dotAGE
- October 4, 2023
- Michele Pirovano
- 22h median play time
Get on Steam"DotAge is a single-player strategy game released as an indie turn-based title. With deep worker placement mechanics, players build and manage their village while discovering new buildings, professions, and resources. The game offers an intriguing story with a masterful soundtrack, plenty of humor, and high replayability, despite its grindy atmosphere."
Mac OS
PC
Steam Deck
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- Engaging and addictive gameplay with a unique blend of turn-based strategy and city-building mechanics.
- The game features a charming art style and humorous elements that enhance the overall experience.
- Strong replayability due to randomized tech trees, events, and different starting characters (Elders) that change gameplay dynamics.
- Runs can be excessively long, often taking 10+ hours, which may lead to fatigue and a sense of repetitiveness.
- The game can feel punishing, with a single mistake or bad RNG potentially leading to a quick downfall.
- Some UI elements and mechanics may not be intuitive, leading to confusion for new players.
- gameplay536 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Dotage is characterized by a rewarding and addictive turn-based mechanics system that combines resource management with strategic planning, enhanced by a rogue-lite progression model that gradually introduces new mechanics and challenges. Players appreciate the balance between accessibility and complexity, allowing for a satisfying learning curve, while the charming visuals and engaging narrative elements contribute to a unique and immersive experience. Despite some initial difficulty and a steep learning curve, the game offers a compelling loop that encourages experimentation and replayability, making each run feel fresh and dynamic.
“The gameplay, UI, and tool-tips allow you to plan each resource and turn exactly, but with a fun mix of random events that keep you on your toes.”
“The gameplay loop is rewarding and addictive.”
“The mechanics, rogue-lite progression system that brings new items, buildings, and challenges step by step, variety of research options that swap between games, thus expanding strategic capabilities and scenarios in each run.”
“Some people have compared it to RimWorld, so I really wanted to like it, but gameplay is way too restrictive for that comparison.”
“I would agree with other reviews that say the game at first feels a bit too much like a spreadsheet simulator, and this is from a guy who likes a good spreadsheet simulator, and I think a lot of that comes from the turn-based aspect of the game combined with the mechanics being too... predictable?”
“Like the idea, like the way it looks and sounds but find the gameplay to be frustrating, grindy and a bit joyless.”
- graphics190 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming pixel art style, which adds a delightful aesthetic to the gameplay experience. Many reviewers appreciate the cute animations and overall visual appeal, noting that the graphics effectively complement the game's mechanics and themes. However, some players mention minor glitches and a simplistic design that may not appeal to everyone, yet they agree that the visuals contribute significantly to the game's engaging and addictive nature.
“The graphics and animations are very appealing with a lot of charm.”
“The art style is cute as hell too.”
“The game's aesthetic is that of classic pixelated games, and it's got some charming animations; simple yet effective.”
“Some of the graphics can be a little glitchy, like the prophecy meters at the top displaying completely incorrect percentages, and it can sometimes run really slowly.”
“The graphics are a little bland, but the dev clearly put some time into animating the buildings and villagers (pips) to make them feel at least a little alive.”
“Despite the simple looking graphics, nothing about it feels obvious or intuitive.”
- music118 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its catchy, immersive quality, drawing from medieval tunes and creating an engaging atmosphere that enhances gameplay. While many players find the soundtrack to be a delightful and memorable aspect, some report issues with audio bugs and repetitive tracks that can detract from the experience. Overall, the music is considered a strong point of the game, contributing to its charm and appeal.
“The soundtrack is purposely unique, fitting, and very catchy.”
“At times, I caught myself humming or whistling the tunes from this game; they are so catchy and energetic for songs recomposed from over 500 years ago.”
“The music is actually really good; it stands out enough to be memorable but isn't obnoxious.”
“It's also not as easy to tell whether a location has a current worker as it should be, and there are frequent musical bugs that result in multiple songs playing over each other at the same time.”
“Some transitions felt kinda glitchy, some menu options were a little too jarring, some song transitions weren't fully polished, and all these small things got me worried the game would be more amateur than I wanted it to be.”
“- the music seems to bug out a lot from time to time, especially after doom events and day/night transitions.”
- replayability116 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability, driven by its dynamic tech tree, randomized maps, and various starting characters that significantly alter gameplay experiences. Players appreciate the depth and variety, with many noting that the roguelite elements and unlockable content enhance replay value, although some express concerns about potential monotony after initial runs. Overall, it offers a rich and engaging experience that encourages multiple playthroughs.
“It has incredible replayability with many game style options, and more being actively added.”
“The alternate starting characters and roguelike tech tree add a lot of replayability, and there are unlocks for days.”
“This game is not only extremely replayable but it also has a huge amount of events to discover and to learn.”
“I usually am the type of gamer who loves a replayable game (ranging from Factorio and Oni to crop rotation), but I am having a difficult time going for a second run in this game.”
“The first run will have the least content, which is a shame since replayability is fairly low.”
“It's not a bad game, but despite all of the replayability elements incorporated in it--the memories, the blueprints, the new characters, and the largest domain threat being different each time--I don't really see much replayability value in it... personally.”
- humor98 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a standout feature, blending quirky, dark, and sometimes mature elements that provide a lighthearted counterbalance to its challenging gameplay. Players appreciate the clever animations, funny dialogue, and unexpected comedic events, which enhance the overall experience and replayability. While some find certain jokes lacking, the game's charm and humor are generally well-received, making it both entertaining and engaging.
“I love the sense of humor it has and the whole averting the apocalypse angle is a great challenge.”
“The humor is surprisingly mature and intelligent.”
“Watching the old man having apocalyptic visions is hilarious every time.”
- story96 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as engaging and well-crafted, with impactful events that contribute to a sense of village development and character interaction. Players appreciate the blend of storytelling with gameplay mechanics, noting the replayability offered by different storytellers and randomized elements. However, some find certain story elements tedious and suggest improvements for skipping less engaging parts, while others enjoy the charming aesthetics and the overall narrative experience.
“I like basically every part of this; the story and dialogue are well-written and fun, music and soundscape are incredible, graphics are adorable, and the gameplay is incredibly rewarding.”
“It's also a great story builder... in my mind, at least as good if not better than RimWorld... you get real interactions between the characters, and you feel the story of the village developing.”
“Each game session feels like a new story being unfolded, thanks to the roguelite elements that keep the experience fresh and engaging.”
“Story is basic but not even important for a game like this.”
“Then the story elements become insanely tedious.”
“This can make things a total slog at the end, where you just mash 'end turn' 50 times because you've already won in every aspect except storyline.”
- grinding64 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and often joyless, particularly in the late game where micromanagement becomes overwhelming. While some enjoy the initial fun and addictive nature of the gameplay, many express frustration with the repetitive tasks and lengthy animations that detract from the experience. Despite the potential for engaging mechanics and replayability, the grind can lead to a sense of burnout and disinterest in completing runs.
“The late game becomes incredibly tedious and annoying more so than anything else, and I'm at the point where I probably won't even bother to finish my current run.”
“The game is a tedious and boring slog.”
“Fun in the beginning and pretty addicting, but games last too long and become tedious and pretty micromanagement heavy.”
- optimization42 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it runs smoothly on lower-end PCs and offers an enjoyable experience, performance issues arise as the town scales, particularly with 100+ villagers, leading to significant frame drops and stuttering. Developers are actively working on improvements, but many players suggest waiting for further optimizations and bug fixes before purchasing at full price. Overall, the game is visually appealing and engaging, but it requires more refinement to enhance the user experience.
“The constant juggle of food, heat/cold, population, expansion, tech progression, city planning, and optimizations is so stimulating.”
“Optimization feels very rewarding as it goes from barely surviving to going 'what totally unnecessary production chain do I want to add to this mess'.”
“Edit: Came back to this after various updates, the game runs smoothly now!”
“The game's performance is surprisingly going down at midgame, when approximately 40 pips are alive.”
“I had to say though, the game starts to have heavy performance problems once you reach 100+ villagers, which is a shame because the whole point is to scale the highest possible and once you reach 100-150 villagers the game freezes all the time and drops to very low FPS.”
“It seems to have performance issues as the town scales up, which is a little concerning, but hopefully this improves in the future!”
- stability24 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 8 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing frequent freezes and bugs, particularly on the "work" screen and with audio issues. However, others report that the game runs well on their systems and appreciate the developer's quick response to troubleshooting and community feedback. Overall, while there are notable inconsistencies, many players find the issues manageable and commend the developer's commitment to improvement.
“I came upon this game by chance when searching for something to play on my MacBook Air, and this runs great.”
“Complete, bug-free, tons of content, lightweight, no gacha/pay to win/lootbox, has a demo, and the developer is taking feedback from the community for balance and improvement.”
“But it just released, by one person, and it has no glitches or bugs I could notice other than the zoom functionality not being bound correctly.”
“Game is great but freezes constantly on the 'work' screen.”
“The game is very buggy and contains many inconsistencies.”
“I start trying to replace them, manage to get two adults up and going, and a third baby has just been born, when an early autumn event freezes three of them solid, including the newborn.”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players report a strong emotional impact from the game, experiencing a rollercoaster of feelings ranging from confidence to despair, largely influenced by the developer's heartfelt messaging. The unique and quirky nature of the game also evokes a sense of guilt, adding depth to the emotional experience. Overall, the game successfully engages players on an emotional level, creating a memorable and reflective journey.
“My last run was an emotional cascade from god-like confidence, shot down to panicked despair shifting in mere moments.”
“Mostly because of the heartfelt messaging from the developer <3, but also for the sense of completion.”
“A good, quirky and innovative game that made me feel guilty for playing it after a while.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized for its reliance on intrusive pop-up ads, which detracts from the overall user experience. Players express a strong dislike for this approach, indicating it may negatively impact their enjoyment of the game.
