Happy Birthday Valheim!

To celebrate one year of Viking exploits in the untamed lands of Valheim, I'm looking at what the game accomplished and what the game has on its horizon.

The Game History and Achievements

Valheim has had a mighty year. What was meant to be a quiet release of a small indie exploded into one of 2021's most popular games. (In fact, PC Gamer Magazine named Valheim its 2021 Game of the Year.) I also found myself unexpectedly sucked up into the hype, spending hours upon hours just exploring the massive world of Valheim. (Good note: I'm writing this from the perspective of someone who played in closed servers with friends exclusively. I'm not looking to get my glorious mead hall wrecked by a band of randos!) 

Valheim has multiple elements that contributed to its success. It felt like a spiritual successor to Among Us in that it fostered more involved online play with friends in a time of social distancing. It sold so many copies (over 5 million if my notes are correct) partially because this is a game that feels designed to play with friends. I wouldn't really recommend playing it solo if I'm being honest, as it takes away most of the fun. In that vein of thought, IMO Valheim encourages cooperation and coordinated efforts better than games like, say, Minecraft. In pretty much every Minecraft world I've been in (ranging from 2-10+ players), everyone does their own thing. You may have a shared base, but people tend to expand, explore, and act based on their own whims. In Valheim, I found construction and exploration were all team efforts, and that is part of what made it so much fun. Construction requires more forethought; for example, if you want to build past a certain height, you'll need stronger Core Wood supports, and they'll need to be driven into the earth to do anything helpful. I found building more enjoyable in Valheim than Minecraft because of this need for forethought, as I needed to collaborate closely with my friends to get the appropriate materials and aesthetic down. 

I'll also note I'm not someone who typically enjoys survival games or sandboxes in general. There was something about the way Valheim is structured that helped, and I think it has to do with how forgiving some of the elements are. Obviously, other parts of Valheim are more intense to balance this out, but Valheim fosters player curiosity and creativity to take the game how you want to. If you're more inclined to explore the peaceful meadows and decently manageable dark forest, you can spend the entire game just building in peace, spending your days making jelly and taming boars. (Cue this meme.) Or, you can do what I have done and recklessly throw yourself into chaotic troll battles in the name of glory. It works as a "jack of all trades" game that incorporates small elements of many survival titles and turns them into its own thing. It's no wonder Valheim has done so well!

I will say that the game has a tendency to feel very, very grind-y and repetitive, especially at higher levels. For those looking to spice up the game, I've included an article with recommended Valheim mods. This can help simplify or complicate gameplay to fit player taste.

What's planned for the future

The game is still in Early Access and presumably will be for some time. While there had been a development road map proposed early on by the Iron Gate team, the game's sweeping popularity put many of those projects on the backburner as the team tackled patches and bugs and took milestones a bit slower.

For those purchasing the Steam Deck, the Valheim team is currently working on making sure the game runs smoothly on the new platform. On top of hammering out those fine details, Iron Gate is working on a new biome (the Mistlands; sounds ominous) and finishing the details on their Mountains update. The Mountains update would be adding more to that Biome, like caves for hardy Vikings to explore. (Here's a teaser image the team shared. Looks inviting, right?) The last update to go out was the Hearth & Home update that saw the game expand out, well, the Hearth and Home aspects of gameplay. 

The Mistlands Biome and Mountains update should be out in 2022. For those curious, this is a concept art piece to show the direction Iron Gate is going in their new Mistlands biome.

Celebrations abound

In an anniversary statement, Iron Gate said:

"We never could have imagined that Valheim would get as big as it did, and it’s all thanks to you players. We’re going to celebrate throughout the whole month of February, and we’ve got some fun stuff planned for you – keep an eye on our social media pages to make sure you don’t miss anything!"

For those that want to participate and celebrate 1 year of Viking shenanigans, Iron Gate will be sharing monthly Valheim house builds on Twitter via the hashtag #ValheimBotM. (BotM = Build of the Month.) 

I'm sure they'd appreciate the love!

Do you agree with my assessment? Do you still play Valheim? Let me know down below your thoughts!