- Dwarf Fortress co-creator Tarn Adams was amazed other devs had heard of his game the first time he went to a convention: 'I didn't know that anyone knew what we were doing' - 5 September 2026
Dwarf Fortress is a bit like caviar—not everyone's into it, but the people who are describe their experiences with it like a religious awakening. But the game's legendary co-creator, Tarn Adams, didn't even know it had a big following for many years, as he told PC Gamer's Joshua Wolens in a recent interview at Gamescom 2026 ... Read more.
- Dwarf Fortress co-creator says his life as a millionaire is 'basically like reattaining what my parents could do with regular jobs' - 2 September 2026
Back in 2024, Dwarf Fortress surpassed 800,000 copies sold, more than enough to make co-creators Tarn and Zach Adams millionaires . At the time, they seemed to be taking a low-key approach to the whole mo' money thing, so when our intrepid interviewer Joshua Wolens caught up with Tarn at the recently-concluded Gamescom, he asked if, in the two years since then, he'd more fully adjusted to his moneybags lifestyle... Read more.
- Dwarf Fortress creator says we can learn something from simply walling up dwarf nobles to maintain an equal society—but notes you have to abolish the dwarf cops, too: 'Another lesson to be had there' - 1 September 2026
While the legendarily absurd complexity of fantasy simulation in Dwarf Fortress provides countless perils for dwarven health and happiness, the most insidious threat to any mountain hall emerges from within: Nobility. As a fortress flourishes, it inevitably draws the attention of dwarven nobles who'll needlessly burrow themselves into industries they're not qualified to direct, issuing demands and mandates without any care for whether they're feasible or sustainable for the rest of dwarven society... Read more.
- Dwarf Fortress creator says we have a natural lean towards human-made stories, 'but we're all going to be very sorely tested in the coming years' by AI - 1 September 2026
Dwarf Fortress has an endless capacity for telling stories. It's a game built on procedural generation, and any longtime player'll be able to spin up a dozen yarns about some absurd thing that happened to their gaggle of miners... Read more.
- Dwarf Fortress creator says the industry's in shambles over AI and layoff-happy CEOs: 'Everyone I know, their bosses are slowly getting psychosis' - 1 September 2026
The game industry is—to use the lightest possible language—in an interesting spot. While videogames are as profitable as ever on paper , we've had a few consecutive years of brutal layoffs and studio closures , as well as all of the knock-on impacts that the advent of generative AI (and the subsequent and boneheaded insistence that it's the future) has had. Billions in spending , skyrocketing hardware prices, the whole kit and caboodle... Read more.
- Holy crap, it's happening: Dwarf Fortress gets its first Myth and Magic update later this year, bringing each player's world its own procedural magic system - 27 August 2026
Even as it achieved fractal complexity by modeling feline alcohol poisoning, procedural bardic traditions, and delayed-action thermonuclear dragonfire , the creators of Dwarf Fortress—brothers Tarn and Zach Adams—have maintained still loftier ambitions for their legendary fantasy sim. In recent years, that effort has been guided by one goal: Creating magic. Procedural, universe-specific magic, interwoven with the unique cosmology and mythology modeled each and every time the player clicks the "create new world" button... Read more.
- 20th Anniversary, Myth & Magic art and music 🦄 Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.16 - 5 August 2026
Hey Urists, We're back and celebrating the 20th anniversary of Dwarf Fortress this week with a special show, Myth & Magic at and music updates and a patch. While Myth & Magic work is very much underway, we also have patch 53.16 today which fixes a bunch of things. We are also preparing to go to Gamescom at the end of the month to show a first-look of Myth & Magic gameplay that you'll be able to watch at home! Dabu and Simon also released their latest Dwarf Fortress track today. But first, we'd like to reveal breathtaking new artwork by Thea Kent for the Myth & Magic update featuring a dwarven wizard, a bunch of wild looking creatures and the God of Blood Armok himself: Release notes for 53.16: This patch adds some quality of life features, fixes some bugs, and addresses some issues with the extinct creatures patch. A key cause of overindulging tavern patrons was fixed. Dinosaurs grow mo…
- Dwarf Fortress 20th Anniversary Show - 4 August 2026
Hey Urists! August 8th marks the 20th anniversary of classic Dwarf Fortress and we've put together an exciting show to celebrate the occasion. Join Tarn and Zach as they play the first ever build of the game from 2006 and reminisce about the olden days. It’s been a while since they’ve played the build and it’s very unstable so who knows what will happen? We're also excited to reveal the new Myth & Magic update key art AND a brand new song from Dabu and Simon, which is also called Myth & Magic. There’s also going to be special guest appearances throughout the show from other game devs, community members and maybe even a reality tv star or two… Then, Tarn and Zach will host the first ever, Beyond Quality Awards, honoring those who have made an impact on Dwarf Fortress in the last 20 years. You don’t want to miss it! The show starts on August 5th at 11am PT/ 2pm ET/ 7pm BT on the Kitfox Tw…
- The challenges of developing the colony sim, from Dungeon Keeper to Dwarf Fortress and beyond - 23 July 2026
From the archives: This feature was originally published in PC Gamer #305 (UK, June 2017) . It appears below as originally written, with only minor changes in formatting and presentation. .. Read more.
- Dinosaurs have arrived in the latest Dwarf Fortress update - 29 June 2026
Dwarfs versus dinos? Yep, that's now a thing. The deep sim Dwarf Fortress has a big free update out now adding in a whole lot of extinct animals. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/06/dinosaurs-have-arrived-in-the-latest-dwarf-fortress-update/
- The Dino Update is out now! 🦕 Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.15 - 25 June 2026
Hey Urists! The dino update is live now adding 100 extinct creatures to the game. All sprites and portraits are created by Dwarf Fortress artist Guido/Neoriceisgood. We hope you enjoy this update as we continue with development on the Magic update. Here's Tarn with the details: This patch adds a hundred animals that went extinct in the real world. Each of these animals also gets an animal person. You'll need to create a new world to see them. There are five options for the frequency of the extinct animals. You can have them in untamed wilds, small isolated areas, every wilderness, or even domesticated by most civilizations. You can also keep them extinct. This release also brings a graphical update to existing animal people. You can now see their held equipment and some of their bodywear. This should work in your old saves without a new world. Patch Notes for 53.15 100 new extinct anima…
- Dwarf Fortress is going prehistoric, with 100 new creatures you can befriend, fight, or eat - 13 June 2026
No matter how many new sandbox and simulation games come along, Dwarf Fortress remains tough to beat for its sheer level of depth and intricacy. Developer brothers Tarn and Zach Adams of Bay 12 Games continue to build out its world with a relentless vigor, and we're about to face a veritable explosion of new creatures. The Dwarf Fortress dino update is pretty self-explanatory, but its sheer scale is impressive, counting 100 "dinos and extinct creatures" across its new roster. Read the full story on PCGamesN: Dwarf Fortress is going prehistoric, with 100 new creatures you can befriend, fight, or eat
- The big Dino Update for Dwarf Fortress announced for June 25 - 11 June 2026
Dinos? In my fortress? Oh no. A big update for Dwarf Fortress has been announced to arrive on June 25th featuring a lot of new content. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/06/the-big-dino-update-for-dwarf-fortress-announced-for-june-25/
- Dinos are coming June 25th! 🦖 Dwarf Fortress Dev Update - 10 June 2026
We're back and excited to announce that the Dino Update will be arriving June 25th! Featuring: 100 dinos and extinct creatures, including baby and dinomen versions Dinos can be used for war, as a pet or as food 5 new settings to adjust how dinos appear in your world Animal people graphical update with held equipment and some bodywear ...and more! There will be a wide variety of creatures from the Cambrian Explosion all the way to the extinct mammals and birds of the Holocene era. You'll need to create a new world to see the dinos but you should see the animal people update in existing saves. Dinos are totally optional and there will be some new settings so you can adjust how they appear in Create New World. Here is just a small sample of the sprites, organized by era (Cambrian creatures too small to show up on graphic): Interview with Dino Artist! If you'd like to see even more examples…
- Patch 53.14 - 20 May 2026
Patch Notes 53.14: This small patch fixes a crash to do with the changes to announcements from last time.
- Diplomacy Improvements + 20th Anniversary 🙌 Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.13 - 13 May 2026
Hey Urists, We’ve got another patch/community news hybrid post today! There’s lots on the go right now as we prepare for a packed summer of news and updates. The artists are finishing up dinos and continuing with the art for the Myth and Magic update. You can expect to see the dinosaur update next and we'll be sharing a release date very soon. Tarn is also in full Wizard-mode but in the meantime, he has a new patch with a focus on diplomacy and bugs: Release notes for 53.13: This patch gives messengers more tasks, like the ability to make peace and improve or open trade relations. You can assign messengers in the same menu where you assign other positions like the manager and broker, and you can give them missions from the world screen (button on the lower right.) There are also some optimizations and other fixes. Diplomacy Your appointed messengers can now do a variety of diplomatic mi…
- Myth & Magic news + Quality of life update 🧙♂️ Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.12 - 14 April 2026
Hey everyone, We’ve got a jam-packed update today with a big quality of life patch along with a new Tarn Time video with news about Magic (the update), Magic (the cards) and another surprise! You’ll just have to watch and find out…. Patch Notes for 53.12 General updates Added display of accepted petition building projects (guildhalls and temples). Added standing orders to automatically accept or reject citizen petitions and various residency petitions. Added standing orders allowing mining designations to globally ignore new warm/damp stone warnings. Squad disband icon is no longer a red X that looks like it closes the menu. Disbanding squads now requires confirmation. Items suffer less damage from age and worn items wear down more slowly. Traders bring clothes properly sized for all fortress citizens and long-term residents. Added tooltips showing products and required materials when a…
- Tarn Adams, co-creator of Dwarf Fortress, has over 1,400 hours in Factorio and is currently obsessed with terraforming games: 'Dwarf Fortress just doesn't accommodate a full-on sci-fi thing' - 5 April 2026
Tarn Adams cannot recall exactly when he first got into gaming, describing his formative computer years as "a haze of learning BASIC"... Read more.
- Food fixes, AMA, community spotlight and more! 🍖 Dwarf Fortress Patch 53.11 - 4 March 2026
Hey Urists, Alexandra here with with today’s patch and a bunch of community news! We've got an AMA on r/dwarffortress, some support for creating your own Dwarf Fortress gatherings and some cool stuff from the community. But first, patch 53.11 from Tarn: Patch Notes 53.11 Here's another routine patch. Notably, good food should make dwarves happier and they should seek out better food. I've been sick through February so the changes are a bit sparse, but I should be back at things now. General updates Made happy food thought levels easier to obtain (more in line with newer food values). Dwarves seek good meals more aggressively and value better foods over worse ones more precisely. Stopped dwarves from forgetting friends/grudges they rarely meet after a few years. Added item dimension check to strange moods to make sure they don't gather e.g. infinite cloth from hospital zones. Stopped wor…
- Dwarf Fortress forensic specialists blame mysterious case of spontaneous human combustion on a historical artifact that suddenly remembered it's four times hotter than the surface of the sun - 11 February 2026
The many wonders of Dwarf Fortress are products of its complexity. The intricate interplay of fantasy simulation systems generate uniquely rich moments: Fortress mayhem can provoke a rash of traumatic baby hauntings , goblin highwaymen can be grabbed and thrashed about by their individual teeth , and—as one Dwarf Fortress player recently discovered—sometimes your soldiers might just burst into flames in a way that requires a panel of experts to diagnose... Read more.
