The Valheim board game smashes crowdfunding goals on first day

Valheim is a fun crafting survival game to play with a group of pals set in the Viking afterlife, and the board game adaptation is off to a great start. On Tuesday, a crowdfunding campaign for Valheim: The Board Game went live on Gamefound, and it already hit 300% funding. There are no stretch goals for the game, as the developer is choosing to deliver a complete, core experience — but there are some fun goodies that players can pledge for, along with the game itself.

We interviewed developer Ole Steiness back in June about the board game’s design; a two-hour session is designed to mimic the evolution of playing Valheim on a server with friends. This means that there are roles for everyone, even players who prefer to maintain the homestead. “You have to develop yourself and your home to be able to take on this challenge,” explained Steiness. “You’re going to explore the map, which is going to be tiles on the board, and you’ll have events going on and creatures showing up to challenge you. As you fight your way through it, you gather resources so you and your friends can build up, make a cool character, a cool home, until you take on the big boss fight at the end of the game.”

Mood Publishing showed an 18-minute trailer of one way the game can unfold, with a party of Vikings teaming up to take on Bonemass. There’s also a solo mode for players who prefer to go it alone.

The crowdfunding campaign will run up until Oct. 21; the estimated arrival date for the board game is October 2025. Players can also pony up for extra goodies like an exclusive dice set, a game mat, and a fancy dice tower. The Collector’s Edition is a way to pick up these extras, and it also comes with a classy gold-foil box with holographic cards.