Viking Survival Game Valheim Explodes In Popularity

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Somebody made an article about zombie free survival games.

The 10 Best Survival Games That Don't Feature Zombies

Capcom's Resident Evil has made zombies synonymous with survival horror, but there are plenty of games that trade the living dead for other monsters.

gamerant.com

I agree with some of those; but some other of those games definitely are a case of "functionally zombies, but we've called them something else".

But, those are all survival horror games. Valheim is survival, but not horror for sure. The bosses of each area are monsters, yeah, but it's closer to fantasy than horror.

 

[Essence Lumin]

I took my first sailing trip. That was fun. I could have shortened the travel quite a bit by landing instead of heading north though.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

I think I know why Valheim is so popular: there's no zombies.

Actually having no zombies is a big plus when you plan to enter the Chinese market. The Chinese really don't want to games to have too undead looking NPCs lurking around.

This is well known, and a reason why some character models in the Chinese WOW client look quite different compared to the rest of the world.

 

[Essence Lumin]

Some redditor made this.

 

[Essence Lumin]

Walking around in an unexplored dark forest looking for copper. Here on my 200th day lo and behold, the trader showed up on my map. That's handy. I wondered if I'd ever find him.

 

[Noodles]

Walking around in an unexplored dark forest looking for copper. Here on my 200th day lo and behold, the trader showed up on my map. That's handy. I wondered if I'd ever find him.

If it's anything like Minecraft, when you find a trader and he has what you need, you wont have the materials he wants.

 

[Essence Lumin]

If it's anything like Minecraft, when you find a trader and he has what you need, you wont have the materials he wants.

Nope, all he wants is cash, or to buy some gems and give you cash. Someone pointed out this is odd, since he is the only person in the whole world to use it so why does he want cash?

By the way, I named my character Noodles. I don't know why.

 

[Noodles]

I finally just picked this game up. I am only like 4 or 5 days in. I build a little wall around my open ended hut and chopped down a bunch of trees. I need to find more boars though, for food. Also I need to figure out how to smash rocks.

 

[Essence Lumin]

Also I need to figure out how to smash rocks.

You'll need to defeat your first major enemy to do that.

 

[Noodles]

Alright. So I defeated the first boss. A lot easier than expected actually. Though maybe I waited too long and become overpowered.

So since I can destroy rocks, I got a bit more agressive expanding my first base, added a little tower, and doubled my fenced area. The house still looks like a pile of wood and straw randomly tossed in a pile but it's not... awful.

I have mostly exploredy starting island now and built a second smaller little fort on the far side. The purpose was to set sail from there on a raft.

Sailing is soooo slow.

I landed on another island near a pre existing structure and buffed it up a bit into a house. Also "another island" is a stretch, since I can see the first island clearly, in fact a bit up the coast it's barely a river seperating them.

Which reminds me, I tried to build a bridge elsewhere and ran into some annoying snags where it wouldn't let me build. Maybe I was doing something wrong, maybe it was a limitation of the system, I may try again.

I wish there were more boars. Finding scrap leather is such a pain.

 

[Essence Lumin]

I wish there were more boars. Finding scrap leather is such a pain.

That's a weird thing about their random generation. There are tons of boars on my starting island, more than I'll ever need. Raspberries were in quite short supply though. Did you know you can breed boars? Click here if you want to know how. How to tame a boar in Valheim

 

[Noodles]

That's a weird thing about their random generation. There are tons of boars on my starting island, more than I'll ever need. Raspberries were in quite short supply though. Did you know you can breed boars? Click here if you want to know how. How to tame a boar in Valheim

I saw about breeding them. I may need to do that. I am always so short on that leather. I went wandering around my starting island for like an hour just trying to get enough for the boat, which was part of why I ended up with a base on the other side of it.

 

[Kokoro Fasching]

Always mark on your map where you find the boar, since they will respawn there within the day. Then you can just make passes and take them out

 

[Kokoro Fasching]

Which reminds me, I tried to build a bridge elsewhere and ran into some annoying snags where it wouldn't let me build. Maybe I was doing something wrong, maybe it was a limitation of the system, I may try again.

I wish there were more boars. Finding scrap leather is such a pain.

You can only build so far under water. May be best to mine alot of rock, and raise the land into a land bridge.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

Bumping this thread since I bought this to give me something to do on my end of year vacation and I love it! I didn't expect to love it so much since I tended to like more traditional survival games but I like it a lot. I'm preparing to take out the second boss... I also stumbled across this site just now: Valheim World Generator

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Lore wise you are already dead, your soul is there to venture, prove yourself and gain honor defeating the enemies of the allfather Aka Odin! So Die, Eat, Drink, Be merry and Bring order to this realm! For tonight you shall dine in hell! o wait.. wrong story.

So you're an Einherjar?

 

[WolfEyes]

I agree with some of those; but some other of those games definitely are a case of "functionally zombies, but we've called them something else".

But, those are all survival horror games. Valheim is survival, but not horror for sure. The bosses of each area are monsters, yeah, but it's closer to fantasy than horror.

Try Empyrion: Galactic Survival or Planet Nomads. Neither have zombies, both on steam early release. PN is single player only while Emp is single, co-op or dedicated server.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

Try Empyrion: Galactic Survival or Planet Nomads. Neither have zombies, both on steam early release. PN is single player only while Emp is single, co-op or dedicated server.

I'll second Empyrion. It's a great game. I've not played it for a long time and I'm probably out of date with all they added, but you have a lot of freedom with building cool stuff. I'd say Emperion (last I checked) is easier to solo than Valheim since you can build stuff like automated turrets to really aid your defense. ...that said, I think they made some key enemies more difficult since I played.

My favorite part of Empyrion was starting out on a planet without breathable air since that makes the start a lot more challenging... I usually say you beat the game once you have a huge, powerful capital vessel built. But I know they have worked on adding a lot more story and quests to do. I doubt it will ever be as much of an RPG as Valheim is though.

 

[WolfEyes]

I'll second Empyrion. It's a great game. I've not played it for a long time and I'm probably out of date with all they added, but you have a lot of freedom with building cool stuff. I'd say Emperion (last I checked) is easier to solo than Valheim since you can build stuff like automated turrets to really aid your defense. ...that said, I think they made some key enemies more difficult since I played.

My favorite part of Empyrion was starting out on a planet without breathable air since that makes the start a lot more challenging... I usually say you beat the game once you have a huge, powerful capital vessel built. But I know they have worked on adding a lot more story and quests to do. I doubt it will ever be as much of an RPG as Valheim is though.

I have over 2000 hours into the game and there are only two things I do, roleplay and build.

From what you say here, you haven't played in a very long time. EMP is a sandbox. Valheim doesn't look to be much of a sandbox if at all.

That's the beauty of EMP, you don't have to follow any storyline, you can make your own or even make it up as you go or download scenarios.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

I have over 2000 hours into the game and there are only two things I do, roleplay and build.

From what you say here, you haven't played in a very long time. EMP is a sandbox. Valheim doesn't look to be much of a sandbox if at all.

That's the beauty of EMP, you don't have to follow any storyline, you can make your own or even make it up as you go or download scenarios.

I hadn't played EMP in a while, but thought they added quests (which you of course are free to totally ignore!) And I agree with you that Valheim is NOT a sandbox,, though the developers say it is.. Valheim is more of a survival/RPG. I agree with your classification of EMP.