Dwarf Fortress: Laboratory and Homestead. Issue 1 (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fordyce, Robbie
• Is Part Of: Games and culture. Volume 13:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 3
• Page End: 19
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: Dwarf Fortress -- video game economies -- autonomist Marxism -- experimental economies -- economic laboratory -- homestead games -- postMarxism -- strategy games -- Aristotle -- open games; Games -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Video games -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Computer games -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Interactive multimedia -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 303.4834
• DOI: 10.1177/1555412015603192
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1555-4120

Abstract

The "fortress simulator" game Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games, 2006-present) allows players the space to conduct experiments in economics. The player is not granted an avatar in the world, but this does not mean the player is granted the role of a transcendent deity either. Instead, the player operates on the relational level—completely managing all economic interactions and assigning social codes to different spaces. Lacking a "win" condition, players are free to engage with the game however they wish, including allowing for the immediate and unsympathetic demise of the community. As play continues, Dwarf Fortress ceases to be a fortress and becomes what the autonomists describe as a "laboratory." The social relations of the fortress are upturned and become the site for experiments in production. The fortress too becomes the site for thought experiments on alternative economies, containing not one but many social laboratories.