Dwarf Fortress

When I first opened this game, my brain exploded a little at the sheer amount of ASCII. Now, I can cope with ASCII in small amounts but this game is MADE of it. Then I downloaded the LazyNewbPack and life became a lot more coherent again.


The LazyNewbPack basically allows you to opt-out of ASCII graphics and makes the game a lot easier to look at. The game itself isn't too massively changed, meaning you still get the feel of the awesome original game. The gameplay is slow and a little complex, but it's a nice way to waste a few hours when you have nothing else to do.

At first glance, this game reminds me of Towns- or rather, what Towns should have been. The music is even similar! It is a hard game to get a grasp on, but it's nice to see your people flourish. Unlike Towns, there is no 'click this, select that' kind of mechanism- you line up jobs through the job menu and they get done!

Non-ASCII maps are easier to look at

I recommend this game for anyone looking to get their hands dirty and geeky, but if complex games aren't your thing you might want to give this a miss.

You can grab Dwarf Fortress for FREE here- though this is the ASCII game!

MmRed.