Dwarf Fortress creator toys with the idea of an Elf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress co-creator and programmer Tarn Adams has made fleeting, whimsical allusion to the possibility of an Elf Fortress game in a new interview - a fleeting, whimsical allusion I will now pounce on and make an enormous deal of, because my goodness, man, you can't just say "Elf Fortress" and walk off whistling into the sunset. The topic arose during a discussion of why fantasy dwarves are a "fortuitous" archetype for a maddeningly system-driven game like Dwarf Fortress, in which half the fun is enjoying the tunnel vision of characters who will cheerfully neglect their duties and doom their brethren because, for example, they're obsessed with crafting a mug that menaces with spikes of bituminous coal and alpaca wool. According to Adams, this is relatably "human", though he muddies things intriguingly by dropping a reference to androids, and allows to weave stories around technical eccentricities and outright bugs, which can be read as instances of "dwarfy" fixation and excess. Elves? They don't work the same way. Read more

Apr 1, 2025 - 10:36

Dwarf Fortress creator toys with the idea of an Elf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress co-creator and programmer Tarn Adams has made fleeting, whimsical allusion to the possibility of an Elf Fortress game in a new interview - a fleeting, whimsical allusion I will now pounce on and make an enormous deal of, because my goodness, man, you can't just say "Elf Fortress" and walk off whistling into the sunset.

The topic arose during a discussion of why fantasy dwarves are a "fortuitous" archetype for a maddeningly system-driven game like Dwarf Fortress, in which half the fun is enjoying the tunnel vision of characters who will cheerfully neglect their duties and doom their brethren because, for example, they're obsessed with crafting a mug that menaces with spikes of bituminous coal and alpaca wool. According to Adams, this is relatably "human", though he muddies things intriguingly by dropping a reference to androids, and allows to weave stories around technical eccentricities and outright bugs, which can be read as instances of "dwarfy" fixation and excess. Elves? They don't work the same way.