Reviews and articles
Features, reviews, comparisons, explainers, and practical colony-sim advice from the colony desk.
Dwarf Fortress: what 'withdraws from society' means
A plain-English guide to strange moods, claimed workshops, missing materials, artifacts, and what to do before a moody dwarf spirals.
Dwarf Fortress bolt thrower: what it is and when to use one
A practical explanation of bolt throwers, siege defense, firing lanes, and why active weapons matter more after the Siege Update.
Dwarf Fortress Siege Update: what changed for fortress defense
The Siege Update made invaders smarter and defenses more active, changing old assumptions about gates, traps, walls, and kill corridors.
Secret Lair x Dwarf Fortress: why the MTG crossover works
Magic: The Gathering's Dwarf Fortress Secret Lair is a small crossover, but its ASCII-card idea understands why the fortress sim became legendary.
Best peaceful colony sims without constant raids
Settlement games for players who want survival, planning, and systems pressure without living inside a permanent combat alarm.
Oxygen Not Included vs RimWorld: engineering colony or story generator?
Two genre giants compared across colonists, systems depth, failure states, onboarding, replayability, and player fit.
Colony sim beginner guide: how to survive the first week
Food, shelter, work priorities, storage, mood, and defense: the first decisions that keep a new colony alive long enough to become interesting.
Games like RimWorld: what to play next
Where to go after RimWorld if you want deeper simulation, 3D bases, family survival, politics, space ships, or engineering pressure.
What is a colony sim?
A plain-English explanation of colony sims, RimWorld-likes, fortress builders, survival city builders, and why the genre produces stories so well.