This is the deepest, biggest, and most realistic game I have ever played.
This game is amazing. It is the most ambitious game I have ever played, and it is so deep, I am always coming back for more. When you first fire up the game, you are treated to a 5 minute long world building process, in which the game randomly generates the world based on erosion, wind patterns, water patterns, weather, magma, and many other factors. The game also generates a deep and complicated history for the world, along with many historical figures and events. After this lengthy world-building process (which will kill your computer) you have to choose if you want to go into adventure mode, which is a bare-bones world explorer without much content. There is also legends mode, which allows you to read through the history of your world, and look at the history that your fortress will eventually add to the world. Lastly, there is the meat of the game; fortress mode. In fortress mode, you start with seven dwarves of varying professions who have to dig into the living stone (of which there are more than 100 types) to survive. You will begin with above and below ground farms, rudimentary crafting abilities, small quarters, and ugly caverns. In time, nobles will begin to move in, along with migrations of other dwarves, carpenters, gem cutters, soldiers, farmers, and everything in between. Nobles will make mandates, banning exports or demanding goods be made. In time, your fortress will get an economy, with every dwarf earning their pay when doing jobs, getting sent to jail or executed for their crimes, and much more. Of course, you can't win dwarf fortress. Eventually, your fortress may succumb to a goblin invasion, because the military is extremely buggy, and your army dwarves will rarely, if ever, train. Also, a dwarf might go mad from a "mood" in which a dwarf demands materials to make a legendary item, and if he does not receive them, will go berserk or get depressed. If a dwarf is unhappy, it can "tantrum" running around berserk trying to kill other dwarves. They can also become melancholy, jumping into rivers or magma pools to end their misery. Eventually, your fortress will descend into chaos, forcing you to abandon and start anew. This is all part of the fun.
The game has some problems, just like any other game. The interface is a mess, with many incomprehensible menus, lists, and other random things. There is also no tutorial to speak of, so unless you use a great online tutorial, (as I did) the learning curve is akin to a wall. It is also quite buggy in the stage I am reviewing it in. It is an alpha, so it can be forgiven. My main problem with the game is the military. It is simply broken. The warriors refuse to pick up weapons, train, or do anything remotely useful. This is a big problem when goblins or other supernatural creatures try to attack you, as you will be defenseless (unless you use traps, walls, and drawbridges). Also, the entire game is in a modified ASCII format, which it uses as graphics. So a dwarf is a smiley face, some of the stones are "#" or "@", and it can be completely incomprehensible when you start up the game. You can also use Mike May's "Mayday" tileset, which is my personal favorite.
Despite it's flaws, dwarf fortress is amazing. It's graphics are incomprehensible, it's interface is a mess, but it still goes to places no game has ever gone before. It was made by two guys, and best of all, it's free.
9.5/10 (I will not give this game my usual ratings for graphics, gameplay, etc, because they do not apply correctly to this game)