Games Like Desktop Forge

A tiny forge in the corner of your desktop.

Your artisans keep working while you focus on something else.

Desktop Forge is an idle simulation about autonomous artisans, the swords they forge, and the adventurers who carry those swords out into the world. Let the workshop run in a compact window while you work or study, and look in whenever you are ready to make the next call.

Over 190 traits decide how they work

Every artisan has more than a set of stats. They have their own traits, specialties, likes, and dislikes. Instead of directing every movement, you decide which jobs each person is allowed to take — and they choose when to gather, process, forge, or rest on their own. Who should handle each stage? Your assignments shape the flow of the workshop and the swords that come out of it.

With more than 190 traits, artisans can work faster, produce better results, and gain many other effects. As multiple traits overlap, the possible combinations of artisans and work styles are virtually endless.

Traits also shape who likes or dislikes whom. Everyday interactions and events make emotions rise and fall, and those moods affect both work performance and the swords that emerge. Emotion icons over their heads let you watch these small relationships evolve.

Materials and artisans make every sword different

Gather, process, forge. Collect timber, ore, and gems, refine them into usable materials, and combine them into a blade. The materials used, the artisans involved, their emotions, and the quality of their work shape how each sword splits between edge, durability, and enchantment, and how well it is made.

When exceptional artisans and a stroke of luck come together, you may forge a masterpiece you never planned for. Watch every strike and final touch to see what kind of sword emerges.

A newly forged blade hides its true nature. Appraisal gradually uncovers its grade, type, stat distribution, quality, materials, and evaluation.

The sword you forge decides how the journey ends

Appraised swords go to the adventurers who visit your workshop. They are not your employees — you cannot train them, command them, or bring them home. The only thing you control is the sword in their hands.

Each adventurer announces where they are headed before you choose a blade, and every destination asks for a different shape of sword: a nest of edge-hungry beasts, a swarm that grinds a weapon down over a long march, a mixed region that rewards a versatile build. Which one you take out of storage is the only call you make.

The blade you hand over is consumed by a single journey. It wears with every encounter, and how fast it wears depends on how well its stats answer what that region demands. A well-matched sword carries its bearer through the whole route and comes back as a log full of coin and renown. A poor one breaks partway, and its bearer limps home wounded.

And sometimes they never come back

Send someone out with a blade that isn't good enough, and they never return to the workshop. Their rank, their record, and the reputation you built through them are gone with them. What happened is written into your workshop's chronicle, and it stays there.

You are not told what went wrong. You read the log and decide what to forge next.

Grow the forge at your own pace

Balance income against daily wages, recruit new talent, and unlock the workshop expansion tree. New materials, facilities, storage, staffing capacity, and crafting options open up over time. There is no game over and no timer — the forge grows as fast as you push it.

Build a collection and compete

Finished swords enter your codex, where you can improve the best record for every type and grade. Steam leaderboards let you compare your finest work with players worldwide or with your friends.

Key features