The newest gaming sensation on Twitch is a Viking-themed survival game known as Valheim. The game has seen tons of new players over the last few weeks, primarily due to videos on YouTube and streamers Twitch hyping the game up.
Valheim is a multiplayer survival game with building mechanics. As one might expect, this means the game has gotten a lot of comparisons to similar titles like 7 Days to Die and Rust. However, Valheim's Norse-inspired setting and its unique approach to the survival genre help it stand out.
To start, Valheim puts a few interesting twists on the survival genre. Most survival games make things like hunger and thirst a requirement, giving players more of an incentive to gather resources and explore the world. Valheim, however, has a lot less emphasis on these types of resource collection mechanics. There are no hunger, thirst or sleep bars as food and sleep instead provides players with significant buffs to their stats.
Normally this would take a lot of emphasis away from the resource collection mechanics, but Valheim's massive world generation is just as good of an incentive for players to explore. There are very distinct biomes that have their own resources, meaning players will have to explore in order to craft and build certain items. Plus, some of the game's unique bosses are locked to different biomes.
Bosses act as barriers to progression in Valheim. New mechanics and crafting options become available with each boss defeated, meaning the only way to progress through the game is to fight them -- and win. Valheim is a lot like Terraria in that regard, especially since each boss stands out with some incredibly detailed designs. The bosses are all inspired by creatures in Norse mythology such as with the game's first boss, Eikthyr, which is inspired by the stag that roams Valhalla known as Eikþyrnir.
Since progression is locked behind boss fights, it could be expected that the combat system of Valheim is one of the selling points for the game. The actual combat mechanics aren't as in-depth as some other titles, but where Valheim shines is how it handles difficulty. Different biomes have different tiers of difficulty that will practically require players to have a certain type of gear if they want to survive.
As for Valheim's success on Twitch, this may be in part due to how each kind of player is going to get a slightly different experience each time they play. The RPG leveling mechanics, where skills level as players perform them, mean teach character can be tooled to fit certain roles. The building system also has huge appeal for viewers,, as it can often lead to some very unique-looking structures, which is very similar to how Minecraft has risen in popularity.
Survival games have always had an appeal on Twitch due to their multiplayer components and unique experiences. Streamers discovering and exploring a game leads to more people playing it, which in turn leads to more streamers discovering and picking it up. This loop is incredibly helpful to smaller indie titles like Valheim. The promise of new content for the game means Valheim may be around for a long time -- which is a good thing for streamers and fans.