Solo dev releases cute but "merciless" city-building roguelike after 9 years of work to near-flawless user reviews

Pixelated people run around a burning village in a screenshot from Dotage — (Image credit: Michele Pirovano)

One solo developer has been making this cute village builder for almost a decade, and it’s finally out now.

Dotage (stylised as DotAGE) puts you in the shoes of a bearded village elder who leads his Pips (or peeps or just fellow villagers) as they struggle to survive an impending apocalypse. That certainly doesn’t sound cute, but the game’s vibrant palette and adorable pixel people makes this quite a wholesome calamity.

To fight or simply survive against the apocalypse, you’ll need to manage your community, assign workers to certain tasks, and continually build up your village with better houses and orchards and whatnot. But you won’t have time to become attached to your quaint village, since Dotage has a roguelike twist bolted on, too.

Every time your village goes under, your Elder will remember lost memories, unlocking “new ailments, the mysterious VIPS, new Elders,” and more. Each turn also brings in “forces that govern your world,” which can range from diseases that sweep through your Pips, earthquakes that crush buildings, or potentially non-violent gimmicks such as kittens. (At least I'm hoping those kittens are non-violent.)

Developer Michele Pirovano revealed on Twitter (or Xitter?) that they’ve been “on the same game since 2014” and have been devoting spare time to the project in between working a full-time job. That’s some admirable dedication, especially since Pirovano also said they “could not draw when I started” and that old code was “haunting” them during production.

The hard work seems to have been worth the paranormal code, though. Dotage already sits at a 98% “Very Positive” rating on Steam, with many players praising its charming art and surprisingly complex colony management. So the developer’s spin on The Settlers meets “worker-placement board games” has gone down very well.

Dotage is normally available on Steam for £15/$17.60 - but an introductory offer slashes that down to £12.70/$15 for the next week. There’s also a free demo available, just in case you want a taster.

Keep your eyes glued on our upcoming indie games list to see what else is new.

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.