LIVE | FIRST LOOK at NEW 3D Dwarven City Builder! - King of the Dwarves Demo Gameplay

Storyline / Premise

• You lead a small dwarf settlement sent into the heart of a mountain to found a kingdom and build a throne for the king.
• The deeper you dig the more valuable resources you find — but danger grows (enemies, possible cave-ins, lava, etc.).
• Demo objective: expand the settlement, research early tech, build a throne — building the throne triggers an enemy wave (the demo ends after you defend).

Gameplay highlights (what the streamer did and saw)

• 3D layered mountain: dig tunnels and rooms vertically and horizontally across many levels (example: +17 above / −46 below).
• Colony management loop: assign dwarves to jobs (miners, builders, scholars, smiths, food/brew/serve workers, warriors), build production/storage, research new tech.
• Combat: build armory/garrisons and train warriors — waves of attackers come and must be repelled (demo includes at least one wave after the throne).
• Resources observed: wood, raw stone, refined stone, coal, iron, gold, mushrooms, vegetables, beer, stew.
• Research/knowledge: scholars/studies generate knowledge points used to unlock new buildings and mining types (mining solid rock, iron, etc.).

Production chains demonstrated

• Water pump: research → build near a non-solid block / water source → water for farms/brewery.
• Mushroom farms: early food source (needs water).
• Brewery: mushrooms + water → beer (beer increases happiness / used for stew).
• Vegetable farms: food variety.
• Stew: vegetables + beer → higher food value and increased happiness.
• Stone refinement: coal + stone → refined stone for walls, pillars, etc.

Building features and 3D design

• Ladders, stairs, doors, walls, storage buildings (for wood, raw/refined stone, coal, iron), garrisons/armory, pillars and decorative/statue pieces (some statues require extra vertical space).
• Leave 1–3 blocks between multi-level constructions for visibility and navigation; narrow one-block corridors can be confusing.
• Use stairs or ladders to connect levels; stairs are more convenient.
• Watch vertical space: some decorations/statues are multiple blocks high.

Key tips & early-game strategy (from the stream / best practices)

Start research and assign roles early

• Build a study and assign scholars to generate knowledge.
• Prioritize water pump research and placement (pumps need a non-solid block below and access to a water source).

Workforce balance and shifts

• Add extra staff to each worker group so buildings that require multiple workers (farms, brewery) can operate in shifts — the game uses shared staffing rather than per-building single assignment.
• Avoid too many idle workers, but keep some spare to cover breaks so production doesn’t stall.

Food, happiness, and population growth

• Happiness drives population growth (happier dwarves → more arrivals). Keep dwarves fed, watered, and rested.
• Provide food variety (mushrooms → veggies → stew) and beer to raise happiness and attract more dwarves.
• Lowering workload can improve happiness but may slow progress — raise workload once happiness is stable.

Storage and production flow

• Build enough storage types and capacity near production to prevent full storage from blocking production (storage full = production stall).
• The demo lacked per-item storage assignment, so separate storage buildings by purpose (mushroom, vegetable, stew, beer, raw/refined stone, coal, iron).

Mining & resources

• Research mining for tougher rock types (solid rock, iron) before expecting to mine them.
• Strip-mine / carve out large work areas if you need a lot of stone quickly — deeper levels have better solid rock and ore.
• Mark multiple blocks to mine (tutorial requires marking a number of blocks).

Combat preparation

• Build armory and garrisons, produce weapons/shields (requires metal smithing), train warriors before major milestones (throne) to be ready for waves.

Useful controls / UI tips seen in stream

• Ctrl + scroll to move camera up/down levels; scroll to zoom; rotation keys available.
• Game speed controls (example: F2/F3 in stream) to speed up slow early-game waits.
• Holding Shift can select blocks below (useful when marking multi-layer mining).
• Studies have capacity per scholar; multiple studies may be needed to increase knowledge capacity.

Problems / Things to watch (demo limitations / annoyances)

• Storage cannot be assigned to specific item types — mushrooms can fill all storage and block other goods. Workaround: build many separate storage buildings and place them near relevant producers.
• Some rocks are unmineable until researching the proper mining tech; resource display and mining target selection can be unreliable at times (occasional visibility quirks).
• Building placement rotation and camera controls can be awkward and cause unexpected camera changes.
• Resource/consumption UI values oscillated (numbers jump between updates), making it hard to track exact consumption without waiting for updates.

Step-by-step early-game checklist (practical sequence used)

1. Create a study and assign 1–2 scholars.
2. Assign a couple of dwarves as miners and builders; leave some unassigned for flexibility.
3. Research the water pump and place it near water.
4. Build small housing (beds) to allow more arrivals; more beds → more dwarves.
5. Build mushroom farms (early food) and a brewery (beer) to increase happiness.
6. Build storage buildings near production lines (wood, raw stone, food, drink).
7. Research mining solid rock / iron and expand mining shafts for solid stone and ore.
8. Build stone refinery / smelters to produce refined stone and metal goods.
9. Construct armory and garrison; make weapons/shields; recruit/train warriors.
10. Build the throne (demo milestone) — be ready for the incoming enemy wave.

Demo end & replay takeaway

• Building the throne triggers a final enemy assault. Warriors in garrisons will respond; the demo wraps up after defending.
• The streamer enjoyed the demo and compared it favorably to colony builders like Timberborn, with the added twist of mandatory defenses and 3D layered digging.

Note: The streamer repeatedly tested mechanics (research → pump → farms → brewery → storage → refine → garrison → throne) and demonstrated that careful workforce balancing, dedicated storage placement, and early research priorities are key to a smooth start.

Sources / References / Chat participants mentioned

• Games / references: Timberborn, Dungeon Keeper, Lord of the Rings (Moria reference), Steam (demo/wishlist/store), (jokingly) Shrek.
• Chatters/viewers named in subtitles: Brand, Verisha, Solar, otherworldly, Magic Q, PWG, Clovis, Sodal.