Lord of Dwarves

This game had so much promise, to be better than Gnomoria and Ingnomia, and yet it is so much worse sadly in so many ways. The few ways it improves are overshadowed by the sheer amount of missing features, and utterly game breaking bugs. I can't in good conscience recommend it, and if I could get my money back I would. Really disappointing, and the game seems just as abandoned as the game it's based on.

Early access at best. It has a good base, but definitely needs further development.

No updates since it came out of early access, almost 4 years ago. The game itself is fun, but limited, clearly not finished.

Abandoned after a short cash grab by the developer

I discovered this game as a result of watching Colonel Failure play it on YouTube. His unbridled enthusiasm for the game made me want to give it a try. Now having spent hours playing it myself, I can certainly understand why. It's amazing that this game is produced by just one individual with the level of depth and options it has.

I'm really enjoying this game. It's like someone decided that Gnomoria could be better and easier, shoutout to the great souls of the Ignomia project as well, and I love it. It's way to early in the game for me to write a long, full review but I need to ask the devs two questions. First, can we get some UI options? The text is so small, even on my big monitor! Second, can we not have pop up menus covering up each other? Maybe some kind of system where they will open in a different spot if something else is already open. Third (I lied about two), can we have the pop ups we want just stay open? It's annoying early game to have the work bench and tool bench menus not available to be open at the same time. All that aside, keep it up! This game has long running gem written all over it. If you are taking a Rimworld break, wish Gnomoria was not DOA or can't handle DF (all apply to me) this game is going to make you really happy. :)

unplyable game ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ bad optimised im so sad i like this game like gnomoria but really unplayble due to a big LAG and i think i have a good config i can run witcher 3 ultra modded but not this game ? it's a joke....

This is what Dwarf Fortress would be like if the controls were simplified, the jobs were condensed and simplified (laborers do mining, building and tree-cutting), the graphics were made 3D with multiple layers visible at once if they're carved out (yes, I know there's a mod for Dwarf Fortress that can do that), and it didn't have 'Adventure mode' (which last I saw, was what the dev of DF was focusing on the most) So far I've only gotten to level 4 of the campaign, but everything points to this being just about everything I love about Dwarf Fortress, but in an easier format, without sacrificing the potential. Once I get through the campaign and start playing Challenges and Sandbox, I may edit this.

Definitely a fun game. The campaign acts as a decent tutorial, and there's some secret/unlockable 'Shrines' that you learn about by acquiring enough of each kind of book and then waiting. Information on Shrines is carried between all save files, or you can look them up and build one yourself without discovering it. This info gets stored in the in-game reference book in the top left of the screen. It also includes some basic info on how to get started with certain stuff, detailed weapon and armor tables, and some other useful info. There's also tooltips on just about everything to give you an idea what it is/is for. That includes in crafting benches/areas. Basic gameplay loop: Build some farms for food, build some wells for water, start mining and creating a military. You have regular dwarves and can promote them to "Soldier" dwarves who do nothing but train and fight, and cannot be converted back. In order to gain more dwarves/max population, you need 'renown' which is granted by a score of everything you own plus bonuses for 'emplaced' items, such as placing finished stone, a pedestal, a bed, a storage bin, bookshelves, tables, etc. For every so many dwarves/so much renown, you get *free* population that can *only* be used on soldiers. Very late game you wind up with 100 civilians maximum, but a ton of special population for soldiers. Ex: I currently have 125 population and a blue +1 next to the population. That's 25 soldiers, 100 workers. By promoting a worker to soldier (the blue +1) my pop cap will go up to 125/126 and my worker count will be 99 (because I promoted one). Soon a dwarf civilian will arrive. Dwarves have individual skills that go up with working, and you can assign jobs- you can also customize the jobs based on task if you like. Ditto for soldiers, although their jobs are pretty much "train combat skill" and "train health, train strength". Dwarves do NOT have personalities or preferences; the main take of the game is building a fortress and getting a strong enough military that you just laugh at the 50 goblins invading you without taking damage. Or better, having such a good killing field of auto-resetting spike traps that hardly anyone makes it to your doorstep. Combat can be a little weird, but overall an enjoyable experience. Downsides I've found so far; Game is complete with likely no future updates. Eggs, Bones, and one or two other items reference being used in crafting, but are not. Can't seem to get a verdant orb, although going off of forums I may have missed something. I forget how long the main campaign took, but I know at around the 50 hour mark I had beaten that and had several years in sandbox mode. Definitely worth the $20 asking price. Also: Several challenge maps if you're into that (mixed quality, but there's like 21 of them, split into easy/medium/hard) and a LOT of customization options if you start a new sandbox mode. Sandbox Mode (meat & potatos of game imo) options include: Presets for Easy/Medium/Hard/Creative "Climax Battle" of several types, including off, as well as how many in-game years before it happens and easy/normal/hard. Terrain w/ Map size from Tiny/Small/Med/Large, roughness slider, height slider, Topology (8 options), a seed # Cavern size of tiny/small/medium/large/huge, cavern frequency of none/rare/few/normal/many/copius, and a checkbox for 'flat caverns' making them mostly flat; the rock comes in layers, and each layer has a set type of ore you'll find that you need to dig to hte next layer, as well as a few rare cases of the next layers ores. Plus copper/silver/gold mixed in when you get deeper. Creatures: Monsters: Picking Atagonist between Goblin/Gnoll/Orc/Mix (mix means you'll get 1 of those 3 at random each invasion); invasion frequency,invasion density, Subterranian monsters, Elite monsters all with options from none to insane Animals: Aggressive animals and passive animals with the same above options, starting dwarves & the skill level of new recruits (no skill to max skill) How much stronger invasion monsters become as the game goes on, as well as a separate option for how fast cavern monsters become as the game goes on, whether or not you have large invasions annually, seasonally, or not at all, and whether or not monsters can set up ladders to scale your walls as well as whether or not there's one or two sappers (diggers) every invasion. Resource options: Trees, foragble plants, seed bearing plants, and boulders (needed for early building) all have frequency options Subterranian resources of metal ore, precious ores, and gems also have frequency options Starting resources of provisions, arms, and tools all have none through insane option You can also set whether enemies drop 'treasure' items in addition to their armor and coinage; things like books and a few orbs, ranging from "none" to "insane". You can even turn off whether or not dwarves consume food & drink, need to sleep, or have construction cheats to build at range All before starting your sandbox game. While a few things feel like they could use a little more explanation or the dev was planning to add something more, nothing in this game feels incomplete, and just about everything has a tooltip PLUS an in-game reference guide including ALL weapon and armor stats in convenient tables! 10/10 well worth $20 asking price, especially with the in-game reference sheets. Nowhere near as complex as Dwarf Fortress, but it IS full 3D. Doubt the dev will do any more updates, but I also haven't bothered to email them despite getting annoyed at nobody selling me a Verdant Orb :\ Just too busy having fun building my mega fortress and becoming insanely rich. Edit some years later: Having now played the steam version of Dwarf Fortress after not getting into the old ASCII version... I still prefer Lord of Dwarves as a fortress builder. Better UI by far. Doesn't have the personal stories from DF or Rimworld and the ensuing shennanigans, but great for people who just want to mine some stone, forge some gear, and build a big ol' fortress. And, of course, rain arrows down upon your enemies. Soooo many arrows. From sooo far up.

Great Game, having fun so far.