Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 298 sampled Steam reviews (260 positive / 38 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing8% mention it
- Controls & UI7% mention it
- Visuals & art6% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Controls & UI34% mention it
- Bugs & crashes29% mention it
- Grind & repetition13% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
67%
24 reviews
5-15h
83%
35 reviews
15-40h
88%
52 reviews
40-100h
83%
60 reviews
100h+
94%
127 reviews
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 (OpenCritic) | – | 90 | 14 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 95% | 89 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 89% | 83 | 135 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Aug 5, 2026) · 129 reviews sampled · 135 total reviews in window · weighted 98.8 up / 11.7 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (13)
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.
- 75
“Buy the game for you and everyone you know, move away to a remote, off-the-grid cottage in the mountains, and don’t go back to the city until you master Dwarf Fortress. You will find that the madness of this game is more appealing than the madness of the real world most of the time.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“I think they’ve done it. This is the classic Dwarf Fortress experience but with nice graphics, some quality of life improvements, and more robust mouse support. Strike the earth! Don’t slip on the puke!”
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 one of the most incredibly complex games to ever be released, with Bay 12 Games showing no sign of slowing down in the coming years. While the complicated menus and steep learning curve might be too much for some people, this game will be exactly what most colony management fans have always been looking for.”
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 ↗ - 90
“Dwarf Fortress is a hobby more than a game at its highest levels. It’s something that has enough depth and complexity to devote a small part of your life if you want. Its community is devoted and their command over the mechanics of Dwarf Fortress allows them to do incredible things with this game. That being said, it may not be for everyone. The Steam Release lets you see whether or not this game is worth your time enough to get invested in truly understanding this game.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Dwarf Fortress looks more modern and offers a lot more ease of access on Steam, but it is still an intimidating game. Another batch of tutorials or contextual tooltips would go a long way toward helping new players uncover the deeper mechanics of the game. There’s something to be said for figuring it out yourself, but that’s not everyone’s learning style.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“While Dwarf Fortress, much like the Dwarves it features, may still be a bit rough around the edges, the asking price of $29.99 ultimately seems like a fair deal. It is a highly replayable experience filled with questionable Dwarven decisions and antics you’ll find yourself amused or bewildered by on a regular basis for many hours to come, and benefits from the expectation of support continuing long into the future, as it has many years before this Steam version release.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“A graphical overhaul offers a gentler way of playing this vast, strange strategy game of staggering intricacy”
read full review ↗ - –
““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 ↗ - –
“It's Dwarf Fortress as we know it, but much more approachable for both new and returning players. The new interface makes it easier to get started, but there's still a huge amount to learn and the game isn't great at teaching you. If you can give it the time and patience it requires, you'll be rewarded with one of gaming's most intricately detailed and deeply satisfying story generators.”
read full review ↗
Prima Games
MonsterVine
PC Gamer
Try Hard Guides
GameSpew
IGN
Twinfinite
Gamepur
The Click
Guardian
Washington Post
Rock, Paper, Shotgun…and 1 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- 20th Anniversary, Myth & Magic art and music 🦄 Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.16Aug 5, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Patch 53.14May 20, 2026
- Diplomacy Improvements + 20th Anniversary 🙌 Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.13May 13, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Myth & Magic news + Quality of life update 🧙♂️ Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.12Apr 14, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Food fixes, AMA, community spotlight and more! 🍖 Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.11Mar 4, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Portrait Update + other fixes 🐶 Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.09Jan 7, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Hotfix: Patch 53.08Dec 19, 2025
- Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.07 🏹 What’s next for Sieges? + New animal portraitsDec 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Hotfix: Patch 53.05Nov 18, 2025
- Hotfix: Patch 53.03Nov 10, 2025
- Hotfix: Patch 53.02Nov 4, 2025
- The Siege Update is Out Now! 🏹Nov 3, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Siege Update Release Date 🏹Oct 16, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Army fix ⚔ Dwarf Fortress Update 52.04Aug 28, 2025
- Hotfix: Patch 52.02Jul 24, 2025
- Hotfix: Patch 51.13Jun 26, 2025
- Ranged Weapon Fix and Forgotten Beasts 🏹Dwarf Fortress Update 51.12Jun 26, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Hotfix: Patch 51.10Apr 3, 2025
- Update 51.09: Forbidden Coffins now unusableApr 2, 2025
- Hotfix: Patch 51.08Mar 13, 2025
- Lua Beta + Patch 51.06 ⛏ Dwarf Fortress Dev NewsFeb 26, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Next Steps for Dwarf Fortress + Patch 51.05 ⛏ Dwarf Fortress Dev NewsFeb 12, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Hotfix: Patch 51.04Jan 27, 2025
- Hotfix: Patch 51.03Jan 25, 2025
- Adventure Mode is Out NOW!Jan 23, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Adventure Mode Beta Patch Notes (All of them)Jan 22, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Adventure Mode Launches January 23rd + Beta 28 UpdateJan 8, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Fortress Mode Hotfix 50.15Dec 16, 2024
- Adventure Mode Hotfix (Beta 27)Dec 2, 2024
…and 46 earlier patch announcements.