i love base building games. i played through the 4 campaign maps (about 80 hours). it's not dwarf fortress (DF). but that doesn't mean is worse - it's different and alot more user-friendly. i usually don't like games that have been designed for console or tablets, but in this case it doesn't feel that way. the UI is easy to use and functional. you build your home underground, mining resources and using them to craft items. by doing so you gain experience and unlock better items. the tech tree is really large and motivating, though for some techs you need to craft items that you don't really need and that's a bit annoying. you start with one dwarf, and get more as you gain more experience. getting to 6-7 dwarves is quite fast, then it becomes slower. at the end of the maps i usually have about 12-14. there's a goal (tough the game doesn't tell you) and that's alot more motivating than DF. the low number of dwarves, it gives you the "everyone counts" feeling. dwarves also get exp for the things they're doing, but i didn't notice a difference between a novice and a master. if a dwarf dies, you get a replacement 5 minutes later, so you just lose the exp. contrary to DF you find better resources as you dig deeper, which is also motivating. you will also encounter dangers down there, though they are not a serious problem, but interesting. during nighttime, a few monsters attack, and every 45 mins you get a big monster attack of increasing difficulty. this does get repetitive, but not more than the attacks in DF or other similar games. i've played well over 100 hours DF and this is the closest i've found (i also liked Rimworld but not Gnomoria, Banished or Timber and Stone). the AI is not impressing, but it didn't feel worse than any of the other similar games. i like CTW because you can 'win", the UI is good, you have a tech tree and less dwarves. the 4 different worlds also offer slightly different gameplay. you can also play it sandbox style without big monster waves - my 7 year old daughters love that.
