★★★★★ Good way to play df without a computer
Wed Dec 11 2019 ZoeZoePixelI broke my computer a while back and I was not able to play df. However I found this app! For $5 month I can play df without a computer! Now... if you already have a computer then you can just use your computer for free... but for me I need an alternative.... considering the fact tht I don’t have $1000 to spend on a computer. The only reason why this app is rated bad is because people clearly don’t read the description. However I would like to point out a few things
1.the app cost money, after the app purchase you can setup a server on your computer to play df on your phone within your WiFi, however you have the option to pay the app developer $5 a month to essentially be able to play df anywere without owning a computer
2. Considering tht df was made for the computer... the app developer had to make a new GUI... witch is great!
3. Certain features aren’t in the app for example, you can only play fortress mode, no rogue like mode, also can’t change loadout(however you can start the game on your computer first then start the server to be able to have custom load outs), and finally no world map.... so when you gen your world you can’t see it however there’s still a search option in the GUI....
Overall 100% recommend this app if you are unable to access a computer and want to play df anywere for a small fee
★★★★★ Wonderful app & game! Actively supported!
Mon Feb 27 2023 FeralCatIf you’re familiar with DF, you know it’s a great game and not only how rich and deep it is, but also how influential it has been on gaming, essentially spawning multiple genres of computer games. This app allows you to access that rich, deep gaming experience on your freaking *phone*, which is another level of amazing.
The app is actively supported and updated and the developer was very responsive to me reaching out to report issues. He was very patient and helpful in resolving an issue with the server subscription, which he fixed in a couple of days after reporting it. Overall, while this is not the steam premium version on your iOS device, it is a very, very good UI for touch screens and is the only way to get access to DF on your ios device directly (ie not screen sharing). A lot of thought and effort has clearly gone into how to access game features from a remote client UI and I’m loving it!
★★★★★ Play Dwarf Fortress on an iDevice and it actually works great!!
Thu Jan 21 2021 OsgoodKelchWhen I saw this app that can be used on an iPhone or iPad to play a game of Dwarf Fortress running on my PC I thought naaaaa, can't look good, how can it be playable on an iPhone screen.... It's amazing! It works as well if not better than playing on a PC. I thought it would be to small to see on my iPhone. It's not. I keep a game of Dwarf Fortress running on my desktop and use this app to to connect to it and play Dwarf Fortress so I can get my fix anytime. This is well worth the cost. I just read the bad reviews and most of them didn't understand what they were getting into. **You need to have Dwarf Fortress running on a PC or you can rent a server to remotely run the game from this apps author.** If this doesn't make sense to you then this may not be for you. It takes a bit of setup that requires a little technical knowledge but this does not make it a bad app.
★★★★★ Super fun and Works in 2026
Mon Jan 05 2026 GAstraeusLet me start off by saying you do NOT need a subscription. The maker of the app has instructions on the website to explain how to set up the server to work on your computer and you could use the app to connect to your own computer. The subscription is only if you do not want to do that yourself. Once you’re connected to a service though it works great it saves your progress. Lets you do almost anything you want. The only place I see this app lacking is during the selection when you start a new game that gives you only limited options in the search for more locations feature doesn’t work for that. It wasn’t enough for me to do a star, but seeing a fix for that would be great
★★★★★ Worth Every Penny
Sun Jan 27 2019 metal0130I’ve played Dwarf Fortress off and on for years, but I found it very difficult to get quality PC gaming time when my daughter was born. Luckily right before kiddo number two, I’ve discovered and purchased this app.
Game. Changer.
It was remarkably easy to set up on my PC to run on my local network over WiFi, I simply downloaded matching version numbers of DFHack, the game, and the server files. A little cutting and pasting server files into the DF Hack folder and that’s it. Start the game, enter a couple of commands into DF Hack, run the remote on the iPad and everything worked on the very first try (YMMV).
I can now play on my iPad in any room of the house, and I can even play one handed while laying down on the couch.
A few things are tricky to do, but I’m also used to playing with Lazy Newb Pack so it’s probably just me. But I couldn’t see who had already been assigned to a bed as the names didn’t turn green like I used to. Small things like that.
I’d like to see a few minor improvements, like the ability to designate mining by “drawing” with your finger, like you can do with the mouse using LNP. But after getting used to it, it’s very easy to use.
5/5 would pay even more to have “away from PC” access.
★★★★★ Most underrated way to play Dwarf Fortress
Sun May 10 2020 khm6I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of this app til last week. This has easily become my favorite way to play DF! It fixes all the gripes that I have with the original controls and UI, and even adds extra ways to manage things that you can’t use in Vanilla! Can’t wait for this to update after the Steam Release!
P.S. a lot of people are saying you need to pay for a subscription on this. You don’t, that’s only if you want them to host your game. You can easily set up a server that runs in the background on your laptop/PC (by following the instructions on their website) and connect to it instead.
★★★★★ Best. App. Ever.
Sun Oct 13 2019 AlpineBroAlpineI am one of those people that has been trying to play DF for YEARS, occasionally downloading the latest version, but always inevitably bouncing off of the obtuse interface. Eventually, I just ended up settling for reading the hilarious stories of other people’s games, most notably the “Boatmurdered” saga.
But frustrating UI be damned! Lo and behold I stumble across this app, and I am now gleefully playing DF with ease.
This app is incredible because it does two things that I previously thought impossible:
1. It allows you to play DF on the go which is awesome enough, but also,
2. You play it with ridiculously easy to understand touchscreen controls.
This app is a triumph if you are someone like me, who could never get past the laborious PC interface enough to gain the enjoyment that I saw all of these other people having and angrily wished I could have as well.
I am so happy with this app it’s insane. I’ve deleted every other game off of my phone because DF IS the ultimate game. Bought and subscribed! Keep up the awesome work!
★★★★★ Awesome
Thu Jun 20 2019 MortalmossI was surprised how well this app works. The UI and controls actually make the game even more accessible than playing on pc. I haven't tried connecting to my own server running on my own local computer, but the hosted server subscription has been great and I have had no issues at all. Worth the app purchase price and worth the subscription if you are frequently mobile or just don't want to bother song things up yourself. I hope the app continues to get updated and improved!
