Dwerve

werve satisfies with a refined, fast-paced tower defense system that is both accessible and challenging.

76%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

grinding, stability

76% User Score Based on 331 reviews

Critic Score 78%Based on 2 reviews

Platforms

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About

Dwerve is a single player tactical role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Half Human Games and was released on May 31, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Dwerve is a single-player fantasy RPG with an intriguing story and stellar tower defense gameplay. Unearth lost technologies to protect the dwarves from the Witch-Queen's army and solve puzzles in the ruined kingdom. Upgrade your turrets, traps, and artifacts to fight epic boss battles in this dungeon crawler with phenomenal graphics and music."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+14

Skip User Reviews

76%

Audience ScoreBased on 331 reviews

story66 positive mentions

grinding12 negative mentions

The art style and music are exceptional, creating a vibrant and immersive experience.
Dwerve offers a unique blend of tower defense and dungeon crawling gameplay, requiring strategic thinking and quick decision-making.
The game has a charming story and engaging characters, making it enjoyable for players of all ages.

Gameplay can become repetitive, with players often needing to repeat waves to find the right strategy to win.
The character movement is slow, which can make exploration tedious and frustrating.
Some boss fights and enemy encounters can feel chaotic and unbalanced, leading to frustration during gameplay.

story
154 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
49%
8%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its engaging characters and rich narrative, while others find it linear and repetitive, often feeling like a series of fetch quests. Many appreciate the unique blend of tower defense mechanics with storytelling, though some criticize the pacing and length, suggesting it could benefit from a more streamlined approach. Overall, while the story is not groundbreaking, it is deemed enjoyable and compelling enough to keep players invested.
- “I really love the story so far and the art!”
- “The main character looks awesome and the story is very rich.”
- “Good story, great characters, and carefully crafted gameplay; all around well designed.”
- “Another part is the boring story; it works since it's not the main focus, but it's still not very motivating. I find myself skipping every bit of dialogue that shows up.”
- “However, it soon became boring as the story is very linear; your objective is to go to A, then it asks you to go to B, then C, and so on.”
- “The story is pretty bad... and the game focuses too much on its story.”
gameplay
138 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
52%
6%
The gameplay of "Dwerve" combines tower defense mechanics with dungeon crawling, offering a unique blend of strategy and action that many players find engaging. However, the experience can become repetitive due to similar enemy encounters and objectives, and some mechanics feel poorly implemented, leading to frustration. While the game features solid graphics and a dedicated community, its core gameplay loop may not appeal to everyone, with some players noting a lack of depth and variety as they progress.
- “The core gameplay of 'dwerve' revolves around dungeon crawling and tower defense combat.”
- “The combat mechanics are solid, offering a satisfying mix of strategy and action as players fend off increasingly challenging foes.”
- “The gameplay is a ton of fun and intense at times.”
- “However, the gameplay can feel repetitive, with players facing similar enemy encounters and objectives throughout their journey.”
- “Some things are hard to interact with, sometimes the game glitches and you get stuck out of bounds, but the worst and most disappointing aspect of this game is that the core gameplay is... boring.”
- “I'd say this is a fine game, but the gameplay loop of 'run around -> find a key -> open a door -> repeat' just doesn't appeal to me.”
graphics
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
36%
7%
The graphics of "dwerve" are widely praised for their vibrant and detailed pixel art style, which effectively brings the game's world to life with charming visuals and nostalgic color palettes. While some players noted inconsistencies in the art style and suggested that certain elements felt out of place, the overall impression is that the graphics contribute significantly to the game's unique atmosphere and engaging gameplay. Many reviewers found the character designs and environments appealing, making the game visually enjoyable despite minor critiques.
- “The art style is very nostalgic and has great color palettes.”
- “Great soundtrack, charming graphics & story, and the combat becomes really fun and chaotic once you start getting past the tutorial/beginning.”
- “From the gorgeous pixel art style graphics, likeable characters, varying environments, or the fun combat system, dwerve is definitely one worth checking out.”
- “For example, the lily pads didn't fit the general art style in my opinion.”
- “Likewise, I feel like the close-up shots of the characters during dialogue went for a more realistic form of pixel art than was appropriate for the general cutesy and relaxed art style of the gameplay.”
- “Aerie burping and such felt out of place given the rest of the aesthetics of the game.”
music
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
22%
14%
The music in "Dwerve" is widely praised for its emotive quality and ability to enhance the game's atmosphere, with many reviewers noting the soundtrack as a standout feature that complements the charming graphics and engaging gameplay. While some find the music and story to be somewhat forgettable, the overall sound design is considered a strong aspect of the game, contributing to its indie charm and inventive nature.
- “Great soundtrack, charming graphics & story, and the combat becomes really fun and chaotic once you start getting past the tutorial/beginning.”
- “The soundtrack is surprisingly good and catches the mood in areas.”
- “Really intuitive design, emotive music, and so, so many pretty pixels.”
- “It's kinda RPG, kinda tower defense, but doesn't do either particularly well, and the music and story are pretty forgettable.”
- “While I still definitely think the game is worth a purchase, the music is unfortunately one of the minor issues that have resulted in my putting the game down after about only ~20 minutes of gameplay.”
- “The music and ambiance are forgettable, which detracts from the overall experience.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, often feeling forced to engage in repetitive tasks like breaking pots for minimal rewards and navigating slow-paced puzzles. The obscured upgrade trees contribute to frustration, as players are unsure if their efforts will yield worthwhile improvements, leading to a sense of stagnation in progression. Overall, while the combat system shows creativity, it can become monotonous due to the grindy nature of resource gathering and limited upgrade options.
- “Where the problem is though, is that the upgrade trees are obscured so you don't know if a particular branch is going to be worth the investment of the scrap that you tediously gathered (largely by standing still to break pots/crates and then walking into the absolutely tiny magnetism range).”
- “Sometimes felt tedious to travel around the map and autoattack pots for a single coin.”
- “The slow pacing from the puzzles and the lengthy dialog makes it very tedious to play the game, and with so little progression from the very limited tower upgrades and the fact you can only use 4 towers at a time, you'd be better off just choosing the 4 best towers, then just upgrading them exclusively since it takes a decent chunk of time to max out the very small tech tree for them.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
80%
The game is reported to be quite buggy, with frequent glitches, interaction issues, and instances of players getting stuck out of bounds. Additionally, users have experienced freezes and crashes, although it runs well on the Steam Deck at a limited frame rate. Overall, stability is a significant concern for players.
- “It runs great on the Steam Deck with a 40 fps frame limit, consuming approximately 8 watts, and it should last 4-5 hours.”
- “The game suffers from some glitches, and the difficulty curve is a rollercoaster.”
- “Freezes and crashes are common.”
- “Some things are hard to interact with; sometimes the game glitches and you get stuck out of bounds.”
character development
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Character development in the game is highlighted by charming designs and smooth animations, contributing to its overall polish. While the character designs are well-received, the depth of character development does not stand out significantly, with some reviewers noting that it doesn't offer anything groundbreaking in this area. Overall, the characters are visually appealing, but the narrative and emotional growth may not leave a lasting impact.
- “The character designs are charming, and the animations are smooth, adding to the overall polish of the game's presentation.”
- “The game is great, and I love it. The story and the graphics are great, the mechanics are fun and unique, and the character designs are top-notch.”
- “Despite being set in a mountain and underground for a good amount of the game, the character designs maintain a good mix of color.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
50%
The emotional aspect of the game receives mixed feedback; while some players find the story enjoyable and the dialogue wholesome, others feel it lacks depth and motivation, leading them to skip through the narrative. Overall, it seems to evoke some emotional responses, but not as strongly as other titles in the genre.
- “The game and dialog feel wholesome.”
- “The story is boring; it works since it's not the main focus, but it's still not very motivating. I find myself skipping every bit of dialogue that shows up.”
- “The emotional aspect of the game feels flat and uninspired, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
- “I expected to feel more engaged with the story, but it lacks depth and leaves me feeling indifferent.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Overall, the game has been criticized for its lack of replayability, with many players noting its linear structure, minimal character development, and absence of secrets to discover. The consensus suggests that without meaningful choices or progression systems that impact gameplay, the game offers little incentive for players to revisit it.
- “I did walk away feeling like it was missing something after the last battle, and there isn't a whole lot of replay value, unless you want to put artificial limits on your play.”
- “Zero replayability, linear with zero backtracking, very little RPG or character building, and no secrets to find.”
- “Locking players into short but meaningful progression trees where their decisions affect the mechanics of gameplay will really help replayability.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a familiar fantasy setting enriched by interesting characters and strong writing, despite relying on common tropes. The well-executed pixel art graphics, featuring clean and original designs for both character sprites and tilesets, contribute significantly to creating a unique and immersive environment.
- “The pixel art graphics are really well done; from character sprites to the tilesets, everything is very clean and original, creating a very unique atmosphere.”
- “While the story is what you'd expect from a fantasy atmosphere, it still features interesting characters and good writing, despite using familiar tropes.”