It’s the only word on every gamer’s lips right now - Valheim. Ever since it launched on Steam
on February 2nd, it’s become one of the hottest games around. What is this Viking-themed survival,
and why is it the must-play game of 2021?
Here are the top fifteen reasons you need to be playing Valheim.
#1 - You’ll be one of the first.
Valheim isn’t even fully released yet, and has been released in early access to those superfans
who want to see it in its earlier stages. While the game is complete in basic features and you’re
unlikely to encounter major bugs, this gives you a unique opportunity. The complex open-world game is
full of countless features, adventures, creatures, and opportunities. The team behind the game is
looking for contributions from the many people who have snapped up the early-access game and are
already exploring it, which means your thoughts could become part of the finished product.
So what is this huge world all about, anyway?
#2 - Welcome to Viking World
Valheim drops the players in a lush Viking afterlife where the spirits of Vikings come to
life, explore, and do battle. What you do once you arrive...that’s up to you. As an open-world game,
Valheim can be just as intense or peaceful as you want to be.
If you stay close to your home base, it can be a relaxing hunting-and-crafting
game. But if you choose to venture out of your camp into the world beyond,
countless thrills, adventures, and sometimes horrors await your personal Viking warrior.
But how will you explore it?
#3 - Your Own Personal Kingdom
Maybe you’re a loner! Maybe you spend all your time working with other people and after
a long day, you just want to explore the Viking afterlife solo. Well, Valheim has one of the best
single-player modes of any game out there, letting you explore the totality of the massive world
without any interference. This mode of the game is as leisurely or as fast-paced as you want, as you
strike out from your base camp and collect rare items and weapons to make yourself stronger. With
no forced story mode or direct plot pushing you forward, it’s a good choice for the casual gamer.
But what if the Viking afterlife gets a little lonely?
#4 - Explore the World with Friends
With a world this big and so many potential tasks to do, it can help to have some backup.
But anyone who has played a multiplayer game knows that this can be a double-edged sword.
Sometimes you’re having fun, and sometimes a twelve-year-old named NoobPwner is sniping you
with the expensive premium item his parents bought him. But in Valheim,
you can customize your user-experience and invite up to nine of your friends
to build a viking world with you. While you can all start at the same time, it’s also possible
to jump in when you get an invite to someone else’s server and join in mid-game.
But what if you want a little more discord in your Viking game?
#5. Welcome to PVP Mode
Would it really be a survival game if you couldn’t take some shots at your fellow players?
Valheim does indeed have a PVP mode, but it’s not a main part of the game - yet. Unlike other games,
there is no PVP tournament for exclusive prizes. Valheim’s PVP mode fits seamlessly
into the theme of the world. With the flick of a switch to enable PVP,
you and the fellow Vikings in your game can now attack each other, destroy each other’s gear,
and battle against each other until there is only one ultimate survivor. For the destruction-minded,
this is fun - although it probably won’t help you against the monsters lurking about.
Wait, did you say monsters?
#6. The Bestiary
While Valheim may seem like a calm and relaxing game at first, wait until night falls. You’ll
soon see that this world is full of creatures that range from harmless to terrifying. Some,
like deer and gulls, may seem like normal animals that you can hunt with ease for food and supplies.
Others, like the hairy amphibious Lox, are capable of putting up a good fight
against any Viking ambitious enough to hunt them. Then there's the Drake and the Draugr,
who will have no problem hunting YOU if you wander into their territory. It’s like exploring
a giant zoo - if there were no barriers and most of the animals wanted to eat you.
Sounds like you’d better be armed.
#7 - Get Crafting
Like most open-world games, Valheim gives you the opportunity to boost your supplies
with things you find around the world. But the days of whacking goblins until
they dropped the rare suit of armor you’re looking for are over! Valheim’s creatures
drop supplies that can be collected and brought back to your base for crafting.
By building workbenches and crafting stations to refine the materials, you can craft all sorts of
armors, weapons, and enhancements for your home base. You’ll even be able to craft new methods
of transportation to go further in Valheim - after all, there are many Biomes to explore.
Wait, what exactly is a Biome?
#8 - New Worlds
You start in the meadow, the safest biome and the ideal place to start a base.
You’ll find lots of trees, some animals to hunt, and some minor enemies to fight to get supplies.
But this is just your starting point to explore a much more dangerous world.
Then it’s on to the Black Forest, a hilly and deep biome with exclusive resources like copper and
tin. The creatures are getting more threatening and this is the first place where you’ll get to
explore some dungeons. This is a good place to get a feel for the more high-intensity biomes.
Do you dare to explore the swamp? Not only is this dark and marshy area home to some of the
game’s deadliest creatures, but the biome itself is starting to become a hazard. The
high trees make it hard to see, and fire geysers occasionally burst out to burn
your Viking to a crisp. But the valuable resources within make it worth the foray.
The plains may seem like a relief after the swamp - after all, it’s just a wide-open
space full of sunshine. But don’t let that fool you - that just means there’s nowhere to hide.
If the large and menacing creatures like Fulings don’t get you,
the swarm of deathsquitos will. Anyone pack any Viking bug spray?
And then it’s into the mountains, a cold and unforgiving land filled with wolves. Not only
had you better be well-equipped to survive this land, but the second you set foot in it,
you’ll start freezing. This will lower your stats and make it harder to survive, unless
you’ve managed to get ahold of some specific items that negate this negative status effect.
And don’t forget the ocean, where you’ll be sailing your boat from one
biome to another - and may occasionally come under attack by a sea serpent.
And who knows what new lands Valheim will unlock in the future?
Sounds like you’d better begin your exploration on a full stomach.
#9 - Belly Up!
Eating is a common part of surviving in survival games, and it can often be unforgiving.
Most games have a health and stamina bar that goes down when your character doesn’t
get enough food - something anyone who’s tried to concentrate on homework while on an empty
stomach can relate to. This can be hard to keep ahead of and can dominate your gaming experience,
but not in Valheim. While you’ll always have enough strength and stamina to keep going,
making sure your Viking has enough to eat will pay off in significant stat boosts.
So make sure to get that hunting in before you face a boss!
Wait, bosses? Aren’t the regular monsters dangerous enough?
#10. Boss Wars
Many game fans define a great game by how intimidating its bosses are. But in Valheim,
finding these legendary creatures isn’t as simple as marching to the end of the level. If you want
to find the Forsaken Ones and get their unique abilities, you’ll have to put some work in.
Dare you hunt Eikthyr, the cursed black stag of the Meadows?
Will you stand against The Elder, the nightmarish tree-being of the Black Forest?
Deep in the Swamp awaits Bonemass, a terrifying mass of swamp gas and bones.
You may have hunted Drakes and Wyverns,
but now you’ve angered Moder, the Queen Wyvern of the Mountain.
And for those who dare to venture that deep,
a battle with Yagluth the Skeleton King awaits in the Plains.
Yeah, the odds are one of these bosses is going to kill you. But there’s good news…
#11. Death is Not the End
How many times has it happened? You’re so close to killing the final boss, then he kills you and that
“Game Over” sign flashes. But in Valheim, you’re already dead - after all, you’re in the afterlife.
And that means that when you die, you’ll respawn back at base camp with a minor stat reduction,
and you can begin your adventure anew. You might notice that all your gear is gone - but
it’s not actually gone. Where you valiantly fell in battle, you’ll find a tombstone that contains
all your gear and can get you back to your former glory, so you don’t have to start from scratch.
So go rob your own grave! There’s just one worry - if you’re playing co-op or PVP, you’d better
make sure you get there before any of the other players do, or they’ll wind up with your gear!
And you’ll be glad, because this game can go on a long time!
#12. It Ends When You Want It To
Remember when you beat the final boss in an old-school game, and you were rewarded with
a quick final animation and a long list of credits, followed by the start screen?
That’s not the case with most open-world games like Valheim. While there is a story
to follow and the five Forsaken Ones to hunt, that doesn’t mean that the game ends when you
complete that quest. You can continue to build up your base, craft new weapons,
and explore new corners of your world until you’re satisfied that you’ve found every secret. And each
biome has its own secret items, encounters, non-player-characters, and resources to find.
And that’s all the more impressive given that…
#13. It’s a Steal!
Valheim can currently be found on the Steam platform for $20 dollars,
with sales possible to bring that rock-bottom price even lower. Most console games can retail
for $60, often for much smaller, story-locked games that don’t have the replay value of Valheim.
This may be an introductory price, and the company has not made any comment on whether
it will go up when the game fully releases outside of its early release period, but the
four million fans who have snapped it up aren’t taking any chance of missing out on this deal.
And that’s been life-changing for five people.
#14. Support Indie Gaming
Valheim is developed by Iron Gate Studios, a small indie gaming studio headed by Swedish
developer Richard Svensson with a team of only five people. It’s published by the small Swedish
studio Coffee Stain Publishing, which is most famous for the quirky game Goat Simulator,
which lets you play as...a goat doing goat things. So how did this little studio that
could put out the hottest game of 2021? Well, it’s not the first indie game to become a sensation,
but Valheim provides a much larger experience with high-caliber graphics and a user-friendly gaming
system that cuts down on the frustration common in many open-world survival games.
And they’re just getting started.
#15. The Adventure Continues
Who knows what’s awaiting Viking adventurers as Valheim continues into its wide-release period?
There has been talk of a Sandbox mode that will allow users to customize the game’s conditions
to increase or decrease activity like in many survival games.
New Biomes called the Mistlands, the Deep North, and the Ashlands are just beginning to unlock.
And the four million vikings who already call Valheim home are currently hunting,
crafting, and training to be the first to face whatever beasts lurk within.
For more on another indie game that became an internet phenomenon,
check out “Why You Aren’t Winning Among Us Games” or watch “Playing Minecraft for
the First Time - Funny Video Game Challenge” for more on another classic open-world game.