claude-fortress

Claude Fortress

Strike the earth! Command dwarves through natural language. Claude Code acts as your fortress overseer in this Dwarf Fortress-inspired ASCII simulation. Glory or death awaits. ⛏️

Install

Easiest: Paste this URL into Claude Code and ask it to install the dependencies:

https://github.com/brimtown/claude-fortress

Claude will handle dependencies and setup for your platform. Proceed to Add the Plugin below.

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Manual install (if you prefer):

macOS / Linux

# macOS
brew install oven-sh/bun/bun tmux

# Linux
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash && sudo apt install tmux

Windows

Option 1: Windows Terminal (Recommended)

Most Windows 11 users already have Windows Terminal. For Windows 10, install it from the Microsoft Store.

# Install Bun
irm bun.sh/install.ps1 | iex

Run Claude Code from PowerShell inside Windows Terminal. The fortress will open in a split pane.

Note: Each /embark creates a new pane. Close old fortress panes manually.

Option 2: WSL

If you already have WSL set up, this gives the best experience with full tmux support:

# Inside WSL
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash && sudo apt install tmux

Run Claude Code from inside WSL (wsl → claude).

Not supported: Git Bash does not support split-pane display.

Add the Plugin

In Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add brimtown/claude-fortress
/plugin install claude-fortress@claude-fortress

Update the Marketplace

/plugin marketplace update claude-fortress

Enable Auto-Updates

1. Run /plugin to open the plugin manager
2. Select the Marketplaces tab
3. Choose brimtown/claude-fortress
4. Select Enable auto-update

Play

Start tmux (macOS/Linux/WSL) or use Windows Terminal, launch Claude Code, then:

/claude-fortress:embark

Or just say "Strike the earth!"

Claude spawns a fortress and you command it naturally:

• "Dig out a great hall to the east"
• "Build a still so we can make booze"
• "How are my dwarves doing?"

Commands

Command	Description
/claude-fortress:embark	Embark on a new fortress
/claude-fortress:embark Irondeep	Embark with a custom name
/claude-fortress:resume	Resume a saved fortress

Or trigger naturally with: "strike the earth", "fortress", "embark", "resume my fortress"

Resuming

Use /claude-fortress:resume to open the save picker and return to a previous fortress. The picker shows all your saved fortresses sorted by most recent:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ FORTRESS ARCHIVES - 5 saves found       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ > Irondeep      Y252  7/7   Active      │
│   Doomgate      Y251  0/8   FALLEN      │
│   Copperhold    Y250  12/12 Active      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
  [↑/↓] Navigate  [Enter] Resume  [D] Delete

• Arrow keys to navigate
• Enter to resume the selected fortress
• D to delete a save (with confirmation)
• Q/Esc to cancel

Features

• Real-time ASCII simulation (500ms ticks)
• Dwarf needs: hunger, thirst, happiness
• Death by starvation/dehydration
• Grief system and tantrum spirals
• Strange moods and artifact creation
• Job system: dig, build, assign labor
• Wealth-based migration
• Fortress collapse with end-game statistics
• Autosave to ~/.claude/fortress-saves/

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
"Raw mode not supported"	Run inside tmux (macOS/Linux/WSL)
"Windows Terminal required"	Install from https://aka.ms/terminal
Socket not created	Run cd canvas && bun install
Bun not found	Restart terminal after install
Git Bash: no split pane	Use Windows Terminal or WSL instead

Development

git clone https://github.com/brimtown/claude-fortress.git
cd claude-fortress && ./install.sh

See DEVELOPER_NOTES.md for architecture details and specs/ for game system documentation.

License

MIT — Inspired by Dwarf Fortress, built on claude-canvas