I love this game, because you can create a great castle and you don't need to complete quests to get positives emoj in this game.

2025 review. To this day, they still don't have a priority system or task denial system which tells you ALL you need to know about the quality of game to expect, had it for years, never fixed. They have a skill system in place which utilises books and items to no effect really as it is all left to chance who ends up doing what. You have a super jacked carpenter? Too bad your 0 skill miner is on the bench. Could he be mining? 100% yes, Could he be hauling? 100% yes. But no, he is on the carpentry bench while your actualy carpenter is out chopping a tree or fishing lol

Everything else from there is just decorative in a game like this, core mechanics failed there.

Important note: I used to play this game on the ipad.

My review is for ppl that used to play it back on mobile (when it was available) and are wondering if its worth picking it up again here on steam.

If you liked the game back then on mobile, def give it a go here!
especially on a sale. I was at first hesitant and not sure if I would like it due to different controls etc. but it's honestly a lot easier on PC. I breezed through all the levels very easily, also the new ones I didn't know.

The heroes from the DLC can be very helpful. espec the insane fire guy. he can clean mob waves rly good. just be aware that one of the items he needs to be crafted, is a silver ore! If u unlock him early in the store make sure to also grab one of these if u dont have one.

I like the fact that each lvl/map forces u to tackle things differently. if u stick to a fix formula/routine - u will have a hard time. figure out how the specific world functions and adapt. I rly like this aspect!

Having played the game on mobile first, will have teached u how to deal with pathfinding and dwarfs sometimes being stupid. I did not have any issues with that aspect at all.

In terms of DLCs if u start fresh on PC coming from mobile - here is my opinion:
I recommend getting these DLCs before u start a new campaign/fresh full playthrough
Heroes -> worth it. helps a lot! to get money easy and fast: fishing and then deconstruct the old boots u get from it.
Bosses & Monsters -> adds big/extra bosses to the existing maps. I rly enjoyed this one!
Abandoned Mines -> adds to the existing maps. it's free. get it!
Sisters in Arms -> this one also existed on mobile. I rly like the pets and the female dwarfs. especially the pets can be useful to keep the rats and nightly monsters at bay.

Maybe:
Grottoes -> nice to have, but not a must imo. get it on sale. adds to the existing maps

For later once u are done with the normal maps:
Heart of Evil -> new world/campaign // From all the new worlds I liked this one the least.
Lonely Mountain -> new world/campaign // I rly enjoyed this one! u have to tackle the map very differently. very nice challenging.
Temples of 4 Elements -> new world/campaign // I also rly enjoyed this one. Some of the fights can be quite tough. Be prepared.

DLCs not listed here, I have not tried.