This Sunday's New York Times Magazine interviews the creators of epic ASCII megagame Dwarf Fortress... ...and Metafilter credited as the "popular blog" which fueled public awareness of DF! [more inside]
posted by Bwithh on Jul 21, 2011 - 71 comments

Computation doesn't require complicated electronic circuitry. It can be done with mechanical gears, fluids, marbles, tinkertoys and dominoes, even the human eye. Recently folks have been building computers inside of virtual realities. It's been done with Minesweeper, Little Big Planet, and perhaps most ambitiously, a complete 8-bit computer built within Dwarf Fortress.
posted by empath on Apr 15, 2010 - 50 comments

The menacingly complex roguelike (previously) world-building game Dwarf Fortress (previously) is busting into the mainstream with an article in a gamer mag. Scans: page 1, page 2, page 3. For the less ASCII-minded among us, Let's Play has a thorough (and absurd, and tragic) chronicle of the fortress of Koganusan, or Boatmurdered, so you won't have to wait 20 minutes for the world to generate and be populated with mandrills and kobolds. via tigsource, where you should also check out their latest recommended independent games list.
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Aug 12, 2007 - 64 comments

Dwarf Fortress is the best game you haven't played yet. A rogue-like crossed with Civilization/Dungeon Keeper, freely available (although in Alpha), completely random and incredibly deep. The Wiki will help you get started.
posted by WinnipegDragon on Sep 19, 2006 - 21 comments