Dwarf Fortress 0.47.05

Dwarf Fortress has been an oddity throughout its existence. It's only created by two brothers, living out of the same apartment for as longa s the game was in development. They didn't even take donations in the beginning - only forced to once medical conditions began threatening them. And most importantly? The game has been in development for 17 years and counting. These two brothers have created the most impressive simulation games in history.

Don't get me wrong, though. Dwarf Fortress is extremely obtuse and difficult to play. Without graphic packs installed, the game uses simple ASCII graphics that serve as an incredibly steep learning curve. However, it's impressive in that it will literally generate an entire world for you, complete with history and lore. Most people play the game for its Fortress Mode, where you have to build a fortress for a small group of dwarves.

The stories online of the many ways your fortress can get destroyed in the most entertaining fashion is insane. You'll have to manage everything from water flow to storage to even a vampiric corruption or a goblin horde attack. There are darkly humorous ways to play optimally - for example, one of the most efficient ways to train your guards is to stick them in a room and throw things at them to train their defensive stats.

However, there's also adventure mode, where you take control of a single character in the big wide world. They're able to give benefits to your fortress, but it's more likely that they'll simply die quickly. Dwarf Fortress is easily one of the most unique and more importantly, deep and alive games available to anybody. If you can get past the steep learning curve, the sky's the limit.