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ComparisonRimWorld vs Dwarf Fortress:
Following Lives or Interpreting a Fortress
RimWorld
Dwarf FortressImages: Steam store (RimWorld, Dwarf Fortress)
When choosing a colony game to stay with, ask what you want to keep following after the settlement becomes efficient.
Here, we look at attachment to colonists through RimWorld’s incidents, and at the pleasure of reading a fortress’s society and choosing building goals in Dwarf Fortress.
Which one is for you
RimWorld is for you if…If an incident makes you care differently about a colonist and want to follow their later life, RimWorld’s accounts of stories and attachment are useful pointers.It is a candidate for shaping a colony’s own principles while responding to the situations its AI Storyteller supplies.
Dwarf Fortress is for you if…If reading people’s thoughts and deciding what fortress to build are part of the pleasure, Dwarf Fortress’s accounts of discovery and construction are useful pointers.Consider it for making floodgate waterworks, taverns or libraries into goals of your own.Screenshots
RimWorld
Dwarf Fortress
Steam data side by side
| RimWorld | Dwarf Fortress | |
|---|---|---|
| 97%Overwhelmingly Positive210,869 reviews · all languages | Positive reviews | 94%Very Positive29,408 reviews · all languages |
| US$34.99 | Price (United States) | US$29.99 |
| 277.4 hours | Playtime at review | 83.5 hours |
| Verified | Steam Deck | Playable |
| Oct 17, 2018 | Release date | Dec 6, 2022 |
| Ludeon Studios | Developer | Bay 12 Games |
| Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, Korean | Languages | English |
What each game is
RimWorld
The AI Storyteller brings thunderstorms, raids and traders into colony life, making incidents involving people part of the structure rather than treating building alone as the goal.
The AI Storytellers Randy Random, Cassandra Classic and Phoebe Chillax arrange events differently, letting you choose the tone you want for the colony.
Colonists’ backgrounds affect the jobs they can do or refuse, while relationships develop into romance, marriage or conflict.
Hunger, fatigue, cramped surroundings and witnessing death affect mood, so keeping daily life workable matters alongside adding more jobs.
A Peg leg leaves movement slow, so buying a Bionic leg means committing money to better mobility.
In this single-player colony, recruiting prisoners or accepting refugees expands the population, while caravans allow trade and relocation.
Dwarf Fortress
Fortress mode develops a settlement in a world of generated civilizations, personalities and cultures, making the inhabitants’ society part of the task alongside the land.
You maintain food and beer supplies while defending inhabitants against hostile civilizations and threats from the wild.
Reading dwarves’ thoughts helps guide their living conditions, while crafting treasures and furniture accompanies increasingly demanding nobles.
Floodgates can direct farming water and prevent magma accidents, giving water routing a place in construction plans.
Reinforced walls need building materials and metal, so decide which areas to strengthen with those supplies.
Taverns, libraries and temples sit alongside activities such as bookbinding, leaving you to choose what to build beyond the infrastructure for survival.
For experienced players
RimWorld
Reviewers’ attachment to colonists comes through in their wish to remember who lived in a base and how their lives unfolded.
Reviews also describe enjoying colony life without pursuing the ending, making a self-chosen stopping point part of the appeal.
Backgrounds affect work, and changing relationships shape life between colonists, so information about them can guide the next colony decision.
Dwarf Fortress
Reviews describe the pleasure of piecing together dwarves’ thoughts and events to find a story. Whether that process appeals to you matters when choosing.
Players describe choosing construction projects and experiments for themselves, with the fortress they want to make providing a reason to continue.
Other accounts find that intricate details fail to produce meaningful play, so an abundance of world information cannot promise satisfying decisions.
How they play differently
What shapes the events
Select an AI Storyteller to change how events are arranged.
Generate a world containing civilizations, personalities and cultures, then build a fortress within it.
What to inspect about inhabitants
Follow work differences tied to backgrounds, opinions of other people and changing relationships.
Read dwarves’ thoughts to help shape living conditions that support their happiness.
Activities that can become the next goal
Recruit prisoners to expand the colony, or use caravans for trade and relocation.
Develop farming waterworks with floodgates, or build taverns, libraries and temples.
What reviews praise
RimWorld
- Reviewers enjoy stories that emerge from colonists’ lives and unexpected events.
- Reviewers enjoy colony playstyles ranging from peaceful living to ruthless roleplay.
- Mods are appreciated for expanding colony play or renewing interest in another run.
- Players describe the game or its expansions as worthwhile purchases.
- Players appreciate the updates and improvements that arrive as they keep playing.
- Understanding how the colony works opens up enjoyment in these accounts.
Dwarf Fortress
- Players enjoy the stories emerging from fortress incidents or characters.
- Understanding connected systems or discovering further mechanics is rewarding in these accounts.
- Players enjoy choosing construction projects or experiments that shape their own fortress.
- Reviewers welcome the Steam version’s graphics or controls compared with the earlier presentation.
- Generated worlds, histories or environments provide interesting context or variety for a fortress.
- Reviewers welcome continued development and updates.
- Third-party tools or mods are appreciated for improving access to or enjoyment of play.
- These reviewers consider the fortress experience worth its purchase cost.
What reviews flag
RimWorld
- Accounts describe play lasting longer than planned or displacing work, sleep or other commitments.
- The cost of the base game or DLC is a sticking point in purchasing decisions.
- Using mods brings work in ordering, testing, optimization or update compatibility.
- Colonist behavior or mental breaks frustrate these reviewers.
Dwarf Fortress
- Reviewers describe difficulty learning the fortress systems.
- Awkward controls or hard-to-find information made fortress management harder for these players.
- Missing native-language text hindered enjoyment or sent players looking for translation help.
- Autonomous dwarf behavior frustrates these reviewers.
- Intricate simulated details did not translate into meaningful play for these reviewers.
Dwarf Fortress
If you're still deciding
Consider RimWorld if attachment to colonists should guide your next move, or Dwarf Fortress if you want to read a fortress’s society and choose what to build.
Both offer stories and self-chosen goals, so include your willingness to interpret details and tolerate unruly inhabitants in that choice.
About the data and reviews
Table values are public Steam data; prices are from the United States store. Review points come from the 100 most helpful reviews of the past year for each game, and only points raised in at least three reviews are included. They do not represent every buyer's opinion.
These accounts come from the Steam reviews examined for this comparison and do not represent all buyers. Experiences involving expansions or mods do not establish base-game features, and historical bug reports do not establish the current version’s condition.