First Dwarf

About

First Dwarf is a single player and multiplayer open world role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Star Drifters and was released on June 19, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

If there’s one thing dwarves are better at than grooming their beards, it's engineering. Jump into your mech, build a base and explore the crumbled fantasy world in this immersive action RPG.

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Play Modes

+33

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78%

Audience ScoreBased on 161 reviews

story18 positive mentions

stability5 negative mentions

The game offers a unique blend of exploration, base-building, and tower defense mechanics, providing a fresh experience in the genre.
The graphics are vibrant and engaging, creating an immersive world filled with beautiful floating islands and detailed environments.
The developers are highly responsive and actively working on updates, showing a commitment to improving the game based on community feedback.

The game currently suffers from significant bugs and technical issues, including clunky controls and a lack of clarity in quest objectives.
The tower defense mechanics are poorly implemented, with enemies often bypassing defenses and overwhelming the player's base.
Content is limited, with many players reporting that they can complete the game in just a few hours, leading to concerns about its value at the current price point.

story
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
67%
5%
The game's story is generally regarded as intriguing and well-integrated into its world-building, featuring engaging characters and quality voice acting. However, many players note that the narrative is currently sparse, with some quests lacking clarity and coherence, leading to confusion during gameplay. While the foundation for an interesting story exists, players express a desire for more content and clearer quest guidance to enhance the overall experience.
- “It has a nice story that ties in very well into the world-building, complete with in-game well-spoken cutscenes and cheerfully involved characters.”
- “The story is interesting and the world is fun to be in.”
- “The story is intriguing and the voice acting from the two main characters is just great.”
- “The story is vague and non-existent.”
- “Currently, I am unable to progress my current quest because I used up the only 2 threads offered in the game on 2 alchemy stations.”
- “Just finished the main quests for the game; currently, the game doesn't have a lot of content, and there have been some minor bugs.”
gameplay
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
64%
8%
The gameplay features a unique blend of character-switching mechanics, base-building, and resource gathering, offering a mix of exploration and combat. While the core mechanics are engaging and easy to learn, players note a lack of depth in combat and enemy variety, as well as issues with the user interface and building systems. Overall, the game is enjoyable and has potential, but requires further refinement and additional gameplay elements to enhance the experience.
- “The core gameplay loop involves exploring these islands, gathering resources, constructing buildings for your settlement, and engaging in combat with various creatures.”
- “First dwarf is an amazing game that seamlessly blends action RPG elements with colony survival, base building, and tower defense mechanics.”
- “It mixes a lot of different gameplay I enjoy such as base building, management, mobility mechanics, and combat.”
- “Needs a lot of work fleshing out mechanics like base building and making enemies actually challenging.”
- “The game also lacks depth in some areas, such as enemy variety and combat mechanics.”
- “Terrible UI/UX, poor game mechanics, and too many enemies for a single player experience.”
graphics
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
25%
19%
The graphics in the game are generally praised for their vibrant and immersive aesthetic, reminiscent of classic titles like Warcraft, with colorful environments and detailed designs that enhance the overall atmosphere. While some users note minor glitches and rough edges typical of early access titles, the visuals are considered well-optimized and appealing, contributing positively to the gaming experience. Overall, the graphics are described as above-average, charming, and capable of effectively conveying the game's unique sky-pirate fantasy theme.
- “The environment and graphics style also does a fantastic job of setting the mood—really immersive.”
- “The graphics are impressive, and the robot design is particularly well-crafted.”
- “The art style is very charming with detailed backdrops.”
- “The graphics are a bit reminiscent of Warcraft, colorful and with vast vistas of a fascinating world among the floating islands.”
- “It can be a little glitchy from time to time, but I also run on cinematic settings, with DLSS set for graphics.”
- “Additionally, using the right analog stick as a mouse to navigate the menus is cumbersome, and I'm not able to scroll all the way to the bottom of the graphics page.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
86%
14%
The music in the game is consistently praised for its beauty and immersive quality, enhancing the vibrant and mysterious atmosphere of the world. Reviewers highlight the effective combination of music, sound effects, and voice acting, noting that these elements contribute significantly to the overall experience.
- “The music is wonderful.”
- “The art, music, and quality of life features are clearly done by a team with experience and vision.”
- “The music and sound effects are very satisfying.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's optimization is mixed, with some users reporting smooth performance and no major crashes, while others experience occasional bugs and minor performance issues, particularly in early access. Overall, the graphics are well-received, but some players express frustration with certain gameplay mechanics and progression challenges.
- “Smooth performance: runs well, with no major crashes or game-breaking bugs.”
- “There is nothing to complain about; the graphics are very nice and pleasing to the eye, well optimized. During the game, I did not notice any FPS drops. The mechanics are easy to learn and not complicated, with interesting mechanics for changing characters. This treatment reminds me of productions from the LEGO series, which brings a sense of nostalgia.”
- “One other thing is some small performance issues and visual bugs, but again, it's early access.”
- “The game suffers from some technical issues, including occasional bugs and performance problems.”
- “There are some small performance issues and visual bugs, but again it's early access.”
- “Complaining about optimization on day one of an early access release?”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
83%
The game's stability in its early access build is marked by a variety of bugs and glitches, particularly in crafting menus and objective completion, alongside placeholder dialogue that disrupts immersion. Players report significant issues such as buildings disconnecting from the grid and game freezes, indicating that while the gameplay experience is generally solid, the overall stability remains problematic and in need of improvement.
- “No glitches or issues with gameplay; sound and picture quality are excellent.”
- “The game runs smoothly without any crashes or bugs, providing a seamless experience.”
- “I appreciate how stable the game is; it never lags or freezes, making for an enjoyable playthrough.”
- “There is a solid smattering of bugs and glitches (especially when it comes to crafting menus and objective completion) still present in the early access current build, as well as some placeholder dialogue and voiceover work that can be jarring at times, as well as some definitive pacing issues that may be temporary in trying to pace the players through available content.”
- “I know it is early access but it is so buggy; buildings are getting disconnected from the grid and some nodes are in the way of other buildings... ugh.”
- “The game is not finished-- towers are missing, things are buggy, and there are missing/stand-in voice lines.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that the game features a traditional approach to grinding, focusing on resource farming and energy production to facilitate automation. This setup encourages repetitive tasks to progress, which may appeal to fans of the genre but could feel tedious to others.
- “The grinding feels endless and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged.”
- “I find myself doing the same tasks over and over, which quickly becomes tedious.”
- “The resource farming aspect is overly time-consuming and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users generally feel that the game lacks significant replayability, with some expressing no desire to revisit it even after recent updates.
- “For me, right now, I see no replay value or need to go back into my current game, even with the recent small update released.”
- “The game lacks any significant changes or new content that would encourage me to play it again.”
- “After completing the main storyline, I found little incentive to revisit the game, as the side quests felt repetitive and uninspired.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is praised for its stunning visuals and vibrant, mysterious world, complemented by excellent music and sound design. Reviewers highlight the perfect synergy between the characters, enhancing the overall immersive experience.
- “Stunning visuals and atmosphere: the world is vibrant and mysterious, with great music and sound.”
- “The atmosphere is amazing; the pair of characters matched perfectly.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players praise the game for its strong character development, highlighting it as a standout feature alongside exploration, base building, and invasion-defense mechanics.
- “It's a really great game; exploration, character development, base building, and invasion defense are awesome.”