I'm playing A Game of
Dwarves, an exploration and building management strategy
game by Zeal
Game Studio and Paradox
Interactive.
The game comes with a campaign that
includes set map layouts and specific objectives and a tutorial to
teach the basics of the mechanics. The quests usually involve digging
towards question marks, rooms that contain enemies that must be
defeated to advance to the next mission. A Game of Dwarves also
includes randomly-generated custom games for enhanced replay value,
although the number of options are quite limited. The interface needs
improvement: tool-tips are lacking pertinent information,
specifically dwarf needs, tile information, food usage, happiness
justification, and specific feedback (why did this dwarf die?). The
multi-level layout is also very confusing: you must switch floors to
build, but the entire map below your current view position is
displayed. Most of the game involves collecting resources to build
objects, as you must feed your dwarves while providing sleeping
locations. Happiness can also be increased by placing decorations,
and you can trade an overabundance of one resource for another.
Dwarves come in six classes that determine their role; a digger
cannot fight enemy units, so careful planning and balancing of your
population is important. You do not directly interact with your
dwarves, instead issuing dig, move, and build orders that an
appropriate unit will execute. This method would have worked just
fine, except the AI has several shortcomings that result in
undesirable behavior: units exhibit erratic behavior sleeping,
fleeing from hostile units, attacking hostile units, and eating.
Military units love to eat and sleep as enemy units are attacking
your base and killing your units, and there is no way to alter their
undesirable behavior. The game’s slow pace also means lots of
waiting: even on accelerated time, the frequency at which units need
to eat and sleep makes for slow underground expansion, as your
digging expeditions are constantly interrupted. Because of the
shortcomings with the interface and automated unit behavior, A Game
of Dwarves is difficult to recommend.
