I was able to find mentioning of DF on Eurogamer's forums.
quote:
While we're talking of slicing [Fired - Ed], Bay 12 Games' Dwarf Fortress is the most violent rogue-like game I've ever played. Rather than curt combat messages, combat is described in detailed blow-by-blow accounts of exactly which implement punctured which internal organ. Characters vomit, fall to the floor, get torn into individual chunks. Hell, my character ended up fighting a cow and left entrails over a three-by-three square. I've never seen ASCII as red before.Dwarf Fortress also has a hell of a lot more going for it than just being the Soldier of Fortune of the open-source world. If you're a frequenter of internet forums, have a glance around. Chances are, there's a thread on it devoted to Dwarf Fortress already, as its hype wave is picking up. While freely available for download and highly playable, it's still in Alpha. This is a chance to get into something early.
[Screenshot cyclops]
Horses go clipppy-clop. Cyclops don't. Poets cry.
The Rogue-like adventure mode will be familiar to anyone who's had an addiction to Nethack or Zangband, though includes some interesting twists - like the Wrestling skill, which allows you to grapple individual parts of the body, before applying throws or breaking bones. Where it's most developed is the actual Dwarf Fortress mode, which works like a cross between Dungeon Keeper and the Sims. With (er) Dwarfs.
With seven starting tiny-fellas, each with their own personalities, you have to build a sprawling underground community, wrestling with the vagaries of tunnelling, goblinoid invasions and trying to remember what a purple "U" means. Obviously, the biggest hurdle anyone faces is getting used to a game where letters and numbers are used to symbolise everything, but if you're willing to make the leap of faith then Dwarf Fortress will reward you.
(And if you need help making the jump, there's a wiki.)
It'll reward you not just by challenges, but by some of the strangest anecdotes you'll ever hear. I still can't believe the forum post I read about the psychotic, incredibly-skilled leather-crafting dwarf who killed one of his peers after a particularly dark mood took him. Two days later a pair of dwarf-skin boots shows up in the storeroom...
Erk.
Seriously, if you don't want to download it after that particular story, I'm not entirely sure you're on the right website.