ABSTRACT
Like many games, Dwarf Fortress doesn’t have an authored story or even handwritten characters or locations. Yet Dwarf Fortress players themselves have produced an impressive body of fiction across different media, and the events described tie tightly into the mechanics of the game. When we talk about emergent narrative, we’re referring to these kinds of stories, imagined and possibly retold by players recounting their experiences in a game, often adding details not present in the game itself, coherent and interesting beyond a simple recounting of the playthrough, but also not entering the more purely creative realm of fan fiction.
