I write with a split screen and my peripheral vision tracking my number of idle dwarfs (fluctuating from 2-5). It has rained five times and the season just changed for the second; Autumn has come. I have eleven citizens now (a few announcements back, migrants arrived). My wild animals include a giant skunk (“large monster in the form of a skunk”) and peach-faced lovebird man (“colorful person with the head and wings of a peach-faced lovebird”). I have seven tame animals, of which two dogs have been adopted. Muthkat Adasshorast, my hammerer, is especially pleased with his pet (In his own words, “I played with my pet. I’m feeling so fond!”). No one has gone dead or missing; everyone appears to be healthy (much to my chagrin). I have two burrows (named Halls and Persiflage). The Military of Lorbamnol has two squads (The Granite Orbs and The Feral Quakes), with three soldiers, but only one active. Ilral Ingizudil wins my most productive citizen award – she first became militia commander, and then a bookkeeper of The Books of Speechlessness. She is fifty-six and very fat, with dark tan skin, gold hair, and ochre eyes. She “often feels lustful,” likes catapult parts and giant chinchillas, but “absolutely detests flies” and “doesn’t handle stress well.” Unfortunately, she’s also “somewhat uncomfortable around those that appear unusual or live different from herself.”
It took me several world-builds and a few tutorials to make it this far, and I’m still not sure I have a clue as to what I’m doing – rather, whether or not I’m in any way working towards the objective of the game – but I’m certainly having fun. I quite literally squealed with delight, some hours ago, when I discovered surprise hedgehogs and remains of magpies and peach-faced lovebirds among claystone pebbles, cherry flowers, and long yam plants while skimming across the lush yet minimalistic map with the “k” key activated.
Maybe I’m just charmed by the characters populating my world. Maybe it’s because I’ve also gotten to entertain my morbid inclinations by collecting two stockpiles of corpses and preparing a cat for slaughter.
And – yikes! In the few minutes I’ve taken to write this, a third citizen has become a militia commander, Giant Kea monsters have stolen a wheelbarrow, stepladder, and a copper pick – and one has died! Furthermore, a caravan from Velminkot has arrived with several merchants (including Bim Luslemaban, who has fuse-lobed narrow ears and gapped teeth, a swordsdwarf, and a marksdwarf). I must go attend to the site; I’m told “merchants need a trade depot to unload their goods…” and my idling dwarves have gone up to 7-9. This is unacceptable, but I also have no idea how to create a trade depot. Alas, pressing the question mark too many times will yield this message:
But yes, this game is a “micromanager’s dream” (as Weiner wrote in NYT) and I can see myself using it for found poetry projects. Also, a chicken leather dress? My dwarves are so fashion forward. I’m a fan.
