Hammerting Review Summary

Solid core gameplay and beautiful atmosphere can't save this abandoned title from poor dwarf AI and frequent crashes, so it's not recommended currently.

Solid core concept and gameplay: The game's fundamental concept and gameplay loop are widely praised as good and interesting. Many players see the basics as solid and fun.

Beautiful graphics and atmosphere: Graphics, 3D models, sounds, music, and atmosphere are consistently praised as nice or great. The visual and audio presentation enhances the experience.

High potential with tweaks needed: Reviewers frequently note that the game has amazing potential but requires fixes, balances, and improvements. The concept is magnificent, yet the execution leaves room for growth.

Enjoyable but not hardcore: The game is fun and relaxing, good for filling hours without stress or frustration. It's not a hardcore experience, but enjoyable for casual play.

Colony sim with dwarves and digging: The game is a colony builder focused on dwarves and digging, reminiscent of ancient Diggles. It appeals to fans of the genre with its core activities.

Poor dwarf AI behavior: The dwarf AI is widely criticized for poor prioritization, pathfinding, and responsiveness. Dwarves often get stuck, ignore commands, or idle inexplicably, making management frustrating.

Developers abandoned the game: Many players report that the developers stopped updating the game, leaving it unfinished and officially abandoned. The game has received no updates for years and remains in an incomplete state.

Numerous bugs and crashes: Players report a wide range of bugs, from minor annoyances to game-breaking issues like soft-locks and save corruption. Frequent crashes and freezes make the game unplayable for many.

Pathfinding and stuck issues: Dwarves frequently get stuck on walls, stairs, and elevators, even when clear paths exist. Pathing logic fails on certain map layouts and causes significant frustration.

Game is unfinished and rushed: Reviewers frequently describe the game as an unfinished, rushed product released too soon. The 1.0 release is seen as misleading because the game still feels like a beta.

Dwarf colony management core: The game is fundamentally a dwarf colony management simulation where players direct dwarves to dig, build, and craft underground. Multiple reviews describe it as a Dwarven colony simulator with base-building and settlement management.

Dwarf skills and leveling: Dwarves have individual skills, attributes, and talents that advance through leveling. Skill trees and skill points allow specializing dwarves with planned builds.

Housing and dwarf needs: Players must ensure dwarves have stable housing, food, and bandages. These needs are essential for maintaining a healthy colony.

Overworld diplomacy and trading: The game features diplomacy and trading with overworld kingdoms and factions. Trade systems include town markets and victory conditions tied to trade settlements.

Vertical building and infrastructure: Building shafts, lifts, ladders, and rail systems allows vertical expansion. Players can build and connect rails, mine carts, and elevator shafts for efficient transport.

Frequent Crashes Break Gameplay: Players report constant crashes that make the game unplayable, sometimes occurring within minutes or after brief sessions. Crashes happen on startup, during play, and often require restarting or reloading saves.

Late-Game Performance Degradation: Performance drops drastically as the game progresses, with heavy slowdowns when many dwarves are present or large map areas are explored. Endgame goals and achievements cause extreme lag even on recommended hardware.

Poor Optimization Causes Lag: The game suffers from severe lag and stuttering, especially in mid-to-late game. Poor optimization leads to low FPS, screen freezes, and a generally degraded experience even on capable hardware.

Overworld Quests Cause Crashes: Clicking the 'You have new quests' button in the overworld can cause fatal crashes. Overworld missions have a high chance of crashing, though avoiding the task panel reduces crash likelihood.

Water and Lava Impact Performance: Exposing large pools of water or lava significantly worsens game performance, leading to slowdowns and lag. This environmental factor exacerbates existing optimization issues.

Not recommended currently: Many reviewers cannot recommend the game in its current 'complete' state, citing bugs, unfinished features, and overall lack of polish. They advise waiting for further development.

Wait for sale: A common recommendation is to only buy the game at a significant discount, such as 50% off or more. Reviewers feel it is not worth the full price due to its issues.

Not ready for release: The game feels unfinished and not ready for a full release, according to some reviewers. They suggest waiting for a more polished version.

Do not buy: Many reviewers strongly advise against purchasing the game in its current state, regardless of discounts. They feel it is not worth the money or time.

Deep discount required: Several reviewers specify that the game is only worth it at a very low price, such as $5 or 80% off. They do not recommend it at higher prices.

Community fair range: $5.00 - $15.00.

Game completion: 25.0h.

Session length: 8.0h.

Hammerting is engaging early through colony building and crafting, but many players report the fun fades as AI, performance, progression, and micromanagement problems make the mid- and late game frustrating.

Friction: Complex systems with no proper tutorial or clear in-game instructions.; Steep learning curve and unclear job/logistics management.; Tedious manual priorities, digging, construction removal, and trading.; Early tech gating such as needing fishing before cooking.; Fog-of-war limits early trading and adds tedium.; Micromanagement of many dwarves and skills becomes boring..

Unlock drivers: Pushing to understand logistics makes the game a lot of fun.; Looking up job management tips helps dwarves build critical infrastructure.; Automation in the mid-late game makes management handy and efficient.; Tutorial and help page can be helpful in some sections..

Dwarf-Colony Sim Veteran: Digs deep, optimizes crafting chains, trades with surface cities, and pushes colony expansion while tolerating jank. Motivation: Mastering a complex, systems-heavy dwarven colony sim and comparing it against established genre benchmarks. Stance: buy.

Relaxed Casual Ant-Farm Watcher: Plays one to two hours at a time, focuses on gathering and watching the colony grow, avoids harder difficulties and victory conditions. Motivation: Un winding with a pretty, low-stress colony builder in short casual sessions. Stance: buy.

Abandoned-EA Price Skeptic: Holds off from buying, tracks update and quality-of-life patch history, and only commits on heavy discounts. Motivation: Getting reasonable value for money and avoiding paying full price for an unfinished, discontinued game. Stance: deep sale.

Steam Deck: The filtered reviews are dominated by severe stability problems: frequent crashes, corrupted saves, crashes immediately after loading, and high-probability crashes when opening missions. Japanese localization and UI bugs are also reported. One review reports successful Linux/Proton GE compatibility with no crashes, but this is a minor positive against widespread instability. There is no meaningful evidence of external launcher friction, battery drain, or small-text issues in this dataset.

Linux and Proton: The game shows mixed Linux/Proton compatibility. Multiple users report it runs almost out of the box with Proton GE, even on older hardware, with no crashes. However, one user reports a persistent Vulkan API crash on Linux that occurs with both Normal and Experimental Proton versions. Since a working path exists via Proton GE, the overall friction is minor, but Proton GE is required for stable operation.

Compared unfavorably to Oxygen Not Included: Reviewers frequently compare the game to Oxygen Not Included, noting that it is not as good and lacks features like automation and teleportation. Some suggest refunding and buying Oxygen Not Included instead.

Costly early access launch price: The game had a high price at launch for an early access title, and many players feel it should have launched at a lower price point. It was not considered a $60+ game at launch.

Compared to Dwarf Fortress and Craft the World: Reviewers compare the game to Dwarf Fortress and Craft the World, often finding it not as good. It lacks features like surface and raids present in Craft the World.

Abandoned due to poor sales: The game was released in early access in November 2021 and abandoned by developers due to poor sales. It was sold in early access and then left unfinished.

Published and developed by Team17: The game is published and developed by Team17. This information is noted in some reviews, often in the context of the game's abandonment.