Farmville 2

Pack Rat - What NOT To Do

Do you remember the good old days Facebook games were new to Facebook? Back then there were a few must play games.

Facebook let developers put their games on Facebook, and Facebook filled the sidebar with ads.  So, while you were playing you could see ads that were making Facebook a lot of money.  That was great...for Facebook.

One game that I loved back in those days was called Pack Rat.  It was a virtual card collecting game, and I was hooked, as were many of my friends.  We were at play dates with the kids, setting up trades, getting other friends into it, hooking up friends with our other friend who had the card they were looking for.  Seriously it was nuts.

After a while of having a super popular game, the people at Pack Rat realized they were struggling to keep their operation open, and yet Facebook was raking in the dough on the side bar ads.

I remember seeing a lot of polls and questions about would we pay if they started charging.  Many people balked.  Some gave suggestions such as:

- do in app ads
- get companies to sponsor some of the card sets
- do a monthly fee for premium sets, or getting access to sets first
- go to your own servers and put up sidebar ads, or charge a nominal fee

There were many options suggested, and many polarizing opinions.  In app purchases weren't common like they are now.

They decided to come up with a monthly fee, with premium cards, that was fine.  But then then added premium stores, and the regular stores, where you could "buy" the cards with coins you earned the game started getting worse and worse cards.  Also they would sell out so fast you had to spend hours sitting in one store and trying to buy.  The premium people started trying to sell the cards we all needed but couldn't for real money.  It got crazy, and so hard to complete collections I stopped playing.

I recently was clearing out old apps and things on my Facebook so I went to check out Pack Rat. Well they have left Facebook altogether and went to their own servers and website.

The problem is, they don't have any sidebar ads, and they are still going with the same ways of collecting money.  So it is still no fun to play.  Besides that, everything has moved, and I banked all my cards in my vault...and I have no idea how to get more?

There is a very basic tutorial that really told me nothing on how to play.  The main idea is to trade or steal from other packs.  Problem with that? You need cards in order to do that.  I could buy some with my coins, but then I have to buy ones I need, and either trade them away or bank them....then I am back where I am.

I feel like they took an awesome game and killed it because they started out with a poor business model, tried to get a new business plan, and then went too far into a cash grab mode.

Have you played any games that you stopped playing for one reason or another?

Farmville 2

A few years ago Farmville was one of the top games played on Facebook. Most of the people I know played, and if you didn't play, well you were probably inundated with requests anyway.

That craze has died down, and while people still play a lot have moved on. I tried to play it, but didn't like it as much as others. It was an overhead shot, but I found it hard to get in close, and hard to see what I was doing.  I also just didn't find it as engaging as I should, and it lost my interest pretty easily.

When Zynga realized that they were losing people they tried to recapture the magic with Farmville 2.

Take a nostalgic journey down the countryside!

Create, build and nourish the farm of your dreams in FarmVille 2. You’ll interact with a variety of interesting characters, grow and unlock special crops, take care of animals, and make your farm come alive. Trade with neighbors, contribute to your friends' farms, and join a Co-op to work with farmers you can count on to complete a shared Order Board and progress on the Co-op Delivery Map for huge rewards!

It never did gain the popularity that the first reached, however, I think it's a pretty good game.  I actually like it a lot better than I ever liked the first one.

I recommend getting off Facebook, and playing on Zynga.com.  This way you can find people who play, and want to send you requests and help you get further in the game.  You don't have to then bother all your "friends" on Facebook.

When you start out you will go through an easy tutorial, and will learn how to do each thing.

You can visit neighbours, grow crops, feed animals, and expend.

They have groves, and plots now so that it is easier and faster to upgrade things as well as do the maintenance faster.

There are different missions that also coincide with special recipes, and buildings for that mission.  You follow the story of farmville, creating recipes, and farming to help out the town. 

You will earn rewards, and bonuses, and be able to move up in the ranks to beat your friends.  I like that you can also create a co-op now, so you can all help each other to produce more recipes and get to the rewards faster.

They have mastered growing the game and making it better.  If they make a mistake by making a mission too short of time, and the jobs too hard, they will learn from their mistakes, and also give you a bonus. 

I also like that I can grow a family, so now when I log in, during the morning and I have a ton of things to do it goes faster because I have 4 "people" doing the work.

Overall, I think this game is improved from the original and I really like it.  If you are on Zynga you can add me as a friend and neighbour!

App Of The Week Pyramid Solitaire Saga

This week's App Of The Week is called Pyramid Solitaire Saga.  If you like playing solitaire, this would be a good one to check out.

It is obviously in the pyramid style of Solitaire. Of course since it is a saga game, so you are on a grand adventure.  You will be going on this grand adventure with Helena and her loyal companion Kingsley as they discover the Ancient World. 

Under the cards on each level you will find the Scarabs which you need to catch, they hold clues to help you on your journey. 

As you complete each episode you will reveal hidden treasures and move on to the next one. Link the game to your Facebook and get help from friends as well as see how they are doing compared to you.

I didn't enjoy playing this on Facebook, as much as I do on the phone.  I found through facebook it would sometimes get bogged down for me.  So I didn't play for a long time.

Have you played this game?

The Ultimate Current Video Game List - Ds

At And She Games we love all kinds of gaming, and all types of games! So we have been curating some Ultimate Game Lists to show off to you!  We have been working our way through the The Ultimate Board Games List for a while now, and would love if you would check that out as well!

We wanted to work on Video Games next.   But first, let me say that there are a lot of video games out there.  Every type and variety, and I am sure we will miss some a long the way.  Also since some games and systems are obsolete and "current" can be a relative term, we went with 2005 and newer, and as many as we can find.


We would love your input on any we may miss along the way!  We would also love to hear your thoughts of some of these games.  If you would like to write a review of the game on our blog (we can link back to your game or business), please email us.


Check out the other letters: A, B, C

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Dance Dance Revolution
 
Dance Dance Revolution, the full name of the German Democratic Republic in German), and also known as Dancing Stage in earlier games in Europe and Australasia, and some other games in Japan, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance genre in video games. Players stand on a "dance platform" or stage and hit colored arrows laid out in a cross with their feet to musical and visual cues.

Players are judged by how well they time their dance to the patterns presented to them and are allowed to choose more music to play to if they receive a passing score. Dance Dance Revolution has been given much critical acclaim for its originality and stamina in the video game market. There have been dozens of arcade-based releases across several countries and hundreds of home video game console releases, promoting a music library of original songs produced by Konami's in-house artists and an eclectic set of licensed music from many different genres.

The DDR series was followed by games such as Pump It Up by Andamiro and In the Groove by Roxor. DDR celebrated its 10th anniversary on November 21, 2008.

Platforms: PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, PC, Arcade

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Dark Souls II

Dark Souls II is an action RPG video game. The third game in its series, Dark Souls II was developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by From Software, which also published the game in Japan, while Bandai Namco Games published the game in other regions. Dark Souls II was announced at the Spike Video Game Awards on December 7, 2012.

Hidetaka Miyazaki, who served as director on the two earlier games in the series, Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, acted as a supervisor, while the game was directed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura. Although set in the same world, Miyazaki stated there is no direct story connection between Dark Souls and Dark Souls II.
The game uses dedicated multiplayer servers. Taking place in the world of Drangleic, the game features both player versus environment and player versus player play, in addition to having some co-op components. As in the earlier games in the series, it once again features challenging gameplay, but with a more powerful graphics engine and more advanced AI system.

 Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows

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Darksiders

The Darksiders video game series is a series of action-adventure,role-playing,hack and slash games based around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, called the Book of Revelation. Both games are set in the same universe, where Heaven and Hell have waged war against one another. Thus, in time, a mediator group named "The Charred Council", arose to maintain order and balance; to this end, they created a brotherhood, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (War, Death, Strife and Fury) to intervene and enforce their laws where and when necessary. Darksiders is an action-adventure hack and slash video game with a third-person perspective where the protagonist of the game is War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in which War appears on Earth thinking that the Seventh Seal was broken and The Four Horsemen were summoned for the Apocalypse and they would ride into battle across Earth to punish the guilty, and the ultimate fate of the three Kingdoms decided, although, War finds out that he is the only horsemen present. Later on "The Charred Council" accuses War of destroying the balance by bringing about the Apocalypse prematurely, aiding in the destruction of Mankind, and siding with the forces of Hell. War protests his innocence and demands a chance to find the real culprits and to restore balance. The Council agrees on two conditions; he lose his former power and he will be bound to one of their keepers, The Watcher, who has the power to kill him (War) if he strays from his mission.

Platform: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360, Linux, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

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Days of Thunder 
 
Days of Thunder is a 1990 NASCAR racing simulation video game loosely based on the 1990 movie Days of Thunder. The game utilized elements from the movie, using a movie license from Paramount Pictures for its graphical elements, plot, and music soundtrack. It was released for the PC, the NES, the Game Boy, and many other formats.

It was created by Argonaut Software and distributed by Mindscape Group. In 2009 Freeverse released an updated version for the iOS. During-game image. Note cracked dashboard. In the PC version, gameplay consisted of setting up the car, qualifying, and then the actual race event. If the player finished in a high enough position, they would progress to the next circuit. Damage was calculated not by realistic damage displayed on the car but a "cracked dashboard" bar indicator, with cracks appearing along the dashboard when the player hits something.


Platforms: Amiga, Atari ST, C64, DOS, Game Boy, NES, iOS, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, ZX Spectrum

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Dead Rising 3

Dead Rising 3 is a survival horror video game developed by Capcom Vancouver and published by Microsoft Studios. Following in the footsteps of previous installments, players control new protagonist Nick Ramos in third person. They will start by searching for supplies and weapons in order to fight many undead and complete missions.

Dead Rising 3 is set in a vast, open world environment which is much larger than the worlds of Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2 combined. According to developers, the game can render three times as many zombies on-screen at once as its predecessor. Players will also be allowed to save their progress anywhere, as opposed to limiting saves to toilets. The game will include a "Nightmare Mode" for those who would prefer the traditional time limit and save options. The game will not have load times.

 Platforms: Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

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Dead Space 3

Dead Space 3 is a 2013 survival horror video game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts. Announced at E3 2012 on June 4, 2012 and released internationally in February 2013, it is the sequel to Dead Space 2 and the third main entry in the Dead Space series.

Primarily set on the frozen planet of Tau Volantis, the game follows protagonists Isaac Clarke and John Carver as they attempt to end the Necromorph threat once and for all.

Dead Space 3 received middling reviews from most game critics; reviewers praised the game's rewarding action gameplay, although criticism was directed at the focus on action over horror, as well as a weak and unfocused story compared to previous games.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

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Demon's Souls

Demon's Souls is an action role-playing video game developed primarily by From Software with assistance from SCE Japan Studio exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Set in a dark fantasy world, players take control of a hero who has journeyed to the fictional kingdom of Boletaria, which is being ravaged by a cursed fog that brings forth demons who feast on the souls of mortals. The game has been described as a spiritual successor to the King's Field series of games.

The gameplay involves a character-creation system and emphasizes gathering loot through combat with enemies in a non-linear series of varied locations. It has a unique online multiplayer system integrated into the single-player where players can leave useful messages and warnings for other players' single-player game worlds, as well as joining other players in their world to assist and/or kill them.

Platform: PlayStation 3

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Destiny

Destiny is an upcoming online multiplayer first-person shooter video game in a "mythic science fiction" open world setting. Bungie has emphasized that the universe of Destiny will be "alive." Events may happen in-game that are not necessarily controlled or planned by the developer, which will help to create a dynamic developing experience for Bungie and a dynamic playing experience for gamers.

The game's style has been described as a first-person shooter that will incorporate massively multiplayer online game (MMO) elements, but Bungie has avoided defining Destiny as a traditional MMO game. Instead, the game has been referred to as a "shared-world shooter," as it lacks many of the characteristics of a traditional MMO game. For instance, rather than players being able to see and interact with all other players in the game or on a particular server—as is the case in many conventional MMO games—Destiny will include on-the-fly matchmaking that will allow players to see and interact only with other players with whom they are "matched" by the game.

Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360

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Diablo III 

Diablo III is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the third installment in the Diablo franchise. In the game, players choose one of six character classes—Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor or Wizard—and are tasked with defeating the Lord of Terror, Diablo.

Diablo III set a new record for fastest-selling PC game by selling over 3.5 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release, and was the best selling PC game of 2012, selling more than 12 million copies during the year. Across all platforms it has sold 15 million copies. Diablo III received critical acclaim from critics, although it's digital rights management that requires an internet connection at all times, in game auction house, and lack of end game content were criticized.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One

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Disciples III Renaissance

Disciples III: Renaissance is a turn-based strategy game.

The player assumes the role of one of the lords of Nevendaar. This new episode contains three playable races, 'The Empire', 'The Legions of the Damned' and the 'Elven Alliance', with the remaining factions making an addition in planned expansions. The battle system is completely different from that of previous Disciples games. Units are able to move around the battlefield and make use of terrain for fortifications. The player's hero is highly customizable. His abilities as well as his armor and weapons can be changed. All of the equipment changes are noticeable on the actual character model.



Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Cloud

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Dishonored

Dishonored is a 2012 stealth action-adventure video game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.  Set in the fictional, plague-ridden industrial city of Dunwall, Dishonored follows the story of Corvo Attano, bodyguard to the Empress of the Isles. He is framed for her murder and forced to become an assassin, seeking revenge on those who conspired against him. Corvo is aided in his quest by the Loyalists—a resistance group fighting to reclaim Dunwall, and the Outsider—a powerful being who imbues Corvo with magical abilities. Several noted actors including Susan Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Carrie Fisher, Michael Madsen, Lena Headey, and Chloë Grace Moretz provided voice work for the game.

The game is played from a first-person perspective and allows the player to undertake a series of assassination missions in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on player choice. Missions can be completed through stealth, combat, or a combination of both. Exploring each level opens new paths and alternatives for accomplishing mission goals, and it is possible to complete all missions, eliminating all of Corvo's targets, in a non-lethal manner. The story and missions are changed in response to the player's violent actions or lack thereof. Magical abilities and equipment are designed to be combined to create new and varied effects.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360

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DISNEY INFINITY

Disney Infinity is an action-adventure sandbox video game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Disney Interactive Studios. Disney Infinity is an action-adventure game with physical toys, open world creation and story-driven gameplay. Characters, playsets and other features are brought into the game using figurines and discs with the included Infinity Base.

With the exception of non-humanoid characters, such as those from the Cars series, each character has a double jump and a default set of attacks, as well as an ability unique to each figure. For example, Sulley and Jack Skellington can roar to scare others whilst Violet and Randy can turn invisible. There are two main modes in this game: Play Set and Toy Box.Each playset is essentially a self-contained world with its own gameplay, based on a specific film or series with recognizable characters and storylines.

Characters from one world cannot enter into another world, but players can put any characters together in Toy Box mode. Toy Box is a sandbox mode that players can fully customize and explore.

Platforms: Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, PC, iPad

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Disney Universe

Disney Universe is a 2011 co-operative action-adventure video game, published by Disney Interactive Studios. It features the ability to suit up as characters from multiple Disney franchises, including the full-length animated feature films like Aladdin, Pixar feature films like Monsters, Inc., live-action films like Pirates of the Caribbean and television series like The Muppet Show.

 The game resembles Lego games or LittleBigPlanet, with a few notable additions. Up to four friends can connect through local multiplayer and play through 6 different worlds to defeat enemies, and collect powerups and coins. One unique feature is that the enemies actively try to hinder a player's progress by setting up traps or hiding key items.

The two main attractions of the game are that players can travel to 6 worlds from classic and contemporary Disney and Pixar properties, consisting of Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Wall-E, Monsters, Inc. and Aladdin and acquire 45 costumes based on numerous other Disney franchises, such as The Little Mermaid, Tron, Mickey Mouse, Lilo & Stitch and Tangled.

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Microsoft Windows

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Distant Worlds

Epic-Scale Galaxies: play in galaxies with up to 1400 star systems and 50,000 planets and asteroids The private citizens of your empire automatically take care of mundane tasks
Automate the various tasks in your empire, so that you can focus on the areas that you enjoy most Explore the vast galaxy, discover valuable resources and make contact with other empires.
Colonize: send out colony ships to found new worlds for your empire.

Platform: PC

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 Dominions 3

Dominions 3: The Awakening is a fantasy turn-based strategy game created by Illwinter and published in 2006 by Shrapnel Games. It is the third game in the Dominions series, preceded by Dominions: Priests, Prophets and Pretenders and Dominions II: The Ascension Wars.

The game includes scenarios and randomized play, but does not include a campaign. Dominions 3 is mainly designed for multiplayer, including PBEM, hotseat and TCP/IP. AI opponents are available for single-player. The game allows the player to design a pretender god with the potential to ultimately become the god of a fantasy world by defeating all other pretenders.

The interface consists of a hand-drawn or randomly generated world map and several menus. The maps are divided into provinces which can be conquered in tactical battles. Provinces provide gold and resources, needed to recruit units. Compared to other games in the genre, Dominions 3 only has a small amount of economic management, focusing almost entirely on creating and deploying armies.

Platforms: Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows

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Dota 2

Dota 2 is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena video game and the stand-alone sequel to the Defense of the Ancients (DotA) Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne mod.

Dota 2 is played in discrete matches involving two five-player teams, each of which occupies a stronghold at a corner of the map. Each stronghold contains a building called the "Ancient", which the opposite team must destroy to win the match. Each player controls a "Hero" character and focuses on leveling up, collecting gold, acquiring items and fighting against the other team to achieve victory.

Development of Dota 2 began in 2009, when the developer of the DotA mod, IceFrog, was hired by Valve as lead designer. Dota 2 was praised by video game critics, who lauded its rewarding gameplay, enhanced production quality and faithfulness to its predecessor. However, the game was criticized for its steep learning curve and inhospitable community. Dota 2 has become the most actively played game on Steam, with daily peaks of over 800,000 concurrent players.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux

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Dragon Age Inquisition

Dragon Age: Inquisition is an upcoming action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. Bioware is planning on fusing elements of both earlier games in the series, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, into the creation of Dragon Age: Inquisition. The game will feature larger environments with much more opportunity for exploration.

Multiple playable races are returning, both male and female. Players can play as a human, dwarf, or elf just like in Dragon Age: Origins.

Additionally, Qunari are also playable. However, combat is expected to differ somewhat from its direct predecessor and focus more on a player's ability to prepare, position, and form a cohesive team with his or her party members, requiring fewer repetitive finger strikes but better thinking like the first installment. Tactical view also returns for all five platforms in Dragon Age: Inquisition, whereas before it was exclusive to PC in Dragon Age: Origins, and which was removed in Dragon Age II.

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Dragon Age Origins

Dragon Age: Origins is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare's Edmonton studio and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first game in the Dragon Age franchise. Set in the fictional kingdom of Ferelden during a period of civil strife, the player assumes the role of a warrior, mage or rogue coming from an elven, human, or dwarven background who must unite the kingdom to fight an impending invasion by demonic forces. BioWare describes Dragon Age: Origins as a "dark heroic fantasy set in a unique world," and a spiritual successor to their Baldur's Gate series of games, which took place in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.

Platforms: Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X

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Dragon Quest 7

Dragon Warrior VII is a Japanese role-playing video game developed by Heartbeat. Dragon Warrior VII is the seventh installment of the popular Dragon Quest series of role playing games, and is the successor to 1995's Dragon Quest VI for the Super Famicom.

It was the first main series Dragon Quest title to be released outside of Japan since the release of Dragon Quest IV in North America in 1992, and the last Dragon Quest title to be released in North America with the Dragon Warrior name. The game follows the Hero and his friends as they discover secrets about the mysterious islands surrounding their home of Estard.

Through some ancient ruins, they are transported to the pasts of various islands and must defeat evil in each new location. Game mechanics are largely unchanged from previous games in the series, although an extensive Class system allows players to customize their characters.

Platforms: PlayStation, Nintendo 3DS, Android, iOS

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DriveClub

Driveclub is an upcoming 2014 racing video game for the PlayStation 4, developed by Evolution Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Driveclub differs from Evolution Studios previous racing franchise, MotorStorm, in that it will focus on road racing rather than off-road. It will not be classified as a racing simulator like the Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport series, but as a rival to Grid 2.

There will also be a team racing element to the game, with players managing racing teams and using the PlayStation Plus network and PlayStation 4's "share" features to manage teams with other players. Recently, it was confirmed that Driveclub will feature dynamic weather such as rain and snow.

Platforms: PlayStation 4

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Dwarf Fortress

Slaves to Armok: God of Blood Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress, usually shortened to Dwarf Fortress or simply DF, is a video game set in a low fantasy universe with part roguelike and city-building elements. The game has two primary game modes: Fortress mode, in which the player takes control of a group of dwarves and attempts to construct a successful and wealthy subterranean fortress in a mountain, and Adventurer mode, which places the player in the shoes of an adventurer as they wander the world and do battle with various creatures. A third mode, Legends mode, allows the player to view a detailed history of the world.

Dwarf Fortress is modeled on a complex physics engine and is presented in text-only Code page 437 graphics, in various colors. The game is played in procedurally generated worlds complete with historical events and figures which are documented and recorded in the individual world's files as game lore.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux

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