Technology
What is Valheim? Epic Viking adventure hits 4MILLION players – and only costs £15
VALHEIM is the game of the moment, but what is it?
Here’s out quick guide to the epic Viking simulator that everyone wants to play.
Valheim takes place in an enormous world[/caption]
What is Valheim?
If you haven’t heard of Valheim, you will soon.
It’s a wildly popular survival sandbox video game set in the world of Vikings.
The game is technically “upcoming”, although it’s available to buy and play on Steam in Early Access.
You play as a Viking sent to a strange and distant realm called Valheim, where you need to forge a life.
You can create your own epic fortresses – or live in a small hut, if you prefer[/caption]
This involves exploring, harvesting and crafting, fighting enemies and more.
The world is procedurally generated, so you’ll have a totally different map compared to other players.
It’s also an enormous world that will take weeks and even months to explore fully.
The game is currently only available in Windows and Linux, but developer Iron Gate Studio has teased possible launches on Mac and consoles if demand is there.
It was created by a small team of just five people, and is published by Coffee Stain Publishing.
How many players does Valheim have?
Part of the reason why Valheim is being talked about so much is its staggering player base.
Despite only launching in Early Access on February 2, it’s racked up 4million players in total.
And it even hit a staggering 500,000 concurrent players on Steam, which is very high indeed.
These numbers are expected to quickly grow as more would-be Vikings flock to Valheim.
There are eight different types of land area to explore, as well as vast oceans[/caption]
Is Valheim good?
Early feedback on Valheim has been truly exceptional.
The rampant sales for an Early Access game already go some way to showing its brilliance.
And while sales don’t mean a game is good, positive reviews generally do.
At the time of writing, Valheim has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating.
Around 96% of nearly 75,000 customer reviews have been positive.
Editor’s Note: I’ve been testing Valheim for about a week now, and it’s truly amazing.
Dozens of hours have been poured into exploration, building, hanging out with Viking pals, and being murdered by sea serpents.
So far, it seems like phenomenally good value for money – and I’ve only scratched the surface.
This is some of the best £15 you can spend in gaming, which is a shock given that we’re still in Early Access.
The Sun’s gaming test rig
The Sun’s tech team uses a Dell Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition to test PC games and accessories:
- Dell Alienware AURORA R10 RYZEN EDITION
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
- Memory: 32GB Kingston 2933MHz RAM
- Monitor: Acer Predator XB3 27″ 4K 144Hz
OS: Windows 10 Pro - Mouse: Logitech G903 Lightspeed
- Keyboard: Logitech G915TKL keyboard
Dell Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition – buy here
Even the graphics are impressive, with a blend of low-res textures and modern lighting effects creating a unique style.
We’ll publish a full review in the coming weeks, but it’s looking good so far.
- Valheim on Steam for £15 – buy here
Most read in Gaming
In other news, The Sun’s favourite alternative to a games console is the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset.
Grab a VR headset and you’ll be able to play the legendary Beat Saber – like Guitar Hero, but with lightsabers.
And Dell’s Alienware R10 Ryzen Edition is a gaming PC powerhouse that crushes both the new consoles.
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