21 Games Like Dwarf Fortress
Our collection of games like Dwarf Fortress offers other games that combine city building, randomisation and roguelike features together. Dwarf Fortress is definitely one of the more unique video games available in modern times. Relying on simple graphics (text only) the game promises one of the more difficult experiences in gaming. Dwarf Fortress was originally released in 2006 (after four years in alpha development) and is expected to take several decades before being considered complete.
Dwarf Fortress is a blend of adventure, fantasy and city building that puts players in charge of their own Dwarf settlement as they battle for survival in the harsh and randomly generated game worlds.
The attraction to Dwarf Fortress is the steep difficultly and deep gameplay mechanics that ensure you’ll be losing regularly. Similar to other roguelike games players will only have a single shot at each game with death being permanent.
The games like Dwarf Fortress here focus primarily on other city building games that have unusual, unique or difficult mechanics at the core of their gameplay. Several non-city building games that use permadeath have also been included for fans of roguelike games in general.
Dungeon Keeper
The original Dungeon Keeper is often credited as popularising dark humour in games and was released in 1997. Challenging players to manage their own dungeon while defeating various heroes the game was hugely successful and led to an equally satisfying sequel (Dungeon Keeper 2) two years later. Dungeon Keeper sends players o...[Read More]
Evil Genius
Evil Genius mixes simulation and real time strategy putting players in charge of their own evil villain lair (complete with plans for world domination). The game launched in 2004 with development by Elixir Studios. The game is set somewhere in the 1960s or 1970s and offers a humorous and light hearted approach to gameplay t...[Read More]
Factorio
Developed as a real time strategy game and released in 2014 through the Steam Early Access Program is Factorio a game all about taking basic parts and building upon them again and again to create a thriving society. The idea behind Factorio revolves around a crash landed man on a far off alien planet who must rely on the re...[Read More]
Prison Architect
Maximum security prisons aren’t an easy line of business but one you’ll become expert in by the end of Prison Architect, a game that takes the management simulation genre into the private construction business. Prison Architect takes place in a top-down 2D environment and clearly draws from a number of classics ...[Read More]
Dungeon Keeper 2
Dungeon Keeper 2 was released two years after the original hit game and puts players in control of their own dungeon once again as they fight on the side of evil while managing their own dungeon With many of improvements over the original Dungeon Keeper the game saw really good success that stayed true to the dark style of ...[Read More]
A Dark Room
A Dark Room is a incremental game based on simplistic design. With only text and some ASCII art to guide your adventure you’ll need to build up a thriving settlement, trade and go adventuring to discover the origins of the dark room you spawn in. Created for the web and eventually ported to mobile this open source tex...[Read More]
A Game of Dwarves
A Game of Dwarves puts you at the head of a dwarf settlement and gives you complete control of building a new and thriving dwarf civilisation. The game was released in 2012 by Paradox Interactive and draws inspiration from hits such as the Dungeon Keeper series and the increasingly popularity of Dwarf Fortress. Players play...[Read More]
StarTopia
StarTopia was put together by former Bullfrog employees and has you take control of several space stations as you attempt to create a thriving space hub for the galaxy. StarTopia was released back in 2001 and features the same humour filled gameplay that made the Dungeon Keeper series and similar games such as Theme Hospita...[Read More]
Planetbase
Fancy yourself as a colonist? Planetbase challenges you to settle the stars with your own team of space settlers as they try to establish an outpost on a remote planet. It’s a struggle for survival at its best and one of the few games set in the science fiction realm. Your goal in Planetbase to master the three game p...[Read More]
Dwarfs!?
Dwarfs!? (and its free to play counterpart Dwarfs!) lets you command your very own team of Dwarfs in a Lemmings meets Dwarf Fortress approach to gameplay. The free version allows players to experience arcade mode (main game mode) in addition to tutorials and challenge mode while the full version adds sandbox, rush, endless,...[Read More]
Craft The World
Craft The World is a sandbox game with strategy elements for PC, Mac and iOS. Borrowing elements from the likes of Terraria and Dwarf Fortress you’re definitely in for a gaming treat. Craft The World puts you in charge of your own dwarf society that grows from a single dwarf to a thriving community of adventurers as you exp...[Read More]
Banished
Banished is one of the latest additions to the city building genre (launching in early 2014) and takes it into a unique medieval setting. Unlike other games where you have an abundance of resources you’ll find yourself focusing on balancing your scarce supplies to try and thrive. The game starts you off with your own commun...[Read More]
Populous: The Beginning
Populous: The Beginning blends strategy and god games together to create an interesting and fun hybrid. The game is the third in the series and was developed by Bullfrog Productions who also developed the highly popular Dungeon Keeper series. In the game players will join their tribe as a shaman who wishes to achieve victor...[Read More]
Creatures Exodus
Creatures Exodus was released in 2004 as a compilation package of Creatures 3 and Docking Station. Creatures 3 was one of the most advanced and popular games in the evolution simulation series known as Creatures. Creatures 3 offers similar gameplay to previous games in the series with players hatching creatures (known as No...[Read More]
Rise to Ruins
Rise to Ruins (previously Retro-Pixel Castles) challenges you to survive in a game that blends colony management, god like powers and survival into a single game. With noted inspiration from the likes of Banished and Dwarf Fortress but offering something different at the same time Rise to Ruins has wide audience appeal. The...[Read More]
The Ensign
The Ensign serves as the prequel to the classic text based adventure known as A Dark Room. Using a similar text approach, ASCII characters for map exploration and mystery the game is a fitting prequel although doesn’t quite reach the same level of depth as A Dark Room. Set within an unnamed planet players step into th...[Read More]
Gnomoria
Gnomoria puts you in control of a civilisation of gnomes who need your guidance to grow their settlement, fend off attacks, craft and dig. While a sandbox game at heart there is also plenty of management and strategy to also master. Each game in Gnomoria starts in a procedurally generated world with a number of sliders avai...[Read More]
Space Colony
Set on the otherside of the galaxy that we know with limited resources a powerful corporation has sent a crew of explorers to survive and eventually turn a profit for themselves. With this base deep in alien territory you’ll have to keep these explorers safe from the hostile alien threat that circles your base. Part s...[Read More]
Creatures: The Albian Years
Creatures: The Albian Years is a re-released version of Creatures 1 and 2 which also comes with the additional Life Kits and Object Packs which add additional content to the games. The first two games in the Creatures series take place on the planet of Albia which features a variety of environments similar to that found on ...[Read More]
Towns
Towns had the honour of being one of the first games to be released based on the Steam Greenlight program. The game offers an interesting mixture of strategy, city building and role playing which is available on both PC and Mac. In Towns players are in charge of their own settlement which as luck would have it just so happe...[Read More]
Spacebase DF-9
Build and maintain your own space station in Spacebase DF-9 a game of ships, asteroids, aliens and more. You’ll get to assign jobs to the citizens that you attract while you try your best to keep them alive and grow your space station. At the start of your Spacebase DF-9 adventure players will get to choose which part...[Read More]