[intended]

Its worth noting that the audience/gamer who plays this game is pretty unique as well.

I heard of the game from the dwarf fortress forums, penny-arcade, and then later on Techcrunch and other blogs. The people talking about the games, who made the most out of it, tended to be the type with gaming experience, willingness to turn a blind eye to its current graphic set, and an imagination large enough to see the potential of the game world.

Basically, outside of the core audience of the game, there will be a sudden drop in the number of people who would be willing to give it a shot.

[thorax]

Except that many who get into it, gets their friends into it and their families into it (since it's such a great family game). I think you underestimate the appeal of a sandbox game like this. It's got all the casual gaming characteristics and enough depth for hard-core gamers. It's really quite impressive that way.

[Someone]

As opposed to, for example, God of War mentioned above?

I'm sure that will first sell to teenage boys, then by word of mouth to their sisters, and from there to their mothers and grandmothers.

Not even all boys like noisy games that require fast reactions and a zillion different key combinations (which I guess applies to GoW)