Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 93 | 23 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 99% | 96 | 569 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 88 | 96 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 100% | 97 | 27 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Acclaim gate: the raw blend lands at 93.2, but scores above 88 must be earned in front of a mass audience; this verdict rests on 1,469 player reviews, a largely self-selected fanbase. As more players weigh in, the ceiling rises (full scale unlocks at 100,000 reviews).
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Aug 8, 2026) · 19 reviews sampled · 27 total reviews in window · weighted 15.8 up / 0 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (9)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
“The steam release may have a few rough edges that need work, but everything from the original has been drastically improved upon and is a joy to lose at. ”
read full review ↗ - 84
“A worthy revision of the legendary settlement sim. Slightly less impenetrable, just as engrossing.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Dwarf Fortress is, initially, a little daunting. Not because it’s inaccessible, but because you just know that it’s going to turn into a real time-sink. Is it the prettiest game around? No, but it’s wonderfully, ridiculously deep and a sheer joy to play. If you’re prepared to put the time in, Dwarf Fortress will drag you into its depths and you won’t regret it for one second.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“A dedicated renewal for an already-legendary video game, the 2022 release of Dwarf Fortress brings it to a level where the casually interested can finally dive in and Strike the Earth!”
read full review ↗ - 91
- 100
“Dwarf Fortress is a storytelling engine as much as it is a game, spitting out associations and facts and details that you can shape into a coherent and specific narrative. This is also what we do to our own lives, personifying random events so that they feel significant rather than a matter of chance. Life isn’t usually a satisfying narrative. It isn’t so much that “Dwarf Fortress” is a perfect simulacrum of life, but that it shines a bright light on the human tendency to look for meaning in everything. I care about my dwarves because the stories I make up about their lives are also the ones I make up about my own.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“I’m not even close to having experienced all that Dwarf Fortress has to offer, and I’m excited to see what I can learn next. After all, failure is the mother of learning, so I must have learned a decent amount from Dwarf Fortress. ”
read full review ↗ - 100
“You could summarise Dwarf Fortress as a game about the meticulous cultivation of downfall. There’s no victory condition beyond the satisfaction of bolting together another grand chronicle of inevitable disaster. It’s this joyful fatalism as much as the simulation’s richness that makes it timeless.”
read full review ↗ - 95
“Dwarf Fortress is a very difficult, edgy game, but it is also an essential experience, a true celebration of the hidden potential of the videogame medium, which you will not find in any other game.”
read full review ↗
Gfinity
PC Gamer
GameSpew
IGN
Twinfinite
Guardian
Multiplayer.itPatch history
- DFHack 53.16-r1.1Aug 8, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 53.16-r1Aug 5, 2026
- DFHack 53.15-r3Aug 3, 2026
- DFHack 53.15-r2Jul 13, 2026
- DFHack 53.15-r1Jun 25, 2026
- DFHack 53.14-r2May 22, 2026
- DFHack 53.14-r1May 20, 2026
- DFHack 53.13-r2May 16, 2026
- DFHack 53.13-r1May 13, 2026
- DFHack 53.12-r1Apr 14, 2026
- DFHack 53.11-r3Apr 13, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 53.11-r3rc2Apr 9, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 53.11-r3rc1Apr 6, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 53.11-r2Mar 14, 2026
- DFHack 53.11-r1Mar 4, 2026
- DFHack 53.10-r2Mar 2, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 53.10-r2rc1Feb 24, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 53.10-r1Jan 12, 2026
- DFHack 53.09-r1Jan 7, 2026
- DFHack 53.08-r1Dec 19, 2025
- DFHack 53.07-r1Dec 18, 2025
- DFHack 53.06-r2rc1Dec 15, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 53.06-r1Nov 24, 2025
- DFHack 53.05-r1Nov 18, 2025
- DFHack 53.04-r1.1Nov 18, 2025
- DFHack 53.04-r1Nov 17, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 53.03-r1Nov 10, 2025
- DFHack 53.02-r2Nov 7, 2025
- DFHack 53.02-r1Nov 4, 2025
- DFHack 53.01-r1Nov 3, 2025
- DFHack 52.05-r3rc1Oct 27, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 52.05-r2Oct 9, 2025
- DFHack 52.05-r2rc1Oct 6, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 52.05-r1Oct 1, 2025
- DFHack 52.04-r2rc1Sep 26, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 52.04-r1Aug 28, 2025
- DFHack 52.03-r2Aug 22, 2025
- DFHack 52.03-r2rc1Aug 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 52.03-r1.1Aug 9, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- DFHack 52.03-r1Aug 7, 2025
…and 56 earlier patch announcements.