Valheim is, as the studio describes it, “a brutal exploration and survival game for 1–10 players set in a procedurally generated world inspired by Norse mythology.” The open-world gameplay offers players a lot of freedom to explore, craft, and problem solve in whatever way makes sense. It features all the trappings of a classic survivalcraft game, including base-building, highly customisable buildings, hunting, crafting, gathering, fierce skills-based combat, and more, all with a touch of the fantastical, thanks to the Viking worldbuilding.
Being a Viking game, a lot of Valheim’s exploration revolves around shipbuilding and sailing, and the game offers a number of islands and nine biomes to explore, each with its own visual style, local ecology, and boss battles. Unlike many traditional survivalcraft games, Valheim doesn’t have a starvation mechanic — instead, food is used as a way to heal or gain stamina or regeneration buffs.
Especially for a game that hinges on survival-craft mechanics more than anything else, Valheim has surprisingly deep combat, with options for close-quarters or ranged combat, a variety of weapons, and even different fighting styles to adapt and make your own. The combat and enemy encounters — both boss battles and regular enemies — are both praised for their variety, although the combat being skills-based makes it somewhat challenging, especially against some of the more unique enemies.
Valheim also has solid Steam Deck support, with most users on ProtonDB saying that it works out of the box, with only minor graphics settings tweaks advised for performance reasons. This means that for users of handheld gaming devices, like the Asus ROG Ally or Lenovo Legion Go S (curr. $549.99 from Lenovo US), there is plenty of fun to be had, especially when running SteamOS or Linux.