For certain values of "fun"

[sigma7]

If you never hear from me again, it's because I've discovered Dwarf Fortress, easily the most intricate and detailed game -- from the crafting to the geography to the combat system -- I've ever encountered. Even though it's as user-friendly as a pickaxe to the face and rendered simply in ASCII art, it's insane, texty fun for the sort of geeks people who love Unix terminals and spreadsheets; odds are if you're the type of person who'd like it, you know about it already.

I haven't even encountered combat outside the arena yet and I've discovered that (a) stabbing enemies with a crossbow bolt is a sound strategy (b) you can't wield crossbows when you're a duck and (c) ducks don't stand much of a chance against two enraged alpacas. Oh, and (d) losing a fight to a goblin only to dump a thousand gallons of magma on their head is utterly satisfying.

For a worst-case DF scenario, check out Boatmurdered, the aptly-named settlement that disintegrated into madness, flaming puppies, and cheese.

Must run. One of my settlements is busy being haunted by a dwarf who became enchanted by waterfall mist only to fall in and drown. We had to wait 'til winter came and froze the lake to chip through the side of the lake and dig his stuff out. Then it thawed and the flooding started....

Comments

[lacrimaeveneris.livejournal.com]

That... looks amazing. And with the updated graphics, I might actually manage to play (the all-ASCII graphics are a little problematic)...there goes my summer.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

My tests in the arena yesterday: five cats versus five chickens (cats win), five cats versus five raccoons (raccoons win), five raccoons versus five peahens (raccoons win), five raccoons versus one alligator (gator wins). It's an invaluable little feature because occasionally a bunch of billy goats or raccoons will come traipsing by your fortress and you're so low on food that the dwarfs are looking at their pets hungrily with knife and fork in hand....

It's the original Sim City meets Rogue meets Fallout, kinda.