{"id":1684475,"date":"2026-09-05T20:03:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T20:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kDphfbngk7oNwShT6ofnGS"},"modified":"2026-09-05T20:03:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T20:03:33","slug":"dwarf-fortress-co-creator-tarn-adams-was-amazed-other-devs-had-heard-of-his-game-the-first-time-he-went-to-a-convention-i-didnt-know-that-anyone-knew-what-we-were-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/dwarf-fortress-co-creator-tarn-adams-was-amazed-other-devs-had-heard-of-his-game-the-first-time-he-went-to-a-convention-i-didnt-know-that-anyone-knew-what-we-were-doing\/","title":{"rendered":"Dwarf Fortress co-creator Tarn Adams was amazed other devs had heard of his game the first time he went to a convention: &#8216;I didn&#8217;t know that anyone knew what we were doing&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<p>Dwarf Fortress is a bit like caviar\u2014not everyone&#8217;s into it, but the people who are describe their experiences with it like a religious awakening. But the game&#8217;s legendary co-creator, Tarn Adams, didn&#8217;t even know it had a big following for many years, as he told PC Gamer&#8217;s Joshua Wolens in a recent interview at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/gaming-industry\/live\/news\/gamescom-2026-live-hub-the-latest-news-and-previews-from-the-biggest-gaming-event-of-the-year\/\">Gamescom 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was something like 2013, 14 going to PAX in Seattle, and there was an indie mega booth at the time,&#8221; he recalled. &#8220;Of the 50 or 60 games showing\u2014I&#8217;m just ballparking the numbers\u2014I&#8217;d say 90% of them heard of Dwarf Fortress and also had a very amazed fan-ish response when we were introduced.&#8221; It was the first time Adams had a sense of the reach his game had.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That was crazy. I had no idea that that was even a thing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t know that anyone knew what we were doing \u2026 I enjoyed it. I try to have good moral qualities, but I am apparently subject to all forms of flattery and vanity and such.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>If he could go back in time, he wouldn&#8217;t so as to not &#8220;disrupt the timeline.&#8221; But if he could go back in time <em>without <\/em>the risk of doing that, Adams said might encourage himself to evangelize the game more in its early days. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d probably be more confident about getting it in front of more people sooner. I didn&#8217;t know the people to do that, though, so I&#8217;d probably be like &#8216;go meet some more people,'&#8221; he said. &#8220;From the release of the game in 2006 up until around 2013, I didn&#8217;t meet another game developer really, except maybe one or two at a Dwarf Fortress-specific meet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He acknowledges things would have felt different then\u2014he was &#8220;not a very social person&#8221; at the time and DF was &#8220;outsider art&#8221; for a number of years\u2014but he&#8217;d still give his old self &#8220;a little pep talk, maybe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"product\"><a data-dimension112=\"8856944c-a95d-11f1-8f1f-4ba2bfce34aa\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2026 games\" data-dimension48=\"2026 games\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:661px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:98.94%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"6offQUY4CXebir2TC27dMd\" name=\"kingdom come 2 square\" caption=\"\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/dwarf-fortress-co-creator-tarn-adams-was-amazed-other-devs-had-heard-of-his-game-the-first-time-he-went-to-a-convention-i-didnt-know-that-anyone-knew-what-we-were-doing.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"661\" height=\"654\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" credit=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/new-pc-games-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-dimension112=\"8856944c-a95d-11f1-8f1f-4ba2bfce34aa\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2026 games\" data-dimension48=\"2026 games\" data-dimension25=\"\"><strong>2026 games<\/strong><\/a>: All the upcoming games<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Our all-time favorites<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-50-best-free-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Free PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Freebie fest<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-fps-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best FPS games<\/strong><\/a>: Finest gunplay<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-rpgs-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best RPGs<\/strong><\/a>: Grand adventures<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-co-op-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best co-op games<\/strong><\/a>: Better together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fancy-box\">\n<div class=\"fancy_box-title\">Best of the best<\/div>\n<div class=\"fancy_box_body\">\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' >\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"T2iYhXYgxp4f5wqXnvUC4S\" name=\"kindom come deliverance fighting\" caption=\"\" alt=\"Henry engages in bloody warfare with his allies in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/dwarf-fortress-co-creator-tarn-adams-was-amazed-other-devs-had-heard-of-his-game-the-first-time-he-went-to-a-convention-i-didnt-know-that-anyone-knew-what-we-were-doing.png\" mos=\"\" link=\"\" align=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"pinterest-pin-exclude\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\"\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Warhorse Games)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"fancy-box__body-text\"><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/new-pc-games-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>2026 games<\/strong><\/a>: Upcoming games<br \/><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best PC games<\/strong><\/a>: All-time favorites<br \/><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-50-best-free-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Free PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Freebie fest<br \/><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-fps-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best FPS games<\/strong><\/a>: Finest gunplay<br \/><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-rpgs-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best RPGs<\/strong><\/a>: Grand adventures<br \/><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-co-op-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best co-op games<\/strong><\/a>: Better together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/sim\/dwarf-fortress-co-creator-tarn-adams-was-amazed-other-devs-had-heard-of-his-game-the-first-time-he-went-to-a-convention-i-didnt-know-that-anyone-knew-what-we-were-doing\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dwarf Fortress is a bit like caviar\u2014not everyone&#8217;s into it, but the people who are describe their experiences with it like a religious awakening. But the game&#8217;s legendary co-creator, Tarn Adams, didn&#8217;t even know it had a big following for many years, as he told PC Gamer&#8217;s Joshua Wolens in a recent interview at Gamescom 2026. &#8220;It was something like 2013, 14 going to PAX in Seattle, and there was an indie mega booth at the time,&#8221; he recalled. &#8220;Of the 50 or 60 games showing\u2014I&#8217;m just ballparking the numbers\u2014I&#8217;d say 90% of them heard of Dwarf Fortress and also had a very amazed fan-ish response when we were introduced.&#8221; It was the first time Adams had a sense of the reach his game had.&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/dwarf-fortress-co-creator-tarn-adams-was-amazed-other-devs-had-heard-of-his-game-the-first-time-he-went-to-a-convention-i-didnt-know-that-anyone-knew-what-we-were-doing\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1684476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[748,763],"class_list":["post-1684475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc-gamer","tag-games","tag-sim"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dwarf Fortress co-creator Tarn Adams was amazed other devs had heard of his game the first time he went to a convention: &#039;I didn&#039;t know that anyone knew what we were doing&#039; | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dwarf Fortress is a bit like caviar\u2014not everyone&#039;s into it, but the people who are describe their experiences with it like a religious awakening. 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