DwarfHeim

Mechanics

In Dwarfheim the action is shown from a top-down perspective. At first glance, the gameplay does not differ too much from what other games of this type have accustomed us to. During this process, we are engaged in gaining resources and expanding our city, as well as recruiting an army and defending our territory against hostile attacks. The authors give us 18 different units (which are equipped with unique abilities), and 34 different constructions are waiting to be built here. In addition, among the 30 different resources we will find both those that are found on the surface and those whose extraction requires digging underground tunnels and building mines.

What distinguishes this game from other city builders, however, is the need to choose a class before the game begins. While in our role as a builder we must focus on constructing buildings and recruiting healing units, as a miner we focus on the extraction of raw materials, building advanced machinery and constructing traps and using explosives. In addition, a diplomat's profession is waiting to be checked. The diplomat is given to the disposal of units specializing in silent action behind enemy lines and sabotage, and can trade with allies. The last class is a warrior whose duty is to put up a great army to defend the city and attack hostile metropolises.

Game modes

The pillar of DwarfHeim is the multiplayer mode for up to four people. Therefore, the developers give us the Friend-pass, which allows us to invite people who do not have their own copy of the game to play.

The main variant of the game in case of multiplayer is the Conquest mode, where our task is to break through enemy fortifications and raze their headquarters to the ground. The divide into classes forces us to work closely together and to select mutually complementary specialisations. For players who prefer to play alone, there are two separate modes, i.e. the sandbox mode, in which we can freely develop our city, and the survival variant.

Technical aspects

The graphic design of DwarfHeim has been maintained in a colourful, slightly caricatured style reminiscent of The Settlers series.