Game Review: Dwarves: Glory, Death, and Loot (PC)

Roguelites are fun, but what happens when you cross one with a side-scrolling auto-battler and theme it around dwarves? You get Dwarves: Glory, Death, and Loot. Of course, with any roguelite, it’s all about repetition, replayability, and the overall fun factor. Can this game deliver something unique enough to stand out amongst the many others within its genre?

Let’s go!

Title: Dwarves: Glory, Death, and Loot
Platform: PC/Steam (Reviewed), Mobile, Nintendo Switch
Developer: Ichbinhamma, Hamma Studios
Publisher: Ichbinhamma, Sidekick Publishing, Gamersky Games
Release Date: January 22, 2026
Price: $14.99

Gameplay & Systems

Like most roguelites, Dwarves: Glory, Death, and Loot is fairly simple. You pick a clan (aka a save slot), then you spend your gold on buying equipment for the two dwarves you are given, or you try to recruit some more. You then go into battle, where the game handles everything for you, and you either win and collect experience and gold, or you lose, and your run is over. From here, the gameplay loop is fighting, looting, and buying more equipment/recruiting more dwarves to build out your team, and push as far as possible.

Also, with most roguelites, expect to fail early and fail often. There are systems in place to help you progress further, namely a skill tree called the Rune Circle, where you can spend Gems and Rune Points to increase your base stats such as Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Wisdom, Intellect, and so forth. Some paths can also increase the amount of gold you get; however, the more gems you spend, the more the cost increases, so it keeps you coming back and farming them to push yourself forward. What is nice is that each clan (aka save spot) has its own Rune Circle, so you can build out your circle as you see fit, change to another clan, build that one a different way, and so forth. So, if you have a favorite build and RNG is in your favor, you can load up your preferred clan and try to progress. You can even rename your clans, too, to fit your personal quirkiness.

The Rune Circle may be persistent, but there are many other ways to upgrade your dwarves that reset with every run. The first, obviously, is with gear. Every class of dwarf has a main stat. For example, Knights favor Stamina, Warriors favor Strength, Thieves favor Dexterity, and so forth. Look at the stats on the gear, find the ones that are weighted towards what your class favors, and you’re all set. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can reroll for some gold and hope that new offerings are more in your favor.

The gear also comes in different quality levels. You have White, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, and Red… or Normal, Good, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic. I’m sure you’ve seen this rarity chain in many other games. After all, it was popularized by World of Warcraft, and nearly every game with a gear quality system afterward must have thought it was a great system because it’s everywhere these days.

When it comes to unused gear, you can sell it back for gold, or you can bring it to the forge. Here, you can break down the gear and get crafting materials, or you can spend crafting materials and gold to upgrade that piece of gear. When you do, you are given three options for where you can increase the stats or properties of the gear when you upgrade it, adding another layer of customizability.

Also, there is a chest on the lower right side that starts off costing 800 gold. The cost will increase each time you use it, but it will unlock new items and increase the chances of you finding higher-quality pieces of gear.

If the Rune Circle, Gear, and Upgrading weren’t enough customization, you can also change your Formation. There are four preset formations you can choose from, with a lot more that you can unlock over time. This is where stats such as Speed, Defense, and even the type of classes you’re running come into effect. You’ll notice that during battle, some characters aren’t as fast as others and lag behind, so formations can help you fix that.

Once you have everything set up the way you like it, it’s time to head into battle. You’re given three options to choose from, but if you don’t like what you see, you can reroll to get new encounters. Here, you’ll face off against a myriad of different orcs. Some are just melee-style warriors, you have healer shamans, spell casters, archers, and everything else under the sun. The tougher the battle, the more experience and gold you are rewarded. Along the way, you will be offered Elite battles and sometimes boss battles against a Chieftain.

On the left, you’ll notice a timeline with different breakpoints. This lets you know what is coming up, so that you’re not taken by surprise. Once you complete a breakpoint, you’ll be rewarded with rare items that have passive effects so long as they remain in your inventory. If it’s something that doesn’t fit your build, you can sell them for a high amount of gold; however, if it is something you need, you can keep it and upgrade it in the forge, but they cost insane amounts of gold to do so. Thankfully, we have a Rune Circle that can help with that!

Another way to earn rewards comes in the form of Quests. Thankfully, quests don’t cost gold to reroll, but you are given a limited number of times that you can reroll a quest. They range from taking out a wanted enemy to crafting a powerful item, or slaughtering orcs using different builds. Quests reset on a timer, so that there is always a constant supply of them waiting for you.

Overall Thoughts

Addicting.

I think that sums up the game in one word. When I first dove in, I died often, but once I built out my Rune Circle, I found myself progressing more and more. I had a few games now with 50+ wins in battle, but I began to hit another wall.

One interesting aspect is that once you do surpass 50 wins, you unlock Raids. Raids are against a very tough single boss, and I figured “Well, my first raid… they’ll probably let me win just to see what it’s like, right?”

Nope.

I got annihilated, and thus ended my first-ever 50+ win run. RIP me.

But that’s the fun part about this game. I’m sure that, like most roguelites, there is a point that will come when I unlock everything, have a full Rune Circle, and can push to an insane number of victories. I’m sure, at some point, I’ll make bosses fall over as I stand atop their corpses and laugh, but the game isn’t built to let you do that immediately. It’s all about the journey, and even though combat is all automated (except for special abilities that will pop up that you can click on), just building out your time, finding items that interact well with your chosen classes, and that feeling of progression makes for a fun and addictive experience.

There is only one downside I can think of with this game, and that is it doesn’t feel all that great to play with a controller on PC. While it’s fine as it is, I had a much better experience playing with a mouse. While there are keyboard shortcuts, I never used them as left and right-clicking was all that was needed, and it felt a lot better than trying to use a controller. While I appreciate that the option is there for those who like it, my recommendation would be to just use a mouse.

While the music can get a bit repetitive as you’re going through early progression, that is remedied if you have purchased the Supporter Pack DLC, which includes a music randomizer. That way, you can mix it up as you level up!

Despite the minor complaints, Dwarves: Glory, Death, and Loot is an excellent time sink that will keep you engaged if you’re into roguelites or the general nature of starting fresh every run with some background progression. If you have $14.99 to spare, then I believe this game will be well worth every penny.

Review Disclosure Statement: Dwarves: Glory, Death, and Loot for PC (Steam) was provided to us by Ichbinhamma / Hamma Studios for review purposes. For more information on how we review games and other media, please see our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.

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