Steam is home to a lot of excellent Viking games. Between the polygonal survival of Valheim, dense playspaces of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and the combat-heavy leanings of God of War, we’re spoilt for choice. Raiders of Valhalla is different, though. With the unit management and stakes of XCOM, autobattler tendencies of Teamfight Tactics, and nail-biting choices of the best roguelikes, this party-based RPG is on Valve’s platform right now. There’s even a demo you can take for a spin, and I’ve been having a blast.
Here’s the deal. Raiders of Valhalla combines management sims, roguelikes, and even autobattlers into a totally unique Viking game. You take control of a clan of dwarves, sending them on a crusade to pillage and plunder local villages in tense 2D battles. From here you recruit new clan members, upgrade their stats and skills, and spend your hard-earned resources on plenty of weapons and armor. Conquer, rinse, and repeat.
If you’re familiar with strategy games like XCOM, where you need to look after individual soldiers, Raiders of Valhalla is easily recognizable so far. Things start to take a turn when you enter combat, as, unlike the turn-based fights we’re all too used to at this point, Raiders of Valhalla is an autobattler. Your crew of Vikings run across the screen, engaging lowly soldiers and bigger bosses in quick fights. You don’t have control in the heat of the moment, so it’s all about preparation.
You always have different routes to take with individual rewards, money to spend on hiring more dwarves or buying equipment, and skill trees to help empower your growing army. This is a roguelike less about moment-to-moment skill, and more focused on preparation and intense decision-making.
Will you save up for another dwarf, buy new weapons and armor, reroll the shop, and pick the easiest fight possible? These are the types of choices you need to make, and you don’t want to take them lightly either. After all, you can’t afford to lose valuable soldiers.
The shop only has limited items and it’s quite costly to reroll what’s on offer, so you need to count your coins before making any run-altering decisions. I’d save up for as many soldiers as possible early on – there’s strength in numbers after all.
Raiders of Vahalla is available now on Steam with a 10% discount until Monday August 12, so expect to pay $11.69 / £9.89. If you’re unsure, there’s also a free Raiders of Valhalla prologue you can try right here as well.
We’ve also put together plenty more RPGs and roguelike games you need to get stuck into if you’re a fan of both genres, with Raiders of Valhalla just the tip of the iceberg.
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