Valheim
Review

Valheim (2021) is a Viking inspired strategy game for up to 10 players. You build, survive, conquer, and explore the world. It's popular because it combines strategy of building your town stronghold with tough adventures and encounters with the enemies of the world.

Your goal is to slay Odin's ancient rivals in order to free your soul and ascend to Valhalla. In the massive procedurally generated world you can build settlements, castles, and ships using the game's extensive crafting system, where survival is in your hands.

The games rapid rise to success and popularity is from its large open world to explore: mysterious forests, snow-capped mountains and lazy meadows. Each area has its own creatures and legends to discover. You can summon vengeful primordial creatures of the world's myth that can be defeated to collect trophies and craft new items.

Fighting draws on the exacting mechanics of Dark Souls style games. You need to learn to dodge, block and attack with a wide range of weapons. You travel to these battles in the ships you build and sail through the world. Back home you are able to build a complex and customised homestead. The flexible house and base building allows you to raise mead halls, farms, settlements outposts, castles and more.

While many of these elements have existed in other games, Valheim uses them in concert to impressive effect. As you take on missions and explore, unexpected encounters, weather and monsters can appear. This, along with the day-night cycle, living world and simulated physics gives the game a feel that anything can happen -- and usually does.

Valheim is out in beta on PC via Steam. A Mac version is expected, but currently Valheim Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 are not planned. Although the developer has said it "won’t rule out console versions in the future".

Our examiner, Jonah Monaghan, first checked Valheim 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 23 months ago.