Features

Dwarf Fortress is a single-player fantasy game. You can control a dwarven outpost or an adventurer in a randomly generated, persistent world.

Although Dwarf Fortress is still in a work in progress, many features have already been implemented.

• The world is randomly generated with distinct civilizations spanning centuries of detailed history, hundreds of towns, caves and regions with various wildlife.
• The world persists as long as you like, over many games, recording historical events and tracking changes.
• Command your dwarves as they search for wealth in the mountain.
  • Craft treasures and furniture from many materials and improve these objects with precious metals, jewels and more.
  • Defend yourself against attacks from hostile civilizations, the wilderness, the depths, the dead and creatures of the night.
  • Support the nobility as they make demands of your populace.
  • Keep your dwarves happy and read their thoughts as they work and relax.
  • Z coordinate allows you to dig out fortresses with multiple levels. Build towers or conquer the underworld.
  • Build floodgates to divert water for farming or to drown your adversaries... and don't forget the magma!
  • Surgery, sutures, splints, crutches and more: care for your wounded dwarves instead of leaving them to fend for themselves.
  • Much much more...
• Play an adventurer and explore, quest for glory or seek vengeance.
  • Meet adversaries from previous games.
  • Recruit people to come with you on your journey.
  • Explore without cumbersome plot restrictions -- thriving capitals, villages, catacombs, labyrinths, bandit camps, caves and more!
  • Seamlessly wander the world or travel more rapidly on the region map.
  • Travel by day and search for a place to shelter as night falls.
  • Accept quests from the town and civilization leaders.
  • Retire and meet your old characters. Bring them along on an adventure with a new character or reactivate them and play directly.
  • Z coordinate allows you to move between twisting underground caverns and scale structures, fighting adversaries above and below.
  • Earn a reputation as a hero with the various civilizations in the world.
  • Steal a mummy's treasure or learn the secrets of life and death at a necromancer's tower.
• The combat model uses skills, body parts, individual tissues, material properties, aimed attacks, wrestling, one-time opportunities, charging and dodging between squares, bleeding, pain, nausea, various poison effects and much more.
• A dynamic weather model tracks wind, humidity and air masses to create fronts, clouds, rain storms and blizzards.
• Over two hundred rock and mineral types are incorporated into the world, placed in their proper geological environments.
• Add new creatures, weapons, plants, metals and other objects via modifiable text files.
• Extended ASCII character set rendered in 16 colors (including black) as well as 8 background colors (including black).