The Game Census
Dwarf Fortress cover art

Dwarf Fortress

Bay 12 Games · Kitfox Games · 2022-12-06

Steam

IndieSimulationStrategy

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric, Text

Releases: Dec 06, 2022 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Dec 19, 2023 (Linux)

Build a fortress and try to help your dwarves survive against a deeply generated world. Keep your dwarves happy, grow their community and beware of digging too deeply. The deepest, most intricate simulation of a world that's ever been created.

Dwarf Fortress is an Indie, Simulation, Strategy game released in 2022, priced at $29.99, with an estimated 2,000,000 .. 5,000,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (95% of 31512 reviews).

440
playing now
95%
positive of 32k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
2,000,000–5,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
7
twitch viewers (latest)
1.8
viewers/channel (concentration)
84/100
critic score (1 outlets, IGDB)
82/100
IGDB user rating (32 ratings)
3
Nexus mods (110 downloads)
90/100
opencritic · mighty · 90% recommend · from 13 critics
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$29.99
steam price (US)

440 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 10:00 UTC (census sample)

Trailer

Dwarf Fortress trailer thumbnail

Dwarf Fortress Myth and Magic Update Preview - Official Trailer

≈389,463 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 440 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 1,523 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~190/week).
  • · Review velocity down 12% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (15,172 reviews).
  • · Top 1% of 49,583 Indie games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-26

Estimated sales: 632k–1.4M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 31,580 total reviews — how this is computed.

All-time low: $23.99 at Steam (2024-05-09)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $29.99 · on sale 14 of 27 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
15k15k20222026Week of 2022-12-01: 14,565 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 607 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 2,059 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 168 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 716 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 75 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 413 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 58 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 267 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 29 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 264 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 46 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 186 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 245 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 214 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 198 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 216 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 2,358 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 28 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 299 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 285 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 211 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 252 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 323 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 233 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 165 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 170 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 184 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 142 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 195 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 364 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 278 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 253 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 192 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 38 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 225 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 224 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 169 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 179 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 152 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 136 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 108 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 126 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 512 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 28 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 202 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 176 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 394 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 121 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 111 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 140 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 117 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 130 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 100 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 15 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

1.1k3992026-09-15 11:00 — 528 players2026-09-16 20:00 — 854 players2026-09-18 03:00 — 657 players2026-09-19 11:00 — 596 players2026-09-20 18:00 — 1,090 players2026-09-22 02:00 — 780 players2026-09-23 09:00 — 465 players2026-09-24 17:00 — 730 players2026-09-26 00:00 — 762 players2026-09-27 08:00 — 579 players2026-09-28 15:00 — 676 players2026-09-29 23:00 — 652 players2026-10-01 06:00 — 399 players2026-10-02 14:00 — 555 players2026-10-03 22:00 — 849 players2026-10-05 06:00 — 458 players2026-10-06 13:00 — 507 players2026-10-07 21:00 — 750 players2026-10-09 04:00 — 535 players2026-10-10 12:00 — 596 players2026-10-11 19:00 — 987 players2026-10-13 03:00 — 687 players2026-10-14 10:00 — 440 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
14k673Dec 2022Aug 2026Dec 2022 — avg 14,099 · peak 28,288Feb 2023 — avg 3,231 · peak 6,570Apr 2023 — avg 1,511 · peak 2,705Jun 2023 — avg 882 · peak 1,462Aug 2023 — avg 763 · peak 1,337Oct 2023 — avg 1,026 · peak 1,856Dec 2023 — avg 1,140 · peak 1,913Feb 2024 — avg 921 · peak 1,551Apr 2024 — avg 1,119 · peak 3,382Jun 2024 — avg 712 · peak 1,182Aug 2024 — avg 872 · peak 1,466Oct 2024 — avg 904 · peak 1,939Dec 2024 — avg 915 · peak 1,587Feb 2025 — avg 1,047 · peak 2,084Apr 2025 — avg 1,066 · peak 1,862Jun 2025 — avg 818 · peak 1,436Aug 2025 — avg 768 · peak 1,315Oct 2025 — avg 775 · peak 1,321Dec 2025 — avg 1,121 · peak 1,770Feb 2026 — avg 780 · peak 1,443Apr 2026 — avg 739 · peak 1,369Jun 2026 — avg 869 · peak 1,827Aug 2026 — avg 789 · peak 1,339
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Chart history

PositiveNegative
772026-09-212026-10-132026-09-21: 7 new positive2026-09-21: 1 new negative2026-09-22: 2 new positive2026-09-22: 1 new negative2026-09-23: 1 new positive2026-09-24: 5 new positive2026-09-25: 1 new positive2026-09-25: 1 new negative2026-09-26: 3 new positive2026-09-28: 1 new positive2026-09-28: 1 new negative2026-09-29: 2 new positive2026-09-30: 3 new positive2026-10-01: 4 new positive2026-10-01: 1 new negative2026-10-02: 4 new positive2026-10-03: 1 new positive2026-10-04: 3 new positive2026-10-04: 1 new negative2026-10-05: 6 new positive2026-10-06: 2 new positive2026-10-07: 2 new positive2026-10-07: 1 new negative2026-10-09: 1 new positive2026-10-10: 5 new positive2026-10-10: 1 new negative2026-10-12: 3 new positive2026-10-12: 1 new negative
New Steam reviews per day (census review snapshots). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$29.99$0.002015-01-012026-08-132015-01-01 — best price $0.002023-01-30 — best price $29.992023-06-12 — best price $26.992023-07-13 — best price $29.992023-10-20 — best price $26.992023-11-10 — best price $29.992023-11-29 — best price $26.992024-01-04 — best price $29.992024-02-15 — best price $25.492024-03-04 — best price $29.992024-03-21 — best price $29.992024-04-11 — best price $25.492024-05-09 — best price $23.992024-06-15 — best price $26.992024-06-27 — best price $25.492024-07-25 — best price $25.492024-09-02 — best price $29.992024-10-28 — best price $29.992024-12-04 — best price $29.992024-12-19 — best price $23.992025-01-30 — best price $29.992025-03-24 — best price $23.992025-05-02 — best price $29.992025-06-27 — best price $23.992025-08-14 — best price $29.992025-09-29 — best price $23.992025-11-10 — best price $29.992025-12-10 — best price $23.992026-01-05 — best price $29.992026-03-09 — best price $23.992026-03-26 — best price $29.992026-05-07 — best price $23.992026-06-09 — best price $23.992026-06-25 — best price $23.992026-08-10 — best price $29.992026-08-13 — best price $23.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Twitch viewers

23302026-09-30 22:34 — 157 viewers2026-10-01 07:34 — 102 viewers2026-10-01 16:34 — 84 viewers2026-10-02 01:34 — 58 viewers2026-10-02 10:34 — 74 viewers2026-10-02 19:34 — 32 viewers2026-10-03 04:34 — 9 viewers2026-10-03 13:34 — 4 viewers2026-10-03 22:34 — 16 viewers2026-10-04 07:34 — 78 viewers2026-10-04 16:34 — 4 viewers2026-10-05 01:34 — 161 viewers2026-10-05 10:34 — 109 viewers2026-10-05 19:34 — 10 viewers2026-10-06 04:34 — 21 viewers2026-10-06 13:34 — 36 viewers2026-10-06 22:34 — 5 viewers2026-10-07 07:34 — 62 viewers2026-10-07 16:34 — 83 viewers2026-10-08 01:34 — 154 viewers2026-10-08 10:34 — 85 viewers2026-10-08 19:34 — 186 viewers2026-10-09 04:34 — 23 viewers2026-10-09 13:34 — 0 viewers2026-10-09 22:34 — 14 viewers2026-10-10 07:34 — 114 viewers2026-10-10 16:34 — 6 viewers2026-10-11 01:34 — 14 viewers2026-10-11 10:34 — 58 viewers2026-10-11 19:34 — 32 viewers2026-10-12 04:34 — 0 viewers2026-10-12 13:34 — 5 viewers2026-10-12 22:34 — 0 viewers2026-10-13 07:34 — 26 viewers2026-10-13 16:34 — 77 viewers2026-10-14 01:34 — 11 viewers2026-10-14 10:34 — 28 viewers2026-10-14 19:34 — 8 viewers2026-10-14 21:34 — 7 viewers
Hourly Twitch viewers (census snapshots).

Details

WindowsLinuxSingle-playerSteam WorkshopFamily Sharing2 DLC

1 supported languages: English

Post-launch support: 2 DLC released, first 2022-12-06, latest 2024-04-18 (Steam store data)

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

DwarfFantasySandboxBuildingStrategySurvivalColony SimManagementOpen WorldRogue-like

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsMiscreatedSavage LandsForce of NatureDude SimulatorRise of IndustryCHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience

Similarity via IGDB.

Discord ↗Official site ↗Reddit ↗Wikipedia ↗