I haven’t played DF, but I imagine it’s a bit like Rim World where your citizen gain traits, develop relationships with other citizens and have varied skills.

It doesn’t have to be deep. Palworld has a pretty basic system where Pals can have traits, they have skills and they move around the encampment somewhat organically. It isn’t complex, but at least it feels like my choices makes my camp different and I want to find the Pal that has the skills I require with good traits.

People build crazy things in Minecraft, but no matter what you do, buildings feel empty.