Review: Is the Early Access of Valheim Worth Buying?
For those who love survival-crafting games and want a Norse spin on adventure, Valheim might be worth considering. Released in 2021, it’s still in Early Access on Steam but is constantly updated and developed. So, is Valheim worth buying at the moment?
For a $20 price tag, it’s not a bad deal. And since I am a big fan of survival-building games, Valheim is easily right up my alley.
I usually wait until a game is no longer in Early Access. But at the rate some developers take to build a full game, it could be another five or ten years before I can review them.
In any case, the game is definitely worth mentioning today.
What is Valheim?
Valheim is a survival-builder game set in a procedurally-generated world of the dead. Your character finds themselves in a purgatory state fighting against myths and legends of Norse and Viking lore.
Wearing only a rag tunic, you start your adventure using your fists until you find the materials to start arming yourself properly.
Hunt, gather, and grind your way through the world, putting down dark creatures and gods to gain additional power to help you on your quest: to prove yourself to Odin.
Up to 10 people can play on a server at any given time. And the world is so massive that every player can easily lay claim to an entire section of an island. Or, you can always team up and build a village to help each other progress.
10 Pros and Cons of Valheim
Lots of Recipes
Although you only start with about three or four recipes, you unlock more as you pick up certain loot. The more stuff you find, the more recipes you have for building everything from your home cottage to equipping yourself for combat.
Every biome has its own materials that expand what you can craft. But in order to survive those areas, you need to upgrade your gear.
For someone who loves crafting, Valheim has a lot you can do and build the further you continue into the game. One of the highlights for me is the ability to build a variety of structures both practical and scenic.
I mean, do we really need a trophy room to mount the heads of monsters? Why, yes, actually.
Massive World Maps
The random worlds created in Valheim are incredibly large. Even the starting island can take you hours to fully explore, granted that you don’t stop to loot or battle creatures along the way.
Once you’re ready to move on, you’ll need to build a ship and sail across the ocean to other islands. But be careful doing so in a rain storm. Sea serpents can spawn and wreck your ship…and your day.
If you’re an explorer such as myself, you can easily spend a lot of time adventuring across each island fully. For me, it’s more of an OCD about revealing entire maps. I don’t like leaving behind fog-of-war sections.
Norse Lore Embedded

One of the nice things about Valheim is the integration of Norse lore. It’s the first survival-builder game I’ve come across that did so. In fact, the entire premise of the game is quite unique compared to the zombie survival games that are everywhere.
Between the storyline itself and the rune stones you come across in the world, you can get a decent feel of Norse mythology. You can easily get into the mindset of being a Viking as you fight monsters and build structures with a Norse theme.
Great Solo or Group Play
There are a lot of times that I’ll load up Valheim simply because it can be a relaxing way to burn a half hour. That’s because I love crafting and designing new ways of building houses and such.
We also enjoy playing it as a group as everyone works to build up their own homes while contributing to a community space and farm. The world is so massive that we don’t have to worry about someone stepping on someone else’s toes in terms of loot.
There is plenty for everyone, even on the starting island.
Destructible World Mechanics

Valheim has a destructible world mechanic. Meaning that you can literally wipe out an entire forest or dig deep pits into the ground. Of course, some types of wood and ore need certain types of tools to break them down. But you can easily change the landscape of the world.
If you chop down a tree in the middle of the forest, it may fall and strike another. This can lead to a domino effect of trees crashing to the ground, and if you’re too close, you could get yourself squashed amidst the timber.
Even creatures can affect the landscape. For instance, trolls often throw rocks at you while fighting which can cause trees to fall or even shatter small stones on the ground.
Events to Keep You Moving
Although you can technically play at your own pace, sometimes events will prompt you to get moving. For instance, if you’re in a location for too long, the forest will move and a horde of greydwarves will attack your structure.
There are several events like this during the game and are often dependent on what you’ve done up to that point. Some are triggered by weather while others only happen once certain bosses are destroyed.
In any case, I think it’s a nice way to break up the monotony of mining or farming.
Beautiful Ambient Scenery

Although Valheim doesn’t have state-of-the-art graphics, the background scenery is quite breathtaking. Whether it’s the Yggdrasil (World-Tree) in the sky, the movement of the ocean during a storm, or simply the rainstorms themselves leaving behind puddles of water on the ground, it’s a beautiful game.
One of my favorite ambient elements is the rainstorms at night. When the lightning flashes and illuminates the surrounding wet flora, it’s an amazing visual.
The ambience of the game is so nice that I often just hang out in my log cabin by the fireplace and watch the rainstorm out of a window. But I am a bit of a dork when it comes to rainstorms in games.
Controls Are a Bit Complicated
When I first began playing Valheim, it took a bit to get used to the controls. While you can use a controller, I am a keyboard/mouse player. Some of the actions took quite a while to get used to.
For example, the building mechanic has a bit of a learning curve. Getting things to snap together precisely was a bit of a chore. Then, making sure the wood is supported in certain sections so it doesn’t collapse took a few tries to get it right.
I’m not saying that it’s terrible. In fact, once you get the hang of how the game plays, it becomes second nature. It’s just that it might take a bit longer to get used to the mechanics as opposed to similar games.
Unable to Dig Caves or Mines
In its current state, you cannot dig caves or mines in Valheim. So, trying to recreate some amazing keeps directly from Lord of the Rings isn’t going to happen. When you try to dig into the side of a cliff, the objects above simply drop down into the place you just dug.
Theoretically, you can dig one hell of a ravine through the middle of a mountain. It would just take you a long time and plenty of repairs to your pickaxe.
I hope that in the future, we’ll be able to dig directly into the side of a hill to build some elaborate underground kingdoms. But for now, it’ll just be a cliff.
Not a Lot of NPCs in Game
Aside from the monsters, there aren’t a lot of NPCs in Valheim. At the time of this article, there are three traders in the game. However, they are a bit difficult to find as they often spawn on islands other than your starting point.
This means you’ll need to build a raft or ship to find them.
You can add NPCs by using a mod pack. But in its current vanilla state, Valheim only has three NPC merchants. It would be a nice addition if there were others who could give quests and such, though.
Would I Recommend Buying Valheim?
For me, the pros easily outweigh the cons for Valheim. And the drawbacks aren’t all that troublesome as the game is still strong despite a few technical issues.
Given the fact that it’s currently and consistently updated, it doesn’t feel like an abandoned project.
At the end of the day, Valheim is easily among my top games for crafting and exploration. Every time you create a new world, the seed system ensures something very unique. In fact, I find myself creating new worlds simply to explore the landscape.
Plus, I’m probably a bit biased simply because I love crafting games of all kinds. Valheim gives you the tools to build structures galore, allowing you to flex some creativity whether it’s for aesthetics or functionality.

If you’re looking for an action-based hack-and-slash game, this probably isn’t for you. Valheim is more of a slow burn as you have to explore and craft to create better weapons and armor. Although you can try to speed-run Valheim, you’ll miss a lot of the beauty this game offers.
If you enjoy survival-builder games, then Valheim is easily a good buy. For $20 on Steam, it’s a great purchase for an Early Access game. In this regard, I’d put it right up there with Subnautica – a magnificently crafted game without the AAA price tag.
Looking Forward to Seeing What’s Next
I wasn’t sure if I was going to thoroughly enjoy Valheim in the beginning. But it’s easily turned into one of my go-tos whether I feel like relaxing and building or have the need to explore and conquer.
And since I love to explore every foot of an island, it’s also a game that can keep my attention for an extended period of time. It’s always a different world.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’re off to build a guild hall complete with a trophy room of the creatures we’ve put down thus far.
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