Dwarf Fortress is a single-player fantasy game from Bay 12 Games. It is a highly complex and detailed construction and management simulator in which players take control of a dwarven outpost or an adventurer in a randomly generated, persistent world. The game tasks players with building an elaborate fortress and managing the dwarves that inhabit it. Players must manage the dwarves’ food, housing, and resources, manage their moods and behaviors, build structures and defenses, and defend the fortress from invading forces. The game also features a text-based adventure mode in which players explore an open world and interact with its inhabitants. Dwarf Fortress is noted for its complexity and depth of play, as well as its unique graphics, which feature ASCII art.
There are many things to learn, but you can pick them up and play. Once you learn the game, you can devote many hours to it. :)
Having played Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress, this is a much more accessible and much more approachable sci-fi version of Dwarf Fortress, but with a lot of modding to add more complexity. Rimworld has a much more consistent UI and UX, but lacks Z dimension (other than a simplistic ceiling/floor).
Discontinued No updates since launch, also see Steam reviews: http://store.steampowered.com/app/224500/
Gnomoria is basically a dwarven fortress with better graphics. You have to grow food, make an army to defend yourself and make a home for your gnomes. However, this game lacks some features that the dwarven fortress has and this game can get quite boring after a while.
Gnomoria is basically a simplified version of Dwarf Fortressit that cloned the game mechanics very well.
Dwarf Fortress aims to simulate life to the point where it's more of a story than a game. Banished is very much "a game", and shares more in common with titles like Civilization or Sim City.
Banished is much more than a city building game. It lacks the function of micromanaging individuals and even if it was implemented, you simply end up with too many people after 2 years for it to be feasible. Basically, think of a simulated city, but with the difficulty of Dwarf Fortress (not exactly, but almost).
It is a simulation game like DF that runs by itself. The player changes the environment but does not directly control any of the humanoids.
Completely different stories, controls, graphics, objectives and gameplay.
Discontinued Discontinued but available on GoG: https://www.gog.com/game/dungeon_keeper_2
This game is a stark reminder that a game that was once good, will have a game that is good or better than its predecessor.
Discontinued The game was released on September 28, 2004. It can still be purchased at GOG.com
Discontinued It seems that the game is no longer developed since 2014. It can still be purchased on Steam.
Discontinued It seems that the game is no longer updated and was never finished. The latest version, v14, released in September 2013, is still available for purchase on the official website and on Steam
This does not have much in common with Dwarf Fortress.
RimWorld
Gnomoria
Banished
Stonehearth
Prison Architect
Dungeon Keeper 2
Evil Genius
Planetbase
A Game of Dwarves
Craft The World
Startopia
Castle Story
Spacebase DF-9
Towns
Life is Feudal
It's not as difficult as a learning curve, but has the same mechanics, with more futuristic sci-fi events. You can micromanage and prioritize to the end, the main complaint is that there is UP/DOWN in the world, so you can't build towers or bases in the underground