$39.99The Dwarves Fifteen Heroes Against the Horde
Lead a small band of dwarves through a novel-based story, fighting hundreds of enemies in tactical real-time battles.
Is The Dwarves worth it?
The Dwarves is worth it if…
- you play for the story and would follow these dwarves through a whole novel
- you like the idea of a small party shoving its way through a huge horde
- you enjoy pausing mid-battle to plan, then watching the plan collide with physics
- you would rather have memorable characters than deep loot and character builds
Screenshots
A story told with a straight face and a full beard
The whole game follows the first book of Markus Heitz's bestselling dwarf saga: Tungdil's journey across Girdlegard, told with fully voiced dialogue, a narrator, and characters with actual personalities. You do not need to have read the novel; the game retells it from the start, and people who came in cold say the story still pulls them through. Expect classic fantasy with a sense of humour, a plot about holding back the dark, and enough well-written conversation that the battles sometimes feel like the break between chapters.
Battles where the crowd fights back
You field a handful of heroes against hundreds of enemies, and every creature on the field has real physical weight. A strong axe swing knocks orcs into the ones behind them; a shove can send a whole cluster over a cliff. Pause any time to line up the next move, then watch it land. Fifteen heroes join over the course of the story, each with their own skills, and you switch between four of them mid-fight. The physics cut both ways: your own crew can block each other's paths or take damage from friendly special attacks, so the fights stay messy and demand attention. Some players love that chaos, others find it fiddly.
What do you actually do between the fights?
How does travelling the world work?
Girdlegard is a world map you move across freely, from snow-covered summits to shimmering deserts. Travelling triggers encounters: some are conversations, some are small areas to explore with secrets, optional puzzles and lore to uncover. Choices along the way have consequences that reach far into the journey, and some events let you decide the fate of characters in your party.
Is it a deep RPG with loot and builds?
Not really, and it does not try to be. Progression is light: levelling mostly means picking a new combat skill, and equipment is limited to a handful of trinkets rather than a full inventory of armour and weapons. The game puts its weight behind story, characters and battles instead. If deep character customisation is what you want from an RPG, this one will disappoint you.
Can you play it solo?
Yes, it is a singleplayer game throughout. You control a party of up to four heroes at once, switching between them with the number keys and directing their skills in real time, with the option to pause whenever the horde gets overwhelming. There is no multiplayer to arrange, so the whole campaign is yours to take at your own pace.
