Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot — A Roguelike Auto-Battler with Heart
A cheeky, gear-heavy autobattler where you mold a squad of ten bearded maniacs. Deep crafting, long runs, and a love-it-or-hate-it loop—I got hooked and frustrated in equal measure.
I went into Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot with low expectations and a soft spot for anything with beards and loot. Hamma Studios delivers a mash-up of roguelike progression, RPG gear systems and auto-battler tactics — all wrapped in a cheeky dwarf aesthetic. What hooks you is the feeling of slowly turning two sad recruits into a ten-strong warband; what can frustrate is the length of runs and a UI that sometimes feels like it was forged with a hammer and very little polish. If you enjoy micromanaging gear, positioning and incremental upgrades, this one will scratch an odd but satisfying itch.
From Two Beards to Ten: The Run Loop
You begin each run with two poorly equipped dwarves and a tiny pool of options, and the game’s core is that slow, satisfying escalation. Between fights you choose whether to recruit, buy gear, invest in crafting or unlock permanent Gems; each decision nudges your run in a different direction. Battles themselves are automatic—your preparation matters more than your reaction time—so you’ll spend most of your time in menus tweaking formations, assigning roles and juggling equipment. I loved the tension of placing a fragile mage behind two tanks, only to watch everything unravel because I misjudged a mob’s reach. Runs can be long: early grind for gold is real, and some players complained they spend hours before meaningful choices appear.
When Positioning Feels Like Planning a Raid
What sets Dwarves apart is how it treats formations like an MMO pull — you literally plan the next engagement. There are synergies from weapon types, special items and crafted gear that rewrite how a dwarf behaves in combat; a well-placed disruptor can ruin an enemy backline’s day. The forge and crafting systems give the gear loop real depth: upgrading an item or rerolling traits can flip a hero from “meh” to “carry material”. Yes, it sometimes feels like spreadsheeting with anvils, but when a newly-forged sword turns a losing fight into a clutch win, the payoff is intoxicating. The balance tilts between boredom during long early runs and delight when synergies finally click.
A Gruff, Serviceable Presentation
Visually the game leans on chunky, readable sprites and colorful battlefields that keep fights legible even when chaos ensues. Sound design and music are surprisingly good — several user reviews named the soundtrack a big plus, and I agree: it keeps you invested. Performance on Windows is solid (Steam Deck reports are positive, too), but the UI and tutorials could use love: tooltips sometimes feel terse, and the gamepad/start-game hiccup mentioned by players is a notable bug. Accessibility settings are basic; I’d like clearer stat explanations and quicker forge shortcuts, small QoL changes that would save a lot of frustration.
Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot is a love letter to players who enjoy slow-burn progression, gear tinkering and careful formation play. It’s not perfect — the onboarding, UI and early-game pacing need attention — but when the systems click the game delivers memorable clutch moments and genuine satisfaction. Recommend if you like deep crafting, theorycrafting and long runs; skip or wait for QoL patches if you want faster, cleaner autobattling.
Pros
- Deep gear and crafting systems that reward planning
- Tactically satisfying formation and role decisions
- Great soundtrack and readable, charming visuals
- High replay value for theorycrafters who love min-maxing
Cons
- Runs can feel overly long and grindy at first
- Clunky UI and weak tutorials hinder onboarding
- Some bugs (gamepad/start issues) and QoL missing
Player Opinion
Players are split, and you can see why. Many praise the game for its addictive loop, deep forging mechanics and the joy of watching a crafted build turn the tide of battle — several comments mentioned playing for five to ten hours straight and planning to sink 50+ hours. The soundtrack and the charm of dwarf-centric writing also get repeated kudos. On the other hand, a cluster of negative reviews cites excessive early-game grind, opaque stats, clunky UI and poor tutorials that leave new players guessing what to do. Some users report gamepad issues when starting matches, and a handful felt battles devolved into messy auto-resolutions that didn’t always reward tactical choices. If you like methodical, long-form runs and enjoy experimenting with gear and formations, the community says it’s worth it; if you want fast, snackable autobattles you'll likely be frustrated.