Diggles: The Myth of Fenris Reviews

one of my childhood memories - I simply love it

Wiggles/Diggles, the original gangsta 2001 colony sim before the age of sims, before the wave of colony/building/crafting games. A classic. (Oh, the only flaw, this version is a little choppy/laggy at times, sadly.)

I used to play this game as a kid and loved it. Unfortunately, it runs terribly on my PC—it's a jittery mess, and the UI is tiny at 4K resolution. Apparently, it was like this 20 years ago, but it's been too long to remember. I'd love to finish it, but it's insane how it feels like 5 FPS even when running at 200.

Uniquely adorable colony manager, but be warned... it's very slow. You manage a bunch of dwarfs that do some things on command, like digging, picking resources, fighting but other chores like transport, cooking, training, building or inventing stuff they only do during their designated work time and only if they are happy. To keep them happy they have to be fed, rested and entertained, otherwise they go on strike. This lack of complete control is very rewarding when things happen, but can also be very frustrating when they don't. This game broke my spirit 20 years ago because of exactly that. Now, when older and much more patient I am happy that I came back to it and was able to complete it! A feat that at the time of me writing this ONLY 2.6% players achieved!

The game was originally released in 2001 in Germany under the name "Wiggles" and aside from patching it to run on Win 10 nothing was changed from the original. The game hates you and tries its best for you to fail miserably. This is helped by many bugs which are patched in Steam/GOG version allegedly. In my multiple attempts to beat the game over the years I never got further than the Crystal World. The phrase "stubborn like a dwarf" applies to this game. E.g. your Wiggles/Diggles might stop producing food all of a sudden and rather die than follow your orders. Buyers without rose tinted nostalgia glasses should be aware that despite the lengthy in-game introduction on how to play you aren't told nearly enough to play successfully. Despite that said the game has undeniable charm as a strategy builder but it never got the polish which would it make more palatable for a broader audience.