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[warlordzephyr]

This probably has been done but not that i've seen so i'd like to raise the question, what makes DF so awesome for you? Is it the ASCII that makes you look like your reading the matrix aswell as providing a base for your imagination, or is it the strategy, architexture, physics or any of the other things that are in the game. DF should be on your CV, not many people can say they have climbed the learning cliff, channeled the magma that waits for the most inopportune moment to strike and built a fort harnessing the pure awesome that is DF.

[Hyndis]

Its a Dungeon Keeper/Evil Genius style game, and those games are extremely rare.

Its also got more depth and complexity than most AAA level games. It doesn't have a $10 million art budget, but its got far more gameplay than most of those big name games.

Also, its completely insane.

In what other game can you drop unruly uninvited guests into a pit where they are slowly devoured by kittens? Also, megaprojects that are hilariously excessive and backfire in fun ways. 

[Pkassad]

ASCII + Nothing is impossible.

[Blackburn]

Because you can annihilate 100 lives in three seconds in a horrible, unspeakable manner...and even if you lose because of it, you can always start over again from scratch and think of something even worse.


Basically: infinite cruelty creativity.

[Safe-Keeper]

Alpha user interface aside, the simplistic graphics are a major plus for the game as they aid immersion wonderfully. Other than that, it's the sheer realism and depth of the game that sells it for me, plus the novelty of the whole thing. I really can't think of any one single game that compares in gameplay style to Dwarf Fortress.

The cute situations that arise from its alpha state, coupled with the wonderful black humour you develop while playing, add to the experience as well.

[They Got Leader]

It brings a whole new meaning to "sandbox" gaming. There infinite possibilities and then some. No matter how much you play, there is always something new.

[Naz]

I like the challenge and the complexity, there aren't any other games out there that are not only difficult but seem actively out to get you quite like DF is. Sim City, the Sims etc are pretty much one trick ponies and the Civ games all focus on very specific goals. But with DF though, "You wanna build a giant stone ass above your fort that craps hot lava on invaders? FUCK YEA! POST SCREENSHOTS!"

I mean, when They Got Leader says infinite possibilities he means it, and in no other game are the stupidest ideas you've ever heard (like aforementioned lava ass) in fact the most complicated projects you could possibly come across.

[They Got Leader]

Not to mention the fact that this community is simply awesome.

Point in case: the elves.

"Friggen hippies."
"Wait, what happens if we..."
"Dude! THAT'S AMAZING!"
*Tries it, posts screenshots*

You can do pretty much anything and then some. With the support of a community who laughs when you laugh, it makes the experience that much better!

[XSI]

To me, it really is that DF is a true sandbox game, the player is given the tools to make his own fun, and then everyone can have his own kind of fun. Be that building a metropolis, a utopia, a war camp, or a wooden above ground fort designed to provoke war with everyone. If I can't decide to go somewhere random with just the dwarves and exactly 38 cows and 81 stones, only to build up the stones into a huge tower and toss the cows off it, then it's not a sandbox game.

The fact that DF is extremely detailed really helps. Weapon traps cutting out the liver of invaders? Can't get that kind of gruesome detail in other games.

[Insignificant]

ASCII and its pure awe inspiring sweetness.

[Malsqueek]

All of the above is accurate.

I would like to add that I crave quality micromanagement in games. We used to see some of it in the olden days of MOO (1&2), MOM, etc. DF has more micromanagement than I know what to do with, and once I'm done learning how to do it the way I currently play, there are are other ways to play that I haven't even started with their own methods.

So, you have quality micromangement, coupled with vast possibilities of style of play, coupled with the inability to "win" beyond successfully building a lava-crapping master crafted microcline ass and use it a few times before you lose.

The inability to "win" forces the players to assign value to things other than "completing" the game, which reinforces the VAST number of play styles.

[Karnewarrior]

DF makes the story for you, randomly and with your permission.

[gtmattz]

Booze, Beards, and Blood!

[Kadzar]

DF is the only sandbox game I know of in which you can turn the sand into glass and use it to stab nobles.

[Yelloq]

The ASCII, mainly. I haven't played for that long, but I have almost always preferred to read a book compared to watching a movie. The symbols help me imagine whats going on, with my imagination, compared to a 'modern' game like, lets say, GarrysMod, where everything is shown by a 3D model and textures, leaving no room for your (my) imagination.

That, and goblins that are exploding while drowning. Blood goes everywhere... oh god, I love my Limestone Pyramid...
And the music. I love it.