Dwarf Fortress vs Faster Than Light
Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress is one of the most unique and massive fantasy game ever made using only ASCII characters and colors. The game is completely open world in the sense that you are given the freedom to play as an adventurer and set off alone or with other adventurers on an exciting journey above or below ground (or both) to seek glory, fame and riches, or to settle down and help develop your very own dwarven outpost where you can then build a fortress, establish a barony, and in general, order your dwarven subjects around. Aside from the obviously different "art style" used, the freedom of choice, and the amazing amount of details in its gameplay, the game is also unique in its world building. The virtual world created is not only randomly generated with distinct civilizations with detailed histories, hundred of points of interests like towns and caves, as well as a flourishing nature, which includes both flora and fauna.With so many amazing features packaged into a simple-looking game, it is no wonder why Dwarf Fortress is a game that has inspired a wide variety of other modern games, both indie and big triple-A ones, until today. Due to its size, you might feel daunted to dive into a game like this, but once you've learned the basics, you will find yourself fully immersed in this completely open world of symbols and colors.
Faster Than Light
Faster Than Light is a pretty unique indie game where you build amazing spaceships, manage your crew and set off to explore the vast, randomly generated galaxy in search of adventure and perhaps a fight. As your ship is built part by part, the enemy can attack specific areas of your ship as well. This means you'll likely encounter various challenging incidences during combat that will force you to think on your feet to save your ship at all costs... since the game's permadeath feature means you will not get a second chance if you lose your ship. Sometimes, you'll also need to make critical decisions to, for example, reroute what remaining juice you have into your shield for a last-ditch effort to defeat the enemy or to your engines while hoping for a quick getaway so you can fight another day.Although its simplistic appearance, Faster Than Light has a very intruiging gameplay that will truly challenge your ability as the commander of a spaceship. The scenarios you encounter are fun enough to solve, the permadeath drastically increase the stakes in the game, and of course, the battles are equally as exciting.