Reviews

• 

  Shakajolt

  Jun 30, 2022

  Definitely a fun game. The campaign acts as a decent tutorial, and there's some secret/unlockable 'Shrines' that you learn about by acquiring enough of each kind of book and then waiting. Information on Shrines is carried between all save files, or you can look them up and build one yourself without discovering it. This info gets stored in the in-game reference book in the top left of the screen. It also includes some basic info on how to get started with certain stuff, detailed weapon and armor tables, and some other useful info. There's also tooltips on just about everything to give you an idea what it is/is for. That includes in crafting benches/areas. Basic gameplay loop: Build some farms for food, build some wells for water, start mining and creating a military. You have regular dwarves and can promote them to "Soldier" dwarves who do nothing but train and fight, and cannot be converted back. In order to gain more dwarves/max population, you need 'renown' which is granted by a score of everything you own plus bonuses for 'emplaced' items, such as placing finished stone, a pedestal, a bed, a storage bin, bookshelves, tables, etc. For every so many dwarves/so much renown, you get *free* population that can *only* be used on soldiers. Very late game you wind up with 100 civilians maximum, but a ton of special population for soldiers. Ex: I currently have 125 population and a blue +1 next to the population. That's 25 soldiers, 100 workers. By promoting a worker to soldier (the blue +1) my pop cap will go up to 125/126 and my worker count will be 99 (because I promoted one). Soon a dwarf civilian will arrive. Dwarves have individual skills that go up with working, and you can assign jobs- you can also customize the jobs based on task if you like. Ditto for soldiers, although their jobs are pretty much "train combat skill" and "train health, train strength". Dwarves do NOT have personalities or preferences; the main take of the game is building a fortress and getting a strong enough military that you just laugh at the 50 goblins invading you without taking damage. Or better, having such a good killing field of auto-resetting spike traps that hardly anyone makes it to your doorstep. Combat can be a little weird, but overall an enjoyable experience. Downsides I've found so far; Game is complete with likely no future updates. Eggs, Bones, and one or two other items reference being used in crafting, but are not. Can't seem to get a verdant orb, although going off of forums I may have missed something. I forget how long the main campaign took, but I know at around the 50 hour mark I had beaten that and had several years in sandbox mode. Definitely worth the $20 asking price. Also: Several challenge maps if you're into that (mixed quality, but there's like 21 of them, split into easy/medium/hard) and a LOT of customization options if you start a new sandbox mode. Sandbox Mode (meat & potatos of game imo) options include: Presets for Easy/Medium/Hard/Creative "Climax Battle" of several types, including off, as well as how many in-game years before it happens and easy/normal/hard. Terrain w/ Map size from Tiny/Small/Med/Large, roughness slider, height slider, Topology (8 options), a seed # Cavern size of tiny/small/medium/large/huge, cavern frequency of none/rare/few/normal/many/copius, and a checkbox for 'flat caverns' making them mostly flat; the rock comes in layers, and each layer has a set type of ore you'll find that you need to dig to hte next layer, as well as a few rare cases of the next layers ores. Plus copper/silver/gold mixed in when you get deeper. Creatures: Monsters: Picking Atagonist between Goblin/Gnoll/Orc/Mix (mix means you'll get 1 of those 3 at random each invasion); invasion frequency,invasion density, Subterranian monsters, Elite monsters all with options from none to insane Animals: Aggressive animals and passive animals with the same above options, starting dwarves & the skill level of new recruits (no skill to max skill) How much stronger invasion monsters become as the game goes on, as well as a separate option for how fast cavern monsters become as the game goes on, whether or not you have large invasions annually, seasonally, or not at all, and whether or not monsters can set up ladders to scale your walls as well as whether or not there's one or two sappers (diggers) every invasion. Resource options: Trees, foragble plants, seed bearing plants, and boulders (needed for early building) all have frequency options Subterranian resources of metal ore, precious ores, and gems also have frequency options Starting resources of provisions, arms, and tools all have none through insane option You can also set whether enemies drop 'treasure' items in addition to their armor and coinage; things like books and a few orbs, ranging from "none" to "insane". You can even turn off whether or not dwarves consume food & drink, need to sleep, or have construction cheats to build at range All before starting your sandbox game. While a few things feel like they could use a little more explanation or the dev was planning to add something more, nothing in this game feels incomplete, and just about everything has a tooltip PLUS an in-game reference guide including ALL weapon and armor stats in convenient tables! 10/10 well worth $20 asking price, especially with the in-game reference sheets. Nowhere near as complex as Dwarf Fortress, but it IS full 3D. Doubt the dev will do any more updates, but I also haven't bothered to email them despite getting annoyed at nobody selling me a Verdant Orb :\ Just too busy having fun building my mega fortress and becoming insanely rich.
• 

  ogre

  Mar 8, 2019

  Saw there was zero reviews, so decided to gamble and give it a try :D It's actually pretty fun! It feels very early release, but it's surprisingly functional, more than what I thought. It plays like a voxel castle builder mix with Dwarf Fortress, exactly what it looks like. You build workshops which require you build parts to those workshops, assign dwarves jobs like Hauler and Craftsman, you place areas for archers to sit and guard posts, you dig into terrain in 3 dimensions, place stockpiles, farm plots... There really is a solid backing for a good Dwarf Fortress-ish defense game here. I'm sorry developer, but for the love of god you might want to add some variety to that music. It was really cute at first, seemed like you made it yourself with some free synth music tool... but it just keeps droning on and on and is just off tune enough to make me feel unsettled the whole time. I'd put a lot more work into that, or download some free music with a license that lets you use it in commercial software. Also the UI could use a ton of prettying up. It's not too bad, just doesn't feel clean. I seriously think with better music and a clean UI the game would feel a lot more solid, rather than a really-early early release game. The engine is there, just the game needs to be polished up. From a gameplay standpoint there's actually quite a lot of content. Seems like there could be more content in other areas, like visuals and monsters or something. Even just different sorts of "biomes" might make it feel a lot more fresh across different play throughs. The "campaign mode" is more of a tutorial than a campaign, for those interested in this game. It actually teaches you a ton. Thumbs up for Early-Release, hoping that this gets polished up into a professional game with more content and becomes an indie hit :)
• 

  ☥ Docdra ☥

  Mar 9, 2019

  Just a very cursory review for now and the only reason I'm doing it is that this reminds me quite a bit of Gnomoria right now. I'd usually wait a bit longer before doing a review, but it seems this lone dev has quietly been plugging away at this for some time now and finally decided to bring it to Early Access on Steam - and based on the quality of this admittedly early version, I can recommend the game. ++Pros++ + Plays very similar to Gnomoria, but smoother and without many of the bugs (so far) + To expand on this, there are a lot of QoL improvements here that Gnomoria never had + Easy to customize so you can play how you want in sandbox + No crashes & no game breaking bugs so far + The crafting/tech progression seems solid for the most part, but I do miss researching + Yay, another game that allows z level mining - finally! --Cons-- - A tad expensive, but if you want to support the dev it isn't... - Music, UI, and art/animation need some serious loving - the UI is some sort of ugly (and small), but functional - Graphic options caused a bit of an issue on a dual monitor setup, but dev already reached out to me on that - maybe fixed soon - A few minor bugs - Where's the turnip seeds? Again, just a quick cursory review that may change in the future, but so far I am enjoying this game.
• 

  Omega Bard

  Mar 9, 2019

  It's pretty decent so far, only 3 hours in and I'm still doing the 'campaign' (#5/8) which is really just a well disguised tutorial. There's a really solid foundation of gameplay and it looks like a lot of detail in this game, but right now what it really needs is feedback from players. You can sort of tell it was made by one guy and there hasn't been much chance to get it out for beta testing yet (which is what Early Access is), because there are a lot of ... let's say interesting design choices, which I feel the dev can quickly fix to polish up the game, once he gets enough feedback about them. Most of it's minor, like Q and E feel reversed for camera controls as someone who plays a lot of citybuilders, or that some parts of the missions indicate a direction like North, but there's no compass in-game, just little things. Other than nitpicking about polish, there are some intermittent issues with framerates on a mid-range PC, and the music and sounds are all pretty annoying, unfortunately. We'll see if those get patched up, but worst case you can just run the game at little to no volume I definitely recommend giving it a shot if you like citybuilders, or if you've always wanted to try Dwarf Fortress but couldn't get past the ASCII. It's worth keeping in mind you don't start doing things underground with z-level mining until campaign 4 or 5, which is really the coolest part of the game, so just stick through it. It's also very complex, with a small and less than intuitive UI, so I definitely still recommend you play all the tutorials in order or you'll probably be lost I also want to add that this dev seems really good about wanting to improve the game - I saw multiple streamers that he gave the game to for testing, and he generally sat there in chat and actively asked them questions about how they like certain things, and responded whenever they mentioned something they didn't like - and made changes as appropriate, for example I think allowing you to turn off auto-scaffolding was a suggestion I heard from a stream, and he implemented it no problem. So with that in mind, if you end up getting this game and you really want it to shine, give some thought to sending in some feedback about it - he'll listen (as long as it makes sense)
• 

  A Litter Of Tasty Pancakes

  Mar 13, 2019

  I love the crap out of this game. I am a huge fan of Towns even though it wasn't completed. I picked up Gnomoria as well and that was a bit more complicated than I wanted at the time. Lord of Dwarves takes everything I love about them and makes it so much better. There are so many mechanics in the building, digging and crafting that are fantastically easy and intuitive. I would wholeheartedly recommend going through the campaign so you learn about how it all works. I'm am very impressed with what we've got here and will be playing this for a long time now. I can't wait to get into the next mission and learn more stuff. So good! If you enjoyed Towns!, this game will blow your mind!
• 

  Swayze

  Mar 19, 2019

  Despite all the hard lessons I've learned about EA dwarf-fortress like games, this is genuinely the best one I've played. Though it bears a lot of similarities to its spiritual predecessor, there are a lot of quality of life improvements, not to mention a good 3d engine and combat system. It's the first game like this I've sat down with, had a good time, and want to keep playing. Very impressive for an EA title, and highly recommended! Oh, and the most impressive part - this game is incredibly deep and replayable. If you've been burned by shallow EA games, don't worry, that is 100% not an issue here.
• 

  Darkmalice

  Mar 24, 2019

  With the usual caveats about EA titles, I have to say, if you are a fan of Gnomoria, Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld or any of the management/colony style games, this one is definitely worth your consideration. While the initial impression visually may be off-putting and very basic, the gameplay and indeed the thought and effort put into the design, are rewarding. Again, while the aesthetics are simple, everything is animated and clearly displayed with its own model/icon. The menu GUI is basic but functional, and should be easy to figure out within a few minutes of exploration. You are never unclear with what is happening in the game, although the tech-tree is not clear without actually building workstations first (hopefully this is addressed). It very much feels like Gnomoria but in 3D, without water tiles (unfortunately). I would really like to see a liquid system with rainfall filling crevices, lakes and lava pools underground (it is possible I haven't found these deep down yet). In my 8hrs of play I experienced no crashes or performance issues, and as far as bugs go my only problem was with tabbing out of fullscreen setting the game into windowed mode, requiring a reset of the option to enable fullscreen again. I would like to see a windowed-fullscreen option for non-native resolutions. Playing on normal the resource collection seemed pretty easy to keep up, maybe a little too much so. I did lose every dwarf after 1 yr to an orc invasion, so enemy challenge is certainly in there. Organising your dwarves into groups with different roles, skills, priorities and loadouts is all handled very straightforward and obvious. The AI seems to have no problem with pathfinding or following orders. Overall, definitely recommend for fans of the genre or even those looking to dip their toe in.
• 

  Abonzo

  Jun 15, 2019

  Day 1. i brought this game started the campaign and thought you know what this game is to complicated for me. i saw the poenitual and thought i would not refund and would wait to see where the game went and when i had some time i could try to learn the controls. I am so glad i did i dont know if things changed inbetween my times playing specically the 3rd misson but now i am loving it i have build some amazing castles, the way of looking at layers is very nice and overall a very nice game with good content. Does take a bit of time to get use to the controls. If you like colony management sims, give it a try and stick out learning the controls.
• 

  Nezerathian

  Sep 30, 2019

  Hello. Sadly this game feels abandoned. No updates and nothing happening. Game still lacks that something. Need more polishing.
• 

  Qorje

  Mar 27, 2020

  Finally, Dwarf Fortress with usable UI! This game is not for everyone, but has the potential become my favorite game.
• 

  gruntware

  Jun 3, 2020

  TLDR; An amazing game if you like colony builders where you setup the rules and let the little guys make a go of it. I have played over 100 hours in this game outside of steam. It really is something special that makes time just melt away. The graphics need some work and the game is quite complex at first but the tutorial campaign is a well thought out, step by step, introduction into the game. It feels like rimworld meets dwarf fortress with full x,y,z axis building and mining. I bought this after finding out that a single individual coded this and it was his passion project. Supporting indy developers when they make such an amazing project was an easy decision. All in all, a fun little game that makes the lockdown much easier to deal with.
• 

  chrisjpyne

  Jul 4, 2020

  Loving it ! 36 hrs in and still exploring the Tech tree; 30-odd mining levels to dig; more mining skills needed to get deeper for more treasures; the suspense and challenge on whether I can survive the next invasion and I am preparing for the final invasion? A little bit of Minecraft, Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress all mixed together into a great world environment . An amazing achievement for a solo developer. Best value game for a long time. I am addicted to it.
• 

  Ozboc

  Jul 8, 2020

  Worth $20 Bug Free !!
• 

  gshinks

  Jul 8, 2020

  Really surprising... Much more complex than led to believe by trailers. The combat system needs some refinement, but the game is complete and, so far glitchless. I've been looking for many years to a successor to Stronghold, and this is by far the closest I've come. Close enough to get the same feeling of freedom, but different enough to feel new.
• 

  jle3823

  Aug 4, 2020

  I discovered this game as a result of watching Colonel Failure play it on YouTube. His unbridled enthusiasm for the game made me want to give it a try. Now having spent hours playing it myself, I can certainly understand why. It's amazing that this game is produced by just one individual with the level of depth and options it has.
• 

  draconicDuelist

  Oct 26, 2020

  This is what Dwarf Fortress would be like if the controls were simplified, the jobs were condensed and simplified (laborers do mining, building and tree-cutting), the graphics were made 3D with multiple layers visible at once if they're carved out (yes, I know there's a mod for Dwarf Fortress that can do that), and it didn't have 'Adventure mode' (which last I saw, was what the dev of DF was focusing on the most) So far I've only gotten to level 4 of the campaign, but everything points to this being just about everything I love about Dwarf Fortress, but in an easier format, without sacrificing the potential. Once I get through the campaign and start playing Challenges and Sandbox, I may edit this.
• 

  Apostle

  Nov 28, 2020

  Once I got used to the UI it became a pretty cool game.
• 

  Tjimsitt

  Dec 26, 2020

  Early access at best. It has a good base, but definitely needs further development.
• 

  mister w

  Feb 5, 2021

  This game had so much promise, to be better than Gnomoria and Ingnomia, and yet it is so much worse sadly in so many ways. The few ways it improves are overshadowed by the sheer amount of missing features, and utterly game breaking bugs. I can't in good conscience recommend it, and if I could get my money back I would. Really disappointing, and the game seems just as abandoned as the game it's based on.
• 

  Count_Joshoo

  Feb 13, 2021

  I'm really enjoying this game. It's like someone decided that Gnomoria could be better and easier, shoutout to the great souls of the Ignomia project as well, and I love it. It's way to early in the game for me to write a long, full review but I need to ask the devs two questions. First, can we get some UI options? The text is so small, even on my big monitor! Second, can we not have pop up menus covering up each other? Maybe some kind of system where they will open in a different spot if something else is already open. Third (I lied about two), can we have the pop ups we want just stay open? It's annoying early game to have the work bench and tool bench menus not available to be open at the same time. All that aside, keep it up! This game has long running gem written all over it. If you are taking a Rimworld break, wish Gnomoria was not DOA or can't handle DF (all apply to me) this game is going to make you really happy. :)