Valheim

A brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally-generated purgatory inspired by viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage!

Current Players: 36900
Developers: Iron Gate AB
Publishers: Coffee Stain Publishing
Release Date: Feb 2, 2021
Price (USD): $19.99
Valheim delivers an engaging survival experience with its gorgeous art style, rewarding progression, and immersive world. While its building and crafting systems are universally praised, updates like Mistlands and Ashlands have received mixed reactions due to increased difficulty and potential departures from the game's original charm. Performance issues, particularly in new biomes, and network lag also detract from the experience for some. Despite these concerns, the game remains highly recommended for its co-op play, exploration, and core mechanics. The development team's active support and content additions continue to keep the community hopeful for the future.

Positive Points

  • Distinctive, beautiful graphics and wonderful art style
  • Engaging survival mechanics that are challenging but fair
  • Intuitive and rewarding building system
  • Deep and satisfying crafting and progression
  • Immersive open world with diverse biomes to explore
  • Thrilling combat with a variety of enemies and bosses
  • Optimized well for various systems, including Mac
  • Mod support and active development adding new content
  • Co-op gameplay enhances fun and exploration
  • Music and atmosphere highly praised for adding to the immersion
  • Negative Points

  • Significant performance issues and optimization problems, especially in Ashlands biome
  • Frequent network lag and connectivity issues on dedicated servers
  • Mistlands and Ashlands updates introduced tedious and unfun gameplay elements
  • Difficulty spikes in later biomes like Mistlands and Ashlands frustrate players
  • Some players report lost progress and character issues
  • Endgame becomes grindy with diminishing enjoyment according to some players
  • Concerns about the balance between different play styles and builds
  • Crafting and boss materials can feel too grindy and time-consuming to acquire
  • Mixed Points

  • Some players appreciate the new challenges and content added by Mistlands and Ashlands, while others find it detrimentally alters the game's core experience
  • The graphics style is polarizing; some players love the unique, stylized visuals, while others would prefer more advanced textures
  • Opinions on the game's combat system vary; some find it thrilling and engaging, while others deem it clunky and in need of improvement
  • Common Themes

  • Co-op multiplayer is highly enjoyed and recommended
  • Building and crafting system is widely praised
  • Performance issues and optimization in new biomes are common complaints
  • Game's pacing and progression is lauded up until later biomes, where opinions split
  • Strong Viking theme and survival elements are appreciated
  • Updated 6/25/2024, 4:49:59 PM UTC