Think long and hard, because the foundations alone can sometimes cost us triple the amount needed for the rest of the investment. The ground then becomes covered in hexes, whose color informs you how much of your precious resources will be spent on building that particular structure in that particular location. That’s why, when calculating the amount of resources necessary to build a structure, the game’s clever construction system takes the terrain’s stability and slope gradient into account. The somewhat peculiar terrain layouts make it impossible to create a perfect settlement – the islands intended as our Viking colonies are rocky, bumpy and sometimes border on urban planner’s nightmares. Respect your ancestorsīefore we reach our final destination, however, we’ll have to master the gameplay – based on, and closely resembling the previously mentioned Cultures and Settlers. Our task is to grow a prosperous village in the vicinity and to make sure that one day, its inhabitants can challenge and defeat the watchers that guard the gates of Walhalla, and bringing the villagers’ worldly lives to a satisfying end in the afterlife. Each map revolves around two portals – one to enter and one to leave, the second one leads to the sought-after Viking paradise. The creators have given us a number of randomly-generated maps, offering a relatively small area for our activities. What we’ve seen is game with well-constructed mechanics, focused around micromanagement.
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The Early Access version we’ve tested gave us a good idea on how Valhalla Hills will eventually end up like.
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But will it be enough to make this game a dream come true for the fans of the genre? As you would expect, their latest game keeps up the mood of its predecessor, and furthermore, the lead-designer of the cult classic Settlers II is part of the team – I believe that’s more than enough to get you interested. Valhalla Hills is a work by the German developer Funatics, perhaps known to strategy fans thanks to the very successful and equally entertaining Cultures series. As a result, although the young heir to the throne did become the god of builders, he has to suffer a time-out at the front door of his father’s domain and by “him” I obviously mean “us”, as it will be our task to send the brave Vikings to their well deserved heaven, now that they suffer because of this family quarrel. The reason, why the gates of the Viking heaven were closed, happens to be a conflict between the mighty Odin and his youngest son - Leko, who failed to meet his father’s expectations and flopped his exam in Norse godhood.