Deep Ledger

Deep Ledger is an independent fan guide, not the official wiki and not connected to the game's makers. For exact, current, version-by-version detail, the official community reference lives at dwarffortresswiki.org.

Dwarf Fortress is a construction and management game in which you guide a small band of dwarves as they carve a home out of a mountain, and then watch that home succeed, struggle and, sooner or later, collapse in some spectacular way. Wikipedia's article on the game describes it as a construction and management simulation and roguelike made by Bay 12 Games, first released as a free public alpha in 2006.

You never control a dwarf directly. You mark stone to be dug, place workshops, set up stockpiles and give orders, and the dwarves decide for themselves when and how to carry them out. Each one has a personality, friendships, grudges, favourite materials and a memory of every bad meal. Around them the game runs a whole simulated world with its own history, so the goblins at your gate belong to a real civilisation with real reasons to hate you.

The game has been around a long time, but it is not a museum piece. The Steam store page lists the current commercial edition, with graphics and a reworked interface, as released on 6 December 2022, while Bay 12 Games' page for the game still offers the classic version for download. The official community wiki presents itself as a body of guides and advice contributed by players, and remains the place to check exact numbers.

Who this guide is for

Deep Ledger is for the player who has opened the game, stared at a screen full of symbols or tiny pictures, and wondered where on earth to begin. It is also for the player who has lost three fortresses and would like the fourth to last a little longer, and for anyone curious about why so many people talk about this game with the fondness usually reserved for an old friend who once set the kitchen on fire.

Every page here explains a concept rather than a keystroke. The game's menus and controls have changed between releases, so this guide talks about what things are and why they behave the way they do: why water is a tool and a threat, why an aquifer stops your pick, why a dwarf who has not slept properly in weeks is a problem for everyone near him. When you need the exact menu, value or recipe for your version, the official wiki is the right tool, and the pages below say so where it matters.

If you are brand new, start with your first fortress and the common questions page, then read losing is fun before your first disaster rather than after it. If you already know your way around a workshop, jump straight to water, magma or dwarven computing and enjoy yourself.

How the guide is organised

The pages fall into six groups. Start covers the first hours and the mindset the game rewards. Look and tools deals with how the game is drawn and the community tools around it. Building is about stone, fluids, machinery and layout. Dwarves is about the people themselves and what keeps them fed, busy and sane. The world looks outward, to armies, traders, history and adventure. About covers the game's makers, a page on how the game models injury and the real anatomy behind it, and a note on this guide.