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 100 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
How long is Valheim?
About 100 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 17 weeks, or 50 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 90 out of 100, which puts it above 87 percent of the 1276 games here and at rank 165 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 318 collected ratings.
Released in 2026, so it is current. Expect it to run well on modern hardware and still get patches.
The facts
- Release year
- 2026
- Genres
- Survival, City builder, Sandbox
- Playtime
- approx. 100 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 | 2026 | approx. 100 hrs. | 90 | Budget |
| LEGO Fortnite | 2023 | approx. 25 hrs. | 80 | Free-to-play |
| Palworld | 2026 | approx. 60 hrs. | 81 | Mid price |
| RuneScape: Dragonwilds | 2026 | Endless game | 80 | Mid price |
If you liked this, try these
- 80/100 LEGO Fortnite Shared: Survival, City builder, Fantasy, shorter
- 81/100 Palworld Shared: Survival, Sandbox, Fantasy, shorter
- 80/100 RuneScape: Dragonwilds Shared: Survival, Sandbox, Fantasy, longer
- 85/100 Hytale Shared: Survival, Sandbox, Fantasy, shorter
- n/a Soulmask Shared: Survival, Sandbox, Fantasy, longer
- 81/100 Terraria Shared: Survival, Sandbox, Fantasy, longer