Valheim

Valheim: A Hidden Gem with a Fading Spark
Valheim is one of those rare hidden gems you stumble upon on Steam. With its engaging gameplay, charming graphics, and a perfect blend of survival mechanics, base building, immersive audio, and a well-crafted combat system, it truly stands out. But the real magic? The ability to team up with your friends on a dedicated server for cooperative adventures!
The first playthrough is where the game truly shines. There's a constant sense of wonder and an insatiable urge to explore. What's beyond the next hill? Of course, you might get your rear handed to you by a troll, reminding you that better gear is essential. And so, the loop begins: improve, gear up, and venture further. That progression, where each new piece of equipment feels like a monumental achievement (your first copper weapon feels legendary!), is what makes Valheim so captivating.
The game’s food system adds another layer of strategy, allowing you to tweak your character's stats to favor health or stamina—whatever suits your playstyle. Later, Eitr (mana) joins the mix, broadening your options. The world feels alive, teeming with creatures and dynamic environments. In short, Valheim offers something for everyone, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to any gamer seeking a thrilling adventure. But…
The Glory Days and the Grind
My friends and I joined Valheim's world early, back in February 2021, when the game was still in its unfinished glory. It didn’t matter. The Black Forest, Mountains, and Plains were ready for exploration, and bosses awaited our challenge. We embarked on multiple playthroughs, relishing the cooperative gameplay, the specialization of characters, and the adrenaline of victories hard-won.
Fast forward a few years, and updates like Mistlands and Ashlands have expanded the game. Last summer, we decided to dive back in, generating a fresh map for another adventure.
Initially, the nostalgia hit hard. We breezed through the familiar Meadows, Black Forest, Mountains, and Plains, gearing up for the new biomes. Equipped with the best Plains gear, we ventured into the Mistlands.
The Mistlands: A Hazy Grind
True to its name, the Mistlands challenges you with limited visibility, constant climbing, and stamina management. Yet, despite the frustrations (and frequent deaths), the allure of new weapons, armor, and food kept us going. The grind was real: dying, reclaiming gear, mining resources, and repeating the cycle. But defeating the Queen was a triumphant moment—a hard-earned victory that left us feeling accomplished.
The Ashlands: The Spark Fades
Then came the Ashlands. Armed with what we thought was top-tier gear, we set foot on the burning terrain, only to find ourselves woefully unprepared. Every enemy seemed to laugh at our efforts, reducing us to a frustrating rhythm of dying, grinding, and crafting. Again and again.
This repetitive loop—grinding for resources, upgrading gear, and facing inevitable deaths—was tolerable through the earlier biomes. But by the sixth cycle, the novelty had worn off. The Ashlands felt more punishing than rewarding, and the challenge began to feel like a chore.
An End to the Saga
One by one, my friends lost interest, including myself. Since then, the portals to the Ashlands are now overgrown with weeds, our characters slumped in their thrones, mead in hand, reminiscing about past victories. Even I—after logging over 800 hours in this world—found myself burned out. The thought of tending the forge, managing gardens, chopping wood, and enduring endless raids by pesky bats just to face the final boss, Fader, felt exhausting rather than exciting.
Final Thoughts
Valheim is undeniably a masterpiece of design, especially in its early stages. The sense of discovery, the camaraderie of co-op play, and the thrill of progression make it unforgettable. But the grind-heavy nature of the later stages ultimately takes its toll. While the developers continue to add new content like potions, decorative clothing, and crafting materials, these additions often feel more like extra chores than meaningful enhancements. Instead of enriching the gameplay, they pile on more tasks, making the experience feel increasingly like work rather than fun.
If you’ve never played Valheim, I still recommend giving it a try—you’ll undoubtedly create some incredible memories. But for veterans like me, the journey seems to have reached its natural conclusion. Here's hoping the next update brings innovations that rekindle the spark without adding to the grind. Or maybe even a Valheim 2?

Let's get one thing straight. This game is incredible. Even with it's clunky UI (made much better with mod support) and terrible multiplayer support, I've never been so engrossed in an open world survival game. This truly is inspiring to every indie studio out there on what true vision for a game can get you.
However.
Valheim has sold over 12 million copies at the time of this review.
Let's assume they sold those at an average of $15 each.
That's about $180,000,000.
Let's also assume that Valve and Coffee Stain (the publisher) take roughly half.
That still leaves them with $90 million dollars. (I understand this is complete conjecture and not all substantiated but I'm upset so let me do this)
$90,000,000 for a team of somewhere between 11-50 employees according to their linkedin page is an unimaginable number. Reminder that they also started with 5 employees.
I'm left here wondering... where did all that money go? Because the game is obviously not finished. There are so many things left incomplete and broken. I can't tell you how many times I've restarted this game only to find that there is still the same amount of content and fixes that there was a year ago. Even their new "updates" come out broken and unplayable. I've resorted to playing the game with the many many mods available to fix and add to the game where the developers seemingly cannot.
It is astounding to me how something can be in early access for so long and have so little to show for it.
So please, Iron Gate, after you've had your well deserved post release break, I would expect at least some marginal progress towards a 1.0 launch.
Thanks for no micro transactions though.

I really enjoy playing this game. I'm not the best gamer in the world, and I definitely do better at this particular game when my husband plays co-op with me, but I can still do it on my own and it's super fun. I had hit a low point in my gaming, where I was playing the same few games over and over and getting depressed with them. I couldn't apply myself to anything new. I would play for maybe 10 minutes and get bored, longing for the days when I was younger and I could lose myself in a game for hours without realizing time had past. Valheim brought that spark back! It's a fantastic stress reliever after working all day and I look forward to continued play. 10/10 would recommend. It's like Minecraft but with a linear plot and more complex...and Norse!

Great game. Moderate learning curve. Steep progression curve. But worth every minute of gameplay.
Better than most AAA games.

I've put a fair bit of time into this game now and still love it. Nothing beats that first time you see a troll while sailing near the shore... and then speeding away as fast as I could! One of my all time favourite games, if not the best.

I've never played multiplayer, so can't comment on that aspect but it would appear lots of peeps love it. SIngle player is just wonderful, I get lost in just "living" in the game world. The graphics are stunningly beautiful and it's so relaxing just pottering about. Take the game at your own pace, explore, forage, hunt and build. And when you want a challenge, sail away and it's there.

I will add I have about nine QOL mods and they really make the game that much more enjoyable for me.

And the absolute best thing about this game for me? Building! I started with a basic wooden hut and now I'm constructing yet another castle, this time in the Ashlands. Happy hunting :)

A game that expects you to go back naked to a place for your stuff where you died in full armour.
A game that wants you to believe that after you've defeated an ice dragon that even the gods themselves fear, you'll be killed by a mosquito.
10/10

The closest open-world survival-crafters have ever gotten to the magic of the original Minecraft, this is a real darling of a game. Valheim makes for an engaging challenge where caution and preparation are rewarded when giant mosquitos rip out your voice box; but is probably the most relaxing game I have ever played, where you can relax in front of a fire, cook, build a warm home, then remember you're playing a video game. The graphics are excellent and the terrain is really convincing, and the Norse theme is a nice breath of fresh air in a genre suffocated by sci-fi or horror tropes. Must-play!