A Game of Dwarves Review Summary

Charming underground digging, building, colony management, and dwarf happiness are entertaining, but frequent bugs, instability, and an unfinished, unpolished feel make it weaker than Dungeon Keeper.

Underground digging and building: A key activity is digging tunnels and building underground rooms for dwarves. Players enjoy constructing vast caverns and fortresses.

Charming and entertaining game: Reviewers frequently describe the game as charming and fun to play. It provides a pleasant and entertaining experience overall.

Cute and simple building: The game features cute graphics and simple block-building mechanics. It is often described as a fun and accessible builder.

Fun but with potential: Some reviewers say the game can be somewhat fun and has potential. However, the fun factor may not be fully realized for everyone.

Relaxing casual experience: Players find it a nice casual game to relax with. It offers a good way to unwind and enjoy casually.

Frequent bugs and instability: Players widely report numerous bugs, with some describing the game as incredibly buggy or riddled with bugs. These issues often make the game feel unstable or even unplayable.

Game appears unfinished: Reviewers frequently state the game is unfinished, bugged, or abandoned. This perception is reinforced by the lack of expected fixes and support.

Game feels unpolished: Many users feel the game is unpolished, slap-dash, or poorly finished, with rough edges throughout. This lack of polish contributes to a negative overall impression.

Weaker than Dungeon Keeper: Several players compare the game unfavorably to Dungeon Keeper, noting it lacks charm, fun, and the pick-up-and-play appeal of the classic. It is seen as lackluster in comparison.

Dated and ugly graphics: The graphics are often described as dated, ugly, or not great. This visual shortcoming detracts from the overall experience for many players.

Colony management and dwarf happiness: Players manage a dwarven colony, keeping dwarves happy, safe, well fed, and well rested. The core loop involves base-building and overseeing a small group of dwarves.

Digging tunnels and underground construction: Digging is a central activity where players excavate tunnels up, down, and in all directions. Players dig through the earth, encounter obstacles, and build underground cities.

Resource gathering and mining: Players dig for resources such as gold, minerals, and food. Mining out areas around the settlement is a key activity.

Dwarven theme and campaign: The game features dwarves in a campaign mode where they seek to reclaim land from evil magi. It is a dwarf digging strategy game.

Dwarf Fortress inspired gameplay: The game is often described as a simplified version of Dwarf Fortress and similar dungeon management games. Some call it a casual dwarf management game or a 3D clone of Dwarf Fortress.

Performance Degradation Over Time: As bases grow, population increases, or maps become large, the game slows down significantly, sometimes becoming unplayable. This affects both sandbox and normal modes.

Frequent Crashes Reported: Players experience crashes at various points, including during gameplay, start of new games, and as they progress. This is a widespread issue.

Optimization and Hardware Demands: Players find the game poorly optimized and demanding on system resources, with issues like overheating and graphic bugs. Some report it runs okay on modern PCs.

Memory Issues: The game consumes excessive memory and suffers from memory leaks, leading to performance problems over time.

Worth current price: Several reviewers find the game worth its current price, especially when purchased on sale. They consider it a good value for the cost.

Recommended overall: Many reviewers recommend the game, often with qualifications. They suggest it is enjoyable for fans of the genre.

Not worth buying: Many reviewers strongly advise against purchasing the game, stating it is not worth any money or time. They recommend saving money and avoiding the game entirely.

Buy on sale: Reviewers recommend purchasing the game only during a sale. At full price, many feel it is not worth the cost.

Not as deep as Dwarf Fortress: Reviewers warn that the game lacks the depth of Dwarf Fortress or Dungeon Keeper. Those expecting similar complexity will be disappointed.

Community fair range: $4.99 - $9.99.

Game completion: 50.0h.

Story completion: 10.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

Endgame: 1.0h.

A Game of Dwarves has a slow opening and early friction, but some players report it becomes addictive once they grow accustomed to its simple systems. Other reports say the fun fades after a point or never hooks them, so the profile is mixed.

Friction: Slow early game on new levels because dwarves are too weak to push the story or discover enemy rooms.; Long, boring missions that can last around 2 hours and may require mining out half the map to find objectives.; Broken tutorial and bugs.; Repetitive campaign loop and lack of true challenges.; Casual design with no real resource management or logistics.; Initial adjustment period; it takes a tiny while to get used to..

Casual Sandbox Tinkerer: Casual dollhouse/sandbox tinkering, loosely directing AI dwarves, frequently multitasking with a show in the background. Motivation: To relax and freely build and dig a dwarven underground town at their own unhurried pace. Stance: sale.

Dungeon-Sim Veteran: Commanding dwarves to dig and build a thriving fortress kingdom in 3D management fashion. Motivation: To satisfy a dungeon-management and dwarven colony-sim itch similar to genre classics, in a more accessible form. Stance: buy.

Bug-Averse Quality Sceptic: Attempts standard management and building play but is repeatedly frustrated by bugs, performance drops and awkward 3D navigation. Motivation: To play a technically stable, smoothly performing builder/management game without bugs or camera problems. Stance: no buy.

Monetization: The reviews confirm that A Game of Dwarves has a real-money in-game shop selling cosmetic decorations and furniture packs, alongside multiple DLC add-ons. The purchases are consistently described as cosmetic and ignorable, with no evidence of pay-to-win, loot boxes, gacha, or paid convenience mechanics. Some users report overpriced furniture and removal of purchased shop items, and others criticize the DLC as cash-grab content, but these issues do not rise to predatory monetization. Overall, the game fits the Standard cosmetic-shop tier.

Excessive DLC and monetization: The game has numerous DLCs and an in-game shop, leading to criticism of cash grab tactics. Some DLC content is seen as overpriced or should have been in the base game.

Dungeon Keeper comparisons frequent: Many reviewers compare the game to Dungeon Keeper, often unfavorably, noting it doesn't quite reach the classic's quality. Some appreciate new ideas but feel it falls short.

Dwarf Fortress depth lacking: Reviewers frequently compare to Dwarf Fortress, finding the game much less complex and empty in comparison. Some hoped for a 3D Dwarf Fortress but were disappointed.

Abandoned development and support: Multiple reviews mention the game was abandoned by developers, with no patches or support. The developer Zeal no longer exists, leaving bugs unfixed.

Low price point praised: Many reviewers note the game is inexpensive and affordable, often priced around $10. It is considered worth the price, especially on sale.