On the topic of obscure games...

Dwarf Fortress is a very strange game.  The unseasoned player will likely feel sick playing for the first time.  The game is presented in top of the line, new age, high definition ASCII format.  It seems like a stupid little version of SimCity or something, and sure it can be regarded as such.  But when you understand the complexity and all that goes on underneath its facade, you can figure out pretty quickly why it takes so much processing power to run.  The game itself can have very strange and deep story lines.  No two games are ever the same, and losing is half the fun, especially with a little imagination.  A personal experience with it after the jump.

This is kinda what the game looks like.

It was a slow start in my fortress, as I was only beginning.  I knew enough to get by, but nothing majorly complex.  Over the course of a few hours, I had buildings, food, supplies, a well, my Dwarves were pretty happy, and things were good.  Before long, one of the Dwarves, we'll call him Davinport, was struck with inspiration.  He had an ingenious idea that needed to come to fruition.  He took over one of the shops, and hid there, waiting for the supplies to be acquired.  He was muttering to himself, and I could only figure that he need amethyst.  Unfortunately I could not find the mineral.  No trades, no ore... It could not be found.  He went insane, walking around quietly for days, no sleep, no food.  That's when things took a turn for the worst.  Davinport attacked a citizen, but he calmed down.  A few days later, he approached another Dwarf and killed him in cold blood.  He stood near the corpse for a few minutes, then tried to run away.  He ran over and threw himself down the well, and there he laid for days.  The Dwarves couldn't get to his body, and none of them mourned.  Davinport was gone, and no one seemed to notice.  A tragic end to a simple tale.

Epic story here...
A Legendary Queen...
Cracked article here...