Aquifers are one of those things that, in general, I have not had to think about much as a gamer.  Whether this is a shortcoming of game design or a personal failing, I am not entirely sure.  What I have learned about them recently, though, is that unless you know what you’re doing, you don’t want to fuck with them.

I was introduced to Dwarf Fortress a little over a month ago, and in the weeks that followed, I have sunk an awful lot of time into the consideration of aquifers, irrigation control, and the proper gutting and boning of fish.

For those of you unfamiliar, Dwarf Fortress, by Bay 12 Games, is a free game in which you take control of a brave party of dwarf settlers, set out into the wilderness to carve a new home from the very earth itself.  As you will soon see, that simple explanation belies the incredibly complexity of this game.

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