You will follow the story of young Tungdil Goldhand, a dwarf raised among humans, who embarks on a journey to find his lost origin. On his quest, Tungdil will meet up to 12 companions who can join his party, all with individual skills and their own backstory. Among them you’ll find the furious dwarf twins Boindil and Boendal, who’ve fought hundreds of battles. But there are also unusual figures like Rodario, a human actor, who is a weak fighter but knows every dirty trick in the book and can masquerade himself to catch his opponents by surprise.

The Dwarves will feature an unprecedented, physics-based real-time Crowd-Combat System. Battles will mostly feature a few brave heroes against huge hordes of enemies (think “Helm’s Deep” in The Lord of the Rings). And to fight back hundreds of orcs, but you’ll need some tricks. So imagine a swing of your hammer will not only hit the five orcs closest to you, but will also throw them backwards into the ranks of their filthy brothers… maybe pushing some of them down a cliff. The whole enemy crowd pushes and shoves, squeezes and stumbles all at the same time and it’s pure fun to raise havoc among them with special attacks and powerful spells. It’s only through tactical use of the environment and all of the heroes skills that players will be able to survive against the hordes outnumbering them by 100 to 1.

You can travel to over 200 locations on the dynamic map, where you will face enemy troops and varied quests. Your decisions will influence the story – will you face a raiding orc horde and risk your neck or do you allow them to plunder a nearby village? We bet the inhabitants won’t appreciate that! Many of the most important locations on the world map can be visited in detailed 3D isometric levels. Here you can talk to NPCs, trade, and explore the world and its rich history.

Almost 5,000 backers supported The Dwarves’ Kickstarter campaign with over $260,000 raised so far – and there is still one week to go. The campaign is far from over, as developer KING Art Games is now aiming for the stretch goals: new game modes, a cooperative multiplayer, a brand-new character, additional quests, orchestral music and many more options are waiting for support from the community.

“Be as steadfast as the granite of which we are made!” the battlecry of King Giselbert, leader of the Fifthling tribe, echoes over the battlements of the mighty fortress at the Stone Gateway. And verily, steadfast the few surviving defenders need to be, as the hordes of Tion – Orcs, Ogres and Dark Elves – are marching in by the hundreds and thousands. There are only a few dozen brave dwarven warriors standing between Girdlegard and these creatures of the darkness. And none of them will see the light of the new dawn…

With this grim prologue, describing a battle that took place over 1.000 years ago, the fantasy tactical RPG The Dwarves begins. In a new, 15-minute long video, developer KING Art Games explains the game’s features. Specifically, how does the combat-system work? What actually IS the crowd combat system? How do the different types of enemies react to the player’s actions and what is the deal with special attacks? After the battle, there is also a small exploration segment showing the protagonist Tungdil wandering through the Vaults of Lot-Ionan …

Key Features:

• The main character in the game is the dwarf Tungdil, who grew up among humans. Over the course of the story he gathers a group of up to 12 companions around him; each of whom have a unique backstory and individual battle skills.
• Before each battle you assemble a group of up to four heroes, who then fight against hundreds of enemies simultaneously… Helm’s Deep sends its regards!
• Innovative Crowd-Combat System: Enemies have a flocking behavior and react using realistic physics. Every action of the player has an impact on all enemies.
• You travel across Girdlegard on a world map that contains dozens of battlefields and places just waiting to be discovered.
• Bestselling author Markus Heitz is directly involved in the project as a consultant and will contribute some quests and brand new characters.