Is this the best of the Dwarf Fortress inspired games?

[Vargas78]

I've always liked the concept of Dwarf Fortress but couldnt get into the interface. Now i know theres a few games on the market that have taken inspiration from it, this seems one of the better ones.

Would you guys say this is the best of them?

[norker77]

That's like asking what the best tasting fruit is. Tastes differ.

I like a lot of games in the DF genre, depends on my mood which one I prefer.

I'd say though that if you are into the DF genre you can't go wrong with Gnomoria.

[Utildayael]

IMHO... yes.

[Manwoody]

Huh I didn't know there were that many games in this genre. What are some others, besides Towns?

[Brian_Pond]

Yes, but lack of competition has a lot to do with it. Most the other games like this are awful tablet microtransaction games with shady publishers and dev teams.

[Brian_Pond]

@ Dickson. Off the top of my head there are:

Gnomoria, Towns, DF, dungeon keeper, RimWorld, Prison Architect, Timber and Stone, KeeperRL, Spacebase DF-9 and Banished.

[Fizban Frobozz]

It's sure the best I've seen yet.

[Ishan451]

Originally posted by Cupid:

@ Dickson. Off the top of my head there are:

Gnomoria, Towns, DF, dungeon keeper, RimWorld, Prison Architect, Timber and Stone, KeeperRL, Spacebase DF-9 and Banished.

Haven't played RimWorld, but Dungeon Keeper was never inspired (or even similar to) Dwarf Fortress. I haven't played Timber and Stone or RimWorld (or heard of them). Banished certainly has nothing to do with DF or Gnomoria, and is like Prison Architect more a Tycoon/Theme (They are much more closer to Theme Hospital or Prison Tycoon) game than a Dwarf Fortress game.

Spacebase DF-9, when i saw it last had no Z axis, it was a single plane, with no plans for a Z axis (which makes the game a little boring, in my opinion).

Towns is a scam, quite broken and buggy. It was brought onto Steam as what should have been an Early Access, but the Devs felt it would be a better idea to put it up as released product, take the money and run, leaving the game in a state where Workers could still starv in their workshops, despite having ample food and drink nearby, because they were to busy working. Or at least that was the last i heard of Towns. I haven't checked in a while, but at that time, they had already had hired another guy, who also appeared to haven't been paid by the Towns Dev and then finally gave up and called it a day.

So... in my opinion, that leaves only Towns, Spacebase DF-9 and Gnomoria and of the 3 Gnomoria and DF-9 are the only real options. I feel sorry for anyone that wasted their money on Towns. DF-9 is missing a Z axis, which means you only have a single layer of play. Of course, when i tried it last, it was quite nice and i can imagine it could be interesting for a while, but really it missing a Z level will always mean that its going to lack verticality.

[Utildayael]

I agree with Ishan. Half of those on the list aren't DF type games. Prison Arch? Great game, not DF inspired even remotely. Closest thing it has in relation with Gnomoria is that it's also an Early Access game. :)

And Banished? That's an RTS!

I think Cupid has never played DF. :)

[Manwoody]

I forgot about RimWorld, guess it IS very DF-esque. Great game, even the early alpha I played, I think its has a lot of potential. There's already a bunch of mods for it too. Hope it comes on Steam soon.

[lPaladinl]

I would say it's one of the best for sure. Especially because it's properly being developed unlike the unfortunate Towns.

I keep hearing rumors of Towns being worked on still though, I want to believe it was true.

[EasyOut]

This is my favorite. Rimworld will be awesome but was thin when I played it last - I do like the different storyteller options though (you get to pace the game.)

Spacebase DF9 is BEAUTIFUL... and thin, and buggy, and their dev team is lacking in update speed, and communication (read their EA forums and you'll see.) It could be awesome, but gnomoria is cheaper, deeper, and updates far more often.

[norker77]

Originally posted by Dickon Manwoody:

Huh I didn't know there were that many games in this genre. What are some others, besides Towns?

Most were already mentioned, and it seems like we are getting sub-genres already :)

I would place Dungeon Keeper and Prison Architect into the DF genre, but some obviously not.

For me the key features are indirect control (you tell your minions what to build, not build it yourself), building (there is construction and "landscaping" going on) and management (Your minions have needs that need to be fullfilled).

I play Rimworld, Spacebase-DF9, Prison Architect and (ofc) Gnomoria. All scratch a different itch and I like all of them (Gnomoria with my over 500 hours played sure tends to scratch an itch more often then the others).
I used to play Towns and did have fun (100+ hours if I recall correctly), but all updates did was add more features and not fix game breaking bugs, AI and pathfinding.

Spacebase-DF9 is still in an early state, but all the others are (in my opinion) fully playable and enjoyable.

[Vargas78]

Well, i've just joined the club!
I'm gonna be looking through youtube tutorials later to help me get started. And try a nice easy map, resource rich with minimal enemies :)

[Orffy]

Originally posted by Ishan451:

So... in my opinion, that leaves only Towns, Spacebase DF-9 and Gnomoria and of the 3 Gnomoria and DF-9 are the only real options.

Clockwork Empires looks interesting also:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/224740/

[Utildayael]

Originally posted by lPaladinl:

I keep hearing rumors of Towns being worked on still though, I want to believe it was true.

It just came up the other day when browsing and looks like a patch just came out a month ago maybe?