Dorfromantik was developed by four German and Swiss students in a game design master's program at HTW Berlin: Timo Falcke, Sandro Heuberger, Luca Langenberg, and Zwi Zausch.

The game was first released as an early access title in March 2021, which led to a spike in attention, as well as awards and nominations.

Critics gave the game positive reviews, especially for its aesthetics and design, but had mixed opinions on its depth of gameplay.

Dorfromantik is a single-player strategy and puzzle video game in which the player places a series of hexagonal tiles containing elements of a pastoral environment on a plane to create a landscape.

[4] Dorfromantik was developed by four German and Swiss students studying at HTW Berlin: Timo Falcke, Sandro Heuberger, Luca Langenberg, and Zwi Zausch.

[6] After graduating they all began jobs, but when HTW Berlin started a master's program in game design they returned.

[7] As they began their first semester in the master's program there, the four founded Toukana Interactive to create games as they felt it was the last time in their lives they knew they would all be together focusing on their own projects instead of working at other companies.

[9] The group focused their master's theses on the creation of a game and received support from the school's DE:HIVE Institute for starting the company.

[6][8] The group approached the theme of the game jam with the concept of "keeping a civilization alive by balancing it out with its surrounding nature".

They chose Dorfromantik as the game's placeholder title, an older German word that translates into "village romanticization", or a nostalgic feeling for the countryside.

[17] The team spent the remainder of the development time improving the game and adding features, such as the creative mode in August 2021, and additional biomes, quests, and tiles.

[6][9] The music was composed by Laryssa Okada and Pygoscelis; the team asked them to make ambient and meditative tracks that would not be boring or distract from the gameplay.

[28] Oli Welsh of Polygon, in contrast, found the game to be an engaging puzzle to solve once he focused on perfectly placing tiles rather than straightforwardly playing.

[5][26] Rock Paper Shotgun also praised the music and sound design, as did IGN Japan, which said that it was a perfect match for the rural landscape.

[3][5] Morgan Shaver of Shacknews called it a "treat for the ears", and said that the music, background noises, and sound effects for actions all "meshes together seamlessly" to make a peaceful experience.

[33] Palm and Zach quickly made a digital prototype for a board game, and Toukana agreed to pursue the project.

[38] A sequel to the original board game, Dorfromantik: Sakura, was released in November 2024, with similar gameplay but new tiles and a new "cherry blossom" mechanic.