First Look of Colony simulator building Survival Game Land of the Vikings (Steam)

I had the opportunity of checking out a colony simulator survival game called Land of The Vikings developed by Laps Games and published by Iceberg Interactive. In this Norse city builder game, you are the wise and powerful Jarl (leader) leading your people to survive in this land. Players will have tons of tasks from building homes to shipyards, gathering resources, and defending their homes. This won’t be easy, especially when the brutally cold winter comes, but if you can survive. Before we begin talking about this game, here is a trailer for one of my top colony simulator survival games that I enjoyed.

Gameplay

As we begin, I can tell you a few things players will expect when playing this game, this is your story and your game. There is so much freedom in this game especially when it comes to building because list most other city-building games there is always a specific structure or grid when it city-building. In Land of the Vikings, you build where you want to, this is your home and the players will decide how they can lead their people.

With the idea of having that much freedom, players will have the chance to create their village name and banner and of course decide what maps to pick, “Small Land” is a good starting map just to know how the game works and practice. There are other maps also, and each one has its unique look and challenges.

Whenever you start building homes, warehouses, and markets, there will be times you want to have some space and not build each building very close to each other, one thing you will notice that is important in this game is the road. Road helps villages move faster traveling back and forth from gathering resources to storing them, there be times when resources are super far away and the road system is beneficial. Another about the road system is that you can build them curve as well, which means your village design concept will be unique. Beware when building, you will have to cut down a few trees to make spaces, and trees tend to grow back, however, any place you cut down and build over it they will not come back.

One thing that makes this game fantastic is the harvesting of resources feature. Players will be able to change the mouse either by cutting down trees, or breaking can change the mouse from cutting down trees, and sometimes having too many resources can be bad when you don’t have enough storage space for your warehouses. This feature is perfect because I get to utilize my village and only let them gather resources in certain places. For hunters and gathers it is a bit different because you will have to build their work building in certain areas where the area will be highlighted and of course, you want an area where you can get close to 100% to get the maximum efficiency for your workers.

As the seasons changes, there is one season that you will have to watch out and that is winter. Winter can be brutal if you are not prepared, during winter your crops won’t grow and you will also need logs for fuel that way your villager’s homes are warm enough. If there is not enough food, especially bread then your villagers will die from hunger. I would say build a woodshed as early as possible so there be plenty of logs for winter and quickly start your farming so you will have plenty of food.

Visual and Audio

Now let’s talk about how amazing this game looks, Like a few things I notice when playing this game are the number of details on the buildings and my people. The developers did a fantastic job to make this game as realistic as it can be and I love the different amount of decorations that you can see on the building, another thing like in many other city-building games, when you build decorations there is always a bonus or benefit, and for me, I had banners in front of every house and it made my villagers happy.

On top of the building and people looking fantastic, the game’s landscape is amazing. The tree was designed for the sea, with the night and day cycle, I can say the game made me happy when I got to experience each of these factors. When it comes to world design I am a lover, because it shows how much work and dedication you see the developers put to make not only your village come alive but everything around it. Winter will most likely be the most challenging part of the game but it can also look beautiful in your village.

When it comes to the audio of the game, I have to say it is perfect for my village. You will hear birds chirping, a village working in the shop or gathering resources, to the sound of the calm sea. The music brings the game alive and my village as well. From the visual and audio in perfect sync, this is where the game shines the most.

Conclusion 

Land of the Vikings has become a game that I can see myself playing for a long time not only because I love the history behind Vikings but also the survival concept and building. For a game that is currently in early access, I can see so much amazing potential for this game and I can’t wait to see what else the developers going to add. This game will make you play over and over because I can say my first couple of playthrough was a bit rough, lot of my villagers died from hunger then of course I lost a few building due to natural disaster. With every map being unique and having its challenges, it will be quite challenging for sure but possible.

If you are someone who enjoys the survival and Colony simulator concept and challenges this is a game that players will enjoy for sure.

Overall: 9.0

Visuals: 9.0
Audio: 9.0
Gameplay: 9.0

Land Of The Vikings 

Platforms: PC
Developer:  Laps Games
Publisher: Iceberg Interactive 
Release Date: 8th November 2022

A Review copy was provided