A Game of Dwarves

Mildly rewarding, but largely unremarkable. There are better options for the management- minded out there.

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In "A Game of Dwarves," you lead a prince on a mission to reclaim stolen land, overseeing a settlement's mining, exploration, and resource management. The game generates a unique world for each level, and as dwarves level up, they gain new skills and access to better resources. Protect your dwarves from dangerous creatures lurking in the depths while digging for valuable treasures.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

61%

Audience ScoreBased on 401 reviews

story13 positive mentions

stability21 negative mentions

The game offers a charming mix of humor and strategy, reminiscent of classic titles like Dungeon Keeper.
Players enjoy the customization options for building and decorating their dwarven strongholds.
The game provides a casual and relaxing experience, making it a good choice for players looking to unwind.

The tutorial is poorly designed, making it difficult for new players to understand the game mechanics.
The AI can be frustratingly unresponsive, leading to issues with dwarves getting stuck or not following commands.
The game feels repetitive and lacks depth, with many players noting that it becomes boring after a few hours.

story
71 mentions
18 % positive mentions
73 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The game's story is often described as repetitive and simplistic, with missions that reset progress and lack depth, leading to a monotonous experience. While some players find the humor and lightheartedness enjoyable, many criticize the writing as weak and the overall narrative as uninspired. Despite these shortcomings, the campaign offers a decent structure and can be engaging for those who appreciate the gameplay mechanics, even if the story itself feels secondary.
- “The story is interesting and funny.”
- “The storyline itself is quite funny, and if you take the time to read the conversations when they appear, it carries that dry humor through the game.”
- “Nice little story in the main campaign with a little humor, and I love the fact that you can just fire it up with no enemies and make your dream underground domain, or with enemies and train up your soldiers to defend the realm.”
- “The story gets abandoned somewhere in the middle; the game shows you a 'congratulations' cutscene just because the developers didn't feel like making any more levels. The graphics are ugly, and there's not even proper voice acting.”
- “The main point being that it is repetitive, very much so... to the point where the only reason you play story mode is to see what the ending is, which brings me to my next point: terrible writing.”
- “The story isn't immersive and feels like it was rushed, very rushed.”
graphics
50 mentions
18 % positive mentions
74 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The graphics of "A Game of Dwarves" are generally considered dated and simplistic, with many users noting that they fall short of modern gaming standards. While some appreciate the charming art style and the ability to create visually appealing underground cities, others criticize the graphics as low-quality and unpolished, often comparing them unfavorably to similar titles. Overall, the visuals are seen as a mixed bag, with some players finding them acceptable given the game's mechanics, while others feel they detract from the overall experience.
- “There's an excellent variety of building materials with different stats and visuals and plenty of props and art objects.”
- “Despite the game having dated graphics, you can build some cool looking underground cities with the only real barrier being your own imagination.”
- “The graphics are simple yet aesthetically pleasing, and there are lots of small objects you can place to add details.”
- “While the game does run okay even on modern PCs, it is starting to show some age and the graphics look dated.”
- “It's far below the state-of-the-art visuals gamers expect as a result of their decisions.”
- “The graphics are not great, but hey, you don't really care!”
gameplay
48 mentions
19 % positive mentions
69 % neutral mentions
13 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying its unique mechanics and sandbox elements, while others criticize it for being repetitive, lacking depth, and having confusing controls. Many appreciate the balance between fortress management and resource gathering, but note that the game can become tedious over time, especially due to unbalanced mechanics and AI issues. Overall, while the gameplay can be entertaining in short bursts, it may not hold long-term interest for all players.
- “I like this game; the graphics aren't special, but the gameplay is interesting.”
- “The gameplay still entertains me in the short bursts I play it in as I maximize profits, make interesting dwarf throne rooms, and other shenanigans ensue.”
- “Additionally, the gameplay is quite enjoyable, balancing fortress management, with upgrades, mining, and building an aesthetically pleasing haven for your dwarves is very fun.”
- “Basically it was an hour of prep for an hour of gameplay.”
- “Sadly, this game doesn't even bother to try to take the gameplay features of the genre and implement them.”
- “The gameplay gets stale pretty soon, there's nothing to hold you playing for more than a few hours.”
stability
21 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with many users reporting numerous glitches, bugs, and unfinished elements that detract from the overall experience. While some players note that the game runs smoothly on various systems and that minor issues can often be resolved by reloading, the general consensus is that the game feels abandoned and lacks necessary updates, leaving it in a buggy state. Overall, the stability issues overshadow the game's potential, leading to a frustrating experience for many players.
- “Buggy and abandoned even before the studio in charge went kaput.”
- “Unfinished and buggy game.”
- “Good concept and ok art style, but the end product is buggy, boring, and never updated.”
humor
18 mentions
94 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is generally light-hearted and campy, with a mix of sarcasm and dry wit that keeps the experience entertaining, despite some criticisms of pacing and depth. While some players find the attempts at humor to be hit-or-miss, with certain jokes landing well and others feeling forced, the overall tone is enjoyable and adds a fun layer to the gameplay. However, there are also mentions of moments that fall flat, suggesting that the humor may not resonate with everyone.
- “Despite how complex it might all seem, it uses humor to keep things light and entertaining.”
- “This game has a good sense of humor and doesn’t take itself too seriously most of the time, but don’t let that fool you.”
- “The storyline itself is quite funny, and if you take the time to read the conversations when they appear, it carries that dry humor throughout the game.”
- “Painfully unfunny and horribly paced.”
music
8 mentions
38 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
38 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with users appreciating the good soundtrack and sound quality. However, some players find the music repetitive and bland, leading them to mute it after a short period. Additionally, there are complaints about the music fading unexpectedly and the inability to skip the initial music/video at startup.
- “The music is good, and the sound is nice.”
- “Great soundtrack.”
- “The music got old even faster; however, I had to mute it within an hour or so of my first game and pull up something on iTunes just because it was so bland and repetitive.”
- “You can lose yourself in this game forever; too bad the music sometimes just randomly fades.”
- “The music got old even faster; I had to mute it within an hour or so of my first game and pull up something on iTunes just because it was so bland and repetitive.”
- “Underneath layers of bugs, muddy textures, and boring music, there are some good ideas.”
monetization
8 mentions
25 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a cash grab, with players expressing frustration over microtransactions and DLC that feel like cut content rather than meaningful additions. While some cosmetic items are available for free, the overall sentiment is negative, with many players feeling that the additional purchases detract from the game's value.
- “There are some DLC available for a game of dwarves, including both add-on packs (pets, ale pack, and space dwarves) and some in-game purchases of furniture.”
- “Also take note that there are silly in-game cosmetic microtransactions, but many are free and you can easily ignore the rest (of which only the ales DLC is separate on Steam and only gives you an ale tree and kegs to increase dwarven happiness).”
- “I then found out the game wants to sell me additional items for the fortress through microtransactions that activate upon connecting to a server.”
- “To top it off, the DLC and in-game purchases are just window dressings that got cut out of the game as a cash grab.”
- “Cash grab by greedy devs that should be boycotted.”
replayability
7 mentions
43 % positive mentions
14 % neutral mentions
43 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the expansive maps and building options that encourage creativity, others find the campaign mode lacking in content once completed, leading to limited replay value. Comparisons to other games highlight that it may not sustain long-term interest, with some players suggesting that it can only provide temporary entertainment.
- “The game has tons of replay value due to the size of the maps and the vast array of different objects you can build.”
- “Where at the core of an RTS is replayability and creativity.”
- “The prince's abilities seem to be the only thing that could offer some replayability.”
- “The only saving point is the campaign; however, when that's done, you don't need to do anything else, and there's no replayability.”
- “It can kill some time, but there's little replay value.”
- “It's interesting for a little bit, but Dwarf Fortress has a lot more replayability. I doubt you'll get through the 'story' before it becomes too boring.”
grinding
7 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly when it comes to resource gathering and building. While the verticality adds some interest, the overall mechanics lack depth, making the gameplay feel monotonous over extended sessions. The fun elements, such as designing a dwarven stronghold, are overshadowed by the need for extensive grinding to acquire necessary resources.
- “The graphics are poor, there is a lot of needless DLC, and the gameplay can be tedious in long bursts.”
- “The in-game economy consists of putting a few dwarves on farming and you're done forever.”
- “The only part of the game that is fun, the design and decoration of a dwarven stronghold, requires grinding for resources by digging.”
optimization
6 mentions
17 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users noting significant performance issues and a lack of development support, suggesting it feels abandoned and underdeveloped. While some players report smooth performance on their systems, many others experience glitches and bugs that detract from the overall experience, indicating a pressing need for optimization improvements.
- “In the 3+ years I have owned this game and the 100+ hours I have played, it was worth the 20+ dollars with few glitches and bugs. It runs smoothly on every PC and laptop I have played this game on.”
- “That being said, there is a lot of optimization needed which, unfortunately, may never happen since the word is the game has been abandoned by the devs.”
- “Also has performance issues which came from the game and not my system, which also puts me off.”
- “Basically an abandoned early-access game; a game of dwarves had a lot of potential, but is left poorly optimized and riddled with bugs.”
atmosphere
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
-100 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game can be significantly enhanced by enabling dark mode, which reduces bright lighting and allows for a more immersive experience illuminated only by torches and braziers. However, some users feel that the game lacks atmosphere overall.
- “Enabling the option for dark mode - which disables the overly bright lighting you see in the screenshots - creates a nice atmosphere as the only source of light comes from torches and braziers you build.”
- “The game lacks any real atmosphere.”
- “There is no immersive environment to draw players in.”
- “The overall ambiance feels flat and uninspired.”
emotional
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, feeling a nostalgic bond reminiscent of classic titles like Dungeon Keeper, which enhances their overall experience despite any shortcomings.
- “These two simple facts, no matter how bad all the other things are, made me feel closer than ever to the golden past of games like Dungeon Keeper, more than any other game did in the past 20 years.”