I had the same feeling, then decided that DF should be packaged with one of the online wikis about the game. Don't feel ashamed to look up how to do the game.

I had the same feeling, then decided that DF should be packaged with one of the online wikis about the game. Don't feel ashamed to look up how to do the game. There is a regularity, but the learning curve is very high. I think it's easier to think of DF like Blender more than like Sim City. You're using a "professional-quality" dwarf simulation tool, some manual reading is required. I think DF is like Magic The Gathering in a way: Half of the fun is absorbing the mechanics and idiosynradicies of the game. It's fine not to like it, too.