DwarfCorp
- February 1, 2019
- Completely Fair Games LLC
- 4h median play time
Get on Steam"DwarfCorp is a single-player fantasy strategy game where you lead a capitalist dwarf colony to exploit new lands for profit. Manage resources, defend your colony, and promote or punish employees. Discover and interact with various fantasy creatures and design your company's logo and color scheme. The game takes about 4 hours to beat, but beware of numerous bugs."
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game has a charming art style and a unique blend of mechanics reminiscent of Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft.
- There is a lot of potential for the game, with frequent updates and an active development team that listens to community feedback.
- The core gameplay mechanics are engaging, allowing for colony management, crafting, and trading.
- The game is riddled with bugs, crashes frequently, and has significant performance issues, making it nearly unplayable at times.
- The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making navigation and task management frustrating.
- Many core features are still unfinished or poorly implemented, leading to a lack of depth and content in the gameplay experience.
- stability21 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 90 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of severe bugs, glitches, and crashes that significantly hinder gameplay. Many users express frustration over the lack of ongoing support and updates, leading to a perception that the game remains unfinished and unpolished. While a few players have not encountered major issues, the overall consensus is that the game is currently too buggy to recommend.
“I like that the focus is on the bug fixes at the moment; they seem to be producing updates regularly too. Bug-free is the way to be.”
“Just don't expect a bug-free or complete game; it's still very, very early access!”
“Game is a buggy mess and the dev has not worked on the game for over a year from this post.”
“Current version is buggy as hell and it does not seem as though there is any more support or development for this game, so the issues are very unlikely to be fixed.”
“Bought and played the game almost 3 years ago and somehow now it is even more buggy; can't recommend it at all.”
- graphics16 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are praised for their beautiful retro style and vibrant art, often compared favorably to titles like Dwarf Fortress and RimWorld. While the pixel art and 2D sprites combined with 3D environments evoke a nostalgic feel, the user interface is criticized for being clunky and difficult to navigate. Overall, the graphics are seen as a strong point, but the game still requires significant development to reach its full potential.
“Graphically, this game is definitely superior to games like Dwarf Fortress or RimWorld, which are probably the two best examples of the genre.”
“I love the art style and the voices.”
“The art style is beautiful; the UI is kind of clunky when trying to distinguish what is what, but other than that, it's a great game.”
“Sadly, while this game is definitely superior graphically, the user interface is terrible, the tutorial is backwards, and there are so many issues that make it difficult to get a colony established that I cannot recommend this to anyone.”
“While DF will always be the king, it is really showing its age at this point, and I don't mean the graphics.”
“Bugs notwithstanding, it's still relatively barebones; with some polishing and added features, though, it could very well be the graphical Dwarf Fortress we've all been waiting for this past decade.”
- gameplay16 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The gameplay experience is marred by frequent bugs and crashes, significantly limiting enjoyment and depth, with players reporting only one to two hours of playable content before encountering issues. While the core mechanics show promise and draw inspiration from games like Dwarf Fortress, the current build lacks sufficient content and polish, leading to frustration rather than fun. Many users express hope for future updates to enhance gameplay, but as it stands, the game feels incomplete and unrefined.
“Core gameplay mechanics are good and I can see a lot more being added, looking forward to future updates!”
“I love games like Dwarf Fortress and this one definitely twists DF to have similar mechanics but a lot more simpler for the more casual player.”
“It's easy to understand and yet involves a lot of the complex mechanics from the original game.”
“Bugs, crashes, and a way too different gameplay from older versions, no fun at all.”
“Extremely limited content and depth of gameplay.”
“Overall it's staying in my 'do not recommend' pile because despite the idea being great and super fun sounding, in practice it's just boring. I spent the whole time battling with the game to get anything done, not to mention the amount of hidden mechanics and sometimes broken menus.”
- optimization11 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting significant performance issues, including high resource usage, lag, freezing, and stuttering, particularly when multiple characters are on screen. Many players note that the game only utilizes a single core, leading to severe drops in frame rates during gameplay. While some users did not experience issues, the overall consensus is that an optimization update is urgently needed to improve performance and stability.
“Definitely needs an optimization update... good otherwise.”
“Although I ran into an issue, this game only utilizes a single core which can get bogged down quickly. I believe the issue lies in the AI pathfinding, but I can't be sure. It runs smoothly at 120 FPS when paused, but at 1x speed, it drops to 12-25 FPS when 18 player-controlled dwarfs are present.”
“I still recommend it, but I'd like a performance boost update soon!”
“I'm not gonna lie, the game is currently horribly optimized and you'll most likely experience save game corruptions and horrendous lag.”
“But after a few hours the game starts freezing and stuttering so bad it becomes unplayable.”
“Performance issues after 2-3 hours (and I can't save, so sad).”
- replayability2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Users note that the game's replayability has improved significantly with the latest update, which offers a smoother and more enjoyable experience compared to earlier versions.
“The latest update is so much smoother and more playable.”
“The videos from 2 and 4 years ago show a more playable game than its current version.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly due to navigation issues and the AI behavior of dwarven characters, which can lead to frustrating situations like getting stuck. Additionally, adding more dwarfs can significantly impact performance, causing frame rate drops that hinder gameplay.
“However, when I started playing, I found navigating was tedious, and my dwarven crew was off fighting whatever, chasing raiders and goblin traders, and generally getting themselves stuck on blocks (underwater).”
“Three additionally hired dwarfs on top of the starting set of five, around an hour into the game, kill FPS to a grinding halt on my box.”
- music2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally enjoyable and provides a decent ambiance, though some players feel it lacks originality. There is hope that future updates will introduce more varied tracks to enhance the overall experience.
“The music is enjoyable.”
“The music is good and provides a decent ambiance, but it lacks originality. I'm sure there will be changes or as more music is added, that view will change.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players are drawn to the game for its appealing visuals and immersive atmosphere, which enhance the overall concept and experience.
“I bought the game because I love the visuals, the atmosphere, and the concept.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers appreciate the humor in the game, highlighting the clever and amusing names that add charm, as well as the engaging and accessible tutorial that enhances the overall experience.
“The tutorial was helpful and easy to understand; the splice tool was a brilliant idea, and the unique names made me laugh!”
“The humor in the dialogue kept me entertained throughout the game, making even the most mundane tasks enjoyable.”
“I love how the game incorporates witty puns and clever jokes that catch you off guard and add a delightful twist to the gameplay.”
- story1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The current reviews indicate that the game lacks a developed story, with some users expressing concern that it feels more like an unfinished game engine than a complete narrative experience.
“I will be keeping an eye on it, but as for right now it's just a game engine with no story and a lot of stuff that's broken.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers express confidence in the developers' direction, indicating that the emotional impact of the game resonates positively with players. Overall, there is a sense of satisfaction and alignment with the game's emotional tone.
