Game text to speech
Text to speech for Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress writes a whole world of history and shows it in tiny type. Corvo Reader reads announcements, dwarf thoughts, item descriptions and Legends aloud in a natural voice, without mods.
- Free plan, no card
- Windows 10 & 11
- No mods
Text worth hearing in Dwarf Fortress
- Announcements
- Combat reports
- Thoughts and preferences
- Item and engraving descriptions
- Legends histories
- Known poems and songs
Press CtrlShiftE and draw a box round any of it to hear it read aloud.
Microscopic text, endless stories
In a 2025 survey of low-vision accessibility for the American Foundation for the Blind's AccessWorld, James Brooks found that the graphical Steam version comes with no accessibility features out of the box, and that its UI and sprites are microscopic even for fully sighted players. On the Steam forums, players say the font is hard to read.
That small text carries a lot: announcements and combat reports, each dwarf's thoughts and preferences, item and engraving descriptions, and the histories in Legends mode.
Hear a dwarf's whole story
Open a dwarf's thoughts and press Ctrl+Shift+E to box them. Save the announcement area as a region and one key reads the latest news.
Wondering what a dwarf is reciting? Players on the Steam forums point to the Knowledge section of the dwarf's Skills tab, which lists the poems, songs and dances they know. Box it to hear them.
Tip: a bigger interface reads better
The settings include interface scaling. One suggestion on the Steam forums is to set 'scale interface to fit grid width' to Yes and lower the desired grid width. Bigger text is easier on your eyes, and generally easier to recognise when Corvo Reader reads it.
Questions
Dwarf Fortress and Corvo Reader.
Does Dwarf Fortress have text to speech?
The Steam version has no built-in accessibility features, according to AccessWorld's 2025 survey. Corvo Reader adds text to speech without mods.
Steam version or classic?
This guide is written around the Steam version's graphical interface. Corvo Reader reads whatever text is drawn on your screen; if you play the classic version, try it on the free plan to see how it reads your tileset.
Which display mode does Dwarf Fortress need?
Borderless or Windowed. In exclusive fullscreen, Windows keeps the game's picture away from other apps, so Corvo Reader can't see the text. Where to look: the game's settings: a windowed or borderless display option. Check your game's display settings, as the exact label can change between versions.
Is it free?
Yes. The free plan needs no card: standard neural voices for 20 minutes of narration a week. Paid plans start at $6.99 a month and add weekly premium voice minutes, unlimited standard voices, Summarize and Translate.
Other games
Same reader, every game.
Baldur's Gate 3
BG3 voices its dialogue, but tooltips, item text, books and the journal stay silent. Hear them in a natural AI voice. No mods. Free plan, no card.
Read the guideCrusader Kings III
Hear Crusader Kings III events, option tooltips and nested tooltips read aloud in a natural voice. One hotkey, no mods. Free plan, no card.
Read the guideEuropa Universalis V
EU5 fonts too small? Hear Europa Universalis V events, situations and tooltips read aloud in a natural AI voice. One hotkey, no mods. Free plan, no card.
Read the guide
Hear Dwarf Fortress instead of squinting at it.
Download Corvo Reader free. No card, no mods.
Download free for Windows