Dwarrows
- February 28, 2020
- Lithic Entertainment Inc.
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"Dwarrows" is a single-player open-world game where players build and grow a new settlement while exploring the vibrant Dusken Woodlands. As players gather resources, build structures, and solve puzzles, they'll meet quirky characters and befriend cute animals to aid in their journey. With a focus on peaceful exploration and character bonding, players can look forward to a calming and engaging gameplay experience.
Mac OS
PC
Playstation 4
Windows
Xbox One
Linux
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game offers a charming and relaxing atmosphere, combining exploration, resource gathering, and town building.
- Puzzles are engaging and provide a satisfying challenge, with options to adjust difficulty for a more relaxed experience.
- The ability to switch between multiple characters adds depth to gameplay and enhances the exploration and puzzle-solving experience.
- Progression feels rigid and restricted, often requiring tedious grinding for resources and unclear objectives.
- The game suffers from bugs and performance issues, including camera problems and character glitches that can disrupt gameplay.
- The town management aspect lacks depth, with citizens often leaving for trivial reasons and minimal impact from town planning on overall gameplay.
- gameplay46 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
Gameplay is characterized by a mix of city building, resource gathering, and puzzle-solving, which some players find engaging and charming, while others feel it becomes repetitive and grindy. The mechanics of switching between three characters for different tasks are seen as both a highlight and a point of confusion, with some appreciating the teamwork aspect and others finding it unnecessary. Overall, while the core mechanics are functional, many players note issues with bugs, pacing, and a lack of polish that detracts from the overall experience.
“It's nice, charming, and relaxing, and the gameplay works: you are constantly engaged in all the activities the game offers to you, for building the city, finding the resources required for it, solving puzzles, and exploring places.”
“The town building is amazing, and the mechanics are also very good.”
“I liked how the three characters had to work together to get through the trial.”
“Once I got into the game a little and saw that the gameplay consists of slowly gathering the same materials with one character, building things with another, and exploring with the third, I got bored.”
“The system feels incredibly contrived in order to draw out gameplay, and ends up being another grind.”
“What a terribly annoying gameplay experience.”
- story46 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally well-received, with players appreciating the in-game lore and the integration of quests into town-building mechanics. However, some feel that the narrative serves primarily as a backdrop, with minimal worldbuilding and NPC interactions limited to mission contexts. While the story can be engaging, it is also possible to enjoy the game without focusing on it, as the gameplay allows for customization and exploration.
“The story is great and I loved the in-game lore.”
“Dwarrows is straightforward, it is peaceful, and it is an experience in a world where ugliness does not exist as the forthright storytelling point.”
“There's also a big map to explore, different quests and encounters to have, artifacts to find, animals to tame/name... I'm a fan, you might be too.”
“It has something of a story, but it is only there to fill the void.”
“There is some worldbuilding, but only enough to be some minimal framework to the story.”
“NPCs only exist when you have a mission with them.”
- graphics38 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as cute and charming, with a relaxing aesthetic, but they suffer from significant issues such as mismatched assets, clipping problems, and an overall unfinished feel. While some players appreciate the style and find it suitable for casual play, many criticize the subpar quality and performance, suggesting it may not be worth the full price. Overall, the graphics are seen as a mixed bag, appealing to some but disappointing to others.
“The aesthetic and vibe are similar, the world design is comfortable, the soundtrack is nicely ambient.”
“To top it all off, the graphics are really cute!”
“Great charm and graphics.”
“They do not want to become the next big thing in graphics, so do not expect much.”
“Overall it gives the feeling of the game being unfinished with large chunks of the graphics just being placeholders.”
“Normally I don't try to worry about the graphics in the game, but it is the stark mismatch between different assets that really gets me.”
- grinding30 mentions
- 7 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 93 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it tedious and poorly balanced, leading to frustration during resource collection. While a few enjoy the grind as a relaxing part of gameplay, many express a desire for better automation and clearer resource management to alleviate the monotony. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a significant factor that can either enhance or detract from the game's enjoyment.
“There's no grinding or tedious resource management systems.”
“Game had potential but bad balancing and push to make grinding a chore instead of an addiction flat out ruins the game hard.”
“Collecting wood, stone, and gold is a chill experience but quickly becomes mostly just tedious.”
“I would like to see some automation of resources; running around for hours chopping down trees and stone resources does get tedious.”
- music12 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ambient quality, creating a peaceful atmosphere that players often find themselves humming long after playing. The soundtrack complements the world design effectively, enhancing the overall aesthetic and vibe of the game.
“The music is beautiful, and I'll sometimes find myself humming some of the tracks while doing other stuff.”
“The aesthetic and vibe are similar, the world design is comfortable, the soundtrack is nicely ambient.”
“It is so peaceful and I really enjoy the music that the game has.”
- stability12 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent crashes and various glitches that affect gameplay, such as problems with puzzles and controller responsiveness. While players can reach out to the developer for assistance, the overall experience is marred by a lack of polish and persistent bugs.
“Game crashes constantly and is buggy (people leaving town because there are no homes despite there being homes built).”
“On the bad side, this game is terribly unpolished, buggy, and clunky.”
“Controller use is a little buggy.”
- humor8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a fair amount of humor, particularly in its dialogue and NPC interactions, which many players find memorable and amusing. While the humor adds to the overall enjoyment, some players note that the game can feel slow and repetitive, with puzzles that are only moderately engaging. Despite these drawbacks, the lighthearted moments keep players returning for more.
“I enjoy the humor that is in the dialog as well as the actions for the quests.”
“Despite it being slow, I am still coming back to play; the NPCs are funny and memorable, and the puzzles are generally small and quick to finish, giving a nice sense of achievement.”
“Some of the interactions are laugh-out-loud funny.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has faced criticism due to poor performance in certain puzzle rooms, which affects input recognition and can hinder platforming accuracy. However, the developers have been responsive, addressing major bugs through patches and introducing a puzzle speed setting to accommodate players with varying performance levels and reflexes. Overall, while there are optimization issues, the developers' proactive approach has improved the experience.
“There's only one serious issue, and that's that a couple of the puzzle rooms have very poor performance, which seems to disrupt input recognition and can make you fail a lot of the fairly sensitive platforming jumps because your jumps don't go as far or as high as you intended.”
“- subpar graphics, models and overall performance”
“Thankfully the devs have been proactive in reading and responding to comments, and since launch they've addressed most of the major bugs in patches, as well as adding a puzzle speed setting to adjust the difficulty of the timing puzzles, which is extremely helpful for people who have poor performance on their machines, poor physical reflexes, or who just don't like timing puzzles.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its chill and immersive quality, enhancing the overall experience through its thoughtful design, ambiance, and engaging storylines and characters. Reviewers appreciate how these elements come together to create a captivating environment.
“I love the chill atmosphere of this game.”
“The atmosphere, ambiance, designs, gameplay, storylines, and characters all come together beautifully!”
- replayability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate that the game has almost no replayability, suggesting that players may not find sufficient incentive to revisit the experience after completing it.
“Almost no replayability.”
“Almost no replayability.”
“Almost no replayability.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional aspect of the game to be highly rewarding, as the unique puzzles evoke feelings of intelligence and accomplishment. This sense of achievement enhances the overall gaming experience, making players feel engaged and satisfied.
