Dwarf Fortress
Storytelling Reinvention:
features the capability to generate an entire world and its history, complete with characters who all actively partake in thousands of years of activity
Game Information
Release Date: August 8th, 2006
Developer: Tarn Adams
Publisher: Bay 12 Games
Rating: Teen
Genre(s): Generative, Role-Playing, Strategy
Price: Free
Website: http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/index.html
Released in early August of 2006, Dwarf Fortress is a unique type of simulation game in which players build and manage their own fortress and a colony of dwarves. Though Dwarf Fortress strays from the typical graphical-aesthetic that other games tend to strive for, relying instead letters and symbols, it makes up for this with its incredibly detailed worlds and the interactions players can have with them. The developer, Tarn Adams, aspired to make the game a “fantasy world generator” where users are given a randomly generated world and “take part in a small story…the things that you did before will impact the future and so forth” (Nolan).
In the game’s main mode, a world is generated, which the user has a few parameters to control certain aspects. Once the world is created, the user can take off into a specific area of the world with a small colony of dwarves in an attempt to tame the land, build a fortress, expand their colony, and make their own impact in the world’s history. The randomly generated narrative of Dwarf Fortress creates “distinct civilizations spanning centuries of detailed history, hundreds of towns, caves and regions with various wildlife” in a world that “persists as long as you like, over many games, recording historical events and tracking changes” ("Dwarf Fortress Features"). With a look at the generated world through Legends mode, players can see the history their world contains, whether the history was generated or of their own making.
References:
1.Nolan, Rich. “Dwarf Fortress Interview with Tarn ‘Toady’ Adams.”PC Invasion. n.p., 4 March. 2015. Web. 7 March. 2016. <http://www.pcinvasion.com/dwarf-fortress-interview-with-tarn-toady-adams>
2.“Dwarf Fortress Features.” Bay 12 Games. n.p., n.d.. Web. 7 March. 2016. <http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/features.html>
Researcher: Jessica Smith
