Infamously simulation-heavy colony builder Dwarf Fortress is getting a Myth and Magic update that, at the possible risk of being maybe a touch hyperbolic, threatens to make all other fantasy game spellcraft look like a sleepy bout of Got Your Nose. It’s summarised by Bay12 co-founder Tarn Adams as a set of procedural systems “that go beyond combining spell effects… straight to the fundamental cosmological makeup of the universe”, allowing for “magical situations that you cannot get any other way.”

So many dwarves are going to die, aren’t they, Tarn? And in such exotic and unexpected ways. Here’s a brief video announcing the update, which is coming later this year.

If I’m reading the tea leaves correctly, the update will generate a variety of approaches to sorcery in the course of regular world generation. Distinct species of wizardry and witchcraft will arise with tectonic abandon in the course of laying down rivers and mountains, and charting the fates of creatures, populations and settlements. It certainly sounds like a big bounce beyond the existing relatively threadbare magic system.

As Adams goes on, this will allow “your fortresses to pursue magical research that really feels like discovery”, encompassing “magic materials, enchantments, rituals, and ruins” together with spells that just “blow things up”. You can see a few examples in the video, including a goblin-shredding hex that doubles as a means of shifting stone. All of it tied into “how that particular universe works down to its bones”, Adams promises.

They’ve been working on the feature for many years. I probably don’t need to remind you Rock Paper Magma Shotgunners that Dwarf Fortress is pretty intense and elaborate even without any procgen thaumaturgy. If you do need reminding, here’s Nate’s old Basement of Curiosity series. Please bear in mind that the first entry was written in 2019, long before the launch of the Steam edition with its more approachable artstyle – the game has grown horrifyingly since then. In 2023, Sin also had thoughts on why none of Dwarf Fortress’s many imitators or fellow travellers have managed to eclipse it.