Cover artwork I generate from the game data. I do not use publisher artwork.
Game profile
Valheim
In a procedurally generated Viking purgatory, players build bases, slay mythical bosses and sail off to new islands. Ideal for long co-op evenings full of building projects and shared exploration.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Survival / City builder, set in a fantasy world. Visually it is deliberately stylised rather than photorealistic, and the overall tone stays somewhere between light and heavy. The world is open, so wandering off and ignoring the main path is part of the deal. It rewards long uninterrupted stretches more than quick check-ins.
The difficulty is moderate and fair, demanding attention without punishing you for it. There is no story to speak of, the systems carry everything. Co-op is supported, so you can bring someone along. It is available broadly, on 4 platforms. It sits in the budget bracket.
What stands out
- Procedural Viking world
- Deep base building system
- Relaxed co-op experience
This fits you if
- you would rather build something than be told what to do
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- you can sit down for a proper long stretch without interruptions
- you like getting lost and ignoring the main objective for hours
- cutscenes annoy you and you just want to play
- you have someone to play with
Look elsewhere if
- you play mainly for narrative
- you do not have 60 hours to give a single game
- you only ever get short bursts of play time
- you want either a pure challenge or pure relaxation, not the middle
What it costs you in time
About 60 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 10 weeks, or 30 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 90 out of 100, which puts it above 85 percent of the 1206 games here and at rank 177 overall. That is a strong score, comfortably above what most releases manage.
For comparison, Survival averages 80 points across the database, so this one sits 10 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 294 collected ratings.
Released in 2021, so it has 5 years behind it. Usually cheap by now and the rough edges are long fixed.
The facts
- Release year
- 2021
- Genres
- Survival, City builder, Sandbox
- Playtime
- approx. 60 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Moderate, fair
- Story weight
- None, pure gameplay
- Play with
- Solo, Co-op
- Setting
- Fantasy
- Visual style
- Stylised
- Price bracket
- Budget
- Platforms
- PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch
- Critic rating
- 90 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valheim | 2021 | approx. 60 hrs. | 90 | Budget |
| LEGO Fortnite | 2023 | approx. 25 hrs. | 80 | Free-to-play |
| Palworld | 2024 | approx. 60 hrs. | 81 | Mid price |
| Hytale | 2026 | approx. 60 hrs. | 85 | Mid price |
If you liked this, try these
- LEGO Fortnite Shared: Survival, City builder, Fantasy, shorter
- Palworld Shared: Survival, Sandbox, Fantasy
- Hytale Shared: Survival, Sandbox, Fantasy
- Soulmask Shared: Survival, Sandbox, Fantasy, longer
- Don't Starve Shared: Survival, Sandbox, Fantasy, shorter
- Space Engineers Shared: Survival, Sandbox