m going to come right out and say that if you like games in which you spend a whole lot of time digging through cubes of dirt (Minecraft) then this is a game for you. And it’s practically a steal!

 

I should probably preface this with a quick explanation, however, that this game is clearly a direct descendant of Dwarf Fortress.

 

For those of you who’ve not played DF it’s a game about digging out a home for your dwarves and trying to survive as long as possible, though you will, inevitably, lose. Probably the biggest problem with Dwarf Fortress is the almost entire lack of a user interface and, for some, the use of ASCII characters for graphical representation.

 

Enter the draGame of Dwarves. In this thrilling homage to DF you have a slightly simpler game with amazing, eye-popping 3D graphics and a user interface that is actually quite easy to use. I’ll admit that the game must sacrifice a lot of options for the sake of looking good. You do not have the monster variety, the weapon variety, or pretty much any of the actual variety from the true Dwarf Fortress. There also aren’t any female dwarves, which is a little confusing. Instead, dwarves are summoned through a spawning pool from their main home, I think.

Anyway, enough comparing A Game of Dwarves to Dwarf Fortress. Though you can get achievements in A Game of Dwarves and the first one you get is called “Strike the Earth,” which is a blatant reference to DF. Don’t believe me? Then go play it. It’s free.

On to the actual review for A Game of Dwarves…well, actually, that’s pretty much it. It’s Dwarf Fortress with legitimate graphics. There really isn’t much else to say.

I guess I can mention that A Game of Dwarves has some actual dialogue, some of which is pretty funny. The voice acting isn’t amazing though. The plot has something to do with the Dwarves being forced out of their homeland by wizards and they’re trying to restore their former glory. The main character is trying to impress his father. All in all, it’s a pretty OK game.

 

Ah, who am I kidding? This review is based on the first ten minutes of the game, sure, but since I bought the game about a week ago I have spent fourteen hours playing it. I am not even joking. Steam likes to taunt me with that fact regularly. I probably would have played longer, but I have other video games to play, a girlfriend, and a job. There just isn’t enough time!

 

Happy Thoughts: A Dwarf Fortress for those of us that don’t want to read a guide on how to play Dwarf Fortress.

Sad Thoughts: It really just isn’t Dwarf Fortress, which I, for one, still think is the superior game.

The Bottom Line: I picked this up on Steam for about $5.00. It was on sale for 50% off or something like that. You do the math.