Dwarf Fortress

[Bradr]

Ok, many games have come and gone through the years, but this is one of my all time favorites.

 

Chances are most of you have never heard of this, but it is one of the most in depth games ever created. Ever. The gyst of the game is to take small band of dwarves from a small exploration team and eventually create, well, whatever you want. There are no win conditions. You just keep playing. And typically eventually lose in catastrophic fashion.

 

Some people create impregnable fortresses and withstand seiges of goblins, trolls, and demons. Others create megaprojects. Some people have even created actual working logic machines and computers in-game. Even though this was never an intended use of the games mechanics. The scope truly is unbelievable.

 

And there's one enormous catch. The whole game is played in ASCII. In other words a sword looks like "/". A goblin is a "g". A dwarf is basically a . Every object and creature in the game is represented by an ASCII character.

 

Unfortunately due to the games complexity and the difficulty to understand interface the learning curve is VERY steep. But if you can get past this, you will be rewarded with one of the most amazingly indepth strategic simulation games ever created. By the way, its totally free.

 

Dwarf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress Wiki - Completely Necessary

 

For the graphic snobs amongst you stay away - far far away. For those who enjoy strategy, fighting, and building, maybe check it out. And if you get stuck, I'll try to answer any questions you might have.

[zoogs]

Man! That is some old school graphics.