DEAD IN VINLAND is a survival/management game, mixed with RPG and adventure elements, about a Viking family trying their best to survive on a mysterious island.
Exiled on a faraway and unknown land, lead Eirik and his family on their quest to survive.
Manage their physical and mental health, explore the island, organize your camp and deal with other human beings. Some will help you, and some will be less... friendly.
Unveil the esoteric mysteries of Vinland. They could save your life… or lead you to your demise.
Deep survival management simulation : find and gather resources, secure a supply of food, take care of the mental and physical health of your characters, fight diseases and wounds, ration your water supplies, endure the elements (storm, drought, rain…).
Steam User 15
Pros
- Beautiful story and characters (I intentionally postponed ending the game just to see how the story and development of the characters would unfold)
- Nice art despite the simplistic graphics. Captures the theme and setting well.
- Interesting turn-based mechanics - Combat is simplistic but adequate; interesting interaction and synergy between the different fighter classes.
Cons
- Too much RNG in the gameplay. During the beginning of the game where each move is vital and resources are limited, you can really be put on the back foot by bad RNG. For example, your characters may end up with "crushed hands" or some other serious injury or sickness just randomly and you have little or no means to heal / cure him in the beginning. Also, combat is also based on RNG, which again, can be frustrating if you keep missing hits despite decent percentage of hitting.
- Success during story events are also based on RNG. Some require continuous succession in order to complete (i.e. just imagine trying to succeed in 3-4 rolls of 50%-70% in succession) and when you fail, you get hit by a serious penalty, and have to wait a couple of days to recover in order to try again. It can get tired after a few such tries.
- Character progression / leveling is also quite random. Every time one of your characters level up, you are presented with 5 random skill upgrades to choose from (you choose one out of the five). These are randomly chosen from a big pool of skill upgrades, thus, more often than not, you are presented with a selection of skill upgrades that is not relevant at all for the character.
Tips
- I hate to recommend this, but if you find yourself getting very frustrated with the RNG, try save-scumming (i.e. save, quit and reload). I use this occasionally to tackle really difficult to complete story events.
- While you try to get your characters to specialize in a certain daily tasks, don't put all your eggs in one basket. You may lose one or more of your side characters during the game (hint : this may not be within your control) and this can really a problem if you do not have another character that can do the task adequately. Also, where possible, invest in your core characters (i.e. the 4 family characters).
- Create a core combat team, preferably with one or more "looters" in the mix (they will bring in more loot post combat), and seek out combat where possible as the loot from combat can be very useful especially during early game.
Overall
- Beautiful and enjoyable game. It shows that this is a passion project. My main grouse is the overuse of the RNG mechanic; I think it would be better if RNG is removed from certain aspects of the game, e.g. skill leveling (to be replaced with a skill tree that is driven by the character class).
Steam User 14
At first this game looked complicated and a little boring to me but then it turns out that this game is no such thing and is actually pretty good, I am hooked!
Steam User 8
When it means 90% chance it really means 50%. What kind of sick joke is this game is?
Steam User 5
This game is a fun mix of strategy and roleplaying. There's also excellent replayability with the events being randomized, as well as the map, so nothing will ever be discovered in the same place twice. You'll never be able to have all of the NPC's in your camp, so it's fun to mix-and-match based on your play style and also simply who you find when. I have really enjoyed exploring this game and happily recommend it.
Steam User 5
I like to play games, but not against other people... this game I can pretend I am playing against people that don't steal all my stuff every time i leave my camp. I like this game better than their other game "Dead in Bermuda" because you can do things like add more people to your group. (or maybe I am just a fan of the viking concept) I think it is a survival game but easier to do than newer games like DOZ and Grim because if you are failing miserably (as I do a lot) you can restart.
Steam User 6
VERY (and I mean VEEEERY) complicated at first, even overwhelming, but once you get the hang of it the experience becomes fun; you just have to be patient. a LOT of story and character development- thumbs up for that.
one small complaint would be the RNG, had one of my characters miss 3 times in a row with 80%, becomes very frustrating but I'd say it's weirdly one of the charms of the game.
Steam User 5
I really enjoyed this game, I especially liked how different the characters interactions could be depending on what other island folk you had join you. Loved all the characters. Be prepared to spend a LOT of time on this game. Recommend checking out guides to survive. Good luck!