Northgard vs Valheim
Northgard
Northgard is a rather unique city-builder/strategy game that allows you to lead a group of Northmen to unknown new shores in hopes of making a life there. Like most city-building games, you'll need to help them set up a home, assign your Vikings to perform various roles, ensure there is enough food to feed the entire village, and amass a small army to help defend your territories from other hostile clans. The strategic aspects of the game may not be obvious at first but you'll quickly realize that new territories that you discover (you don't exactly need to conquer it for this to work) will present new strategic opportunities for your clan to expand or grow, be it new sources for food or a nice place to set up a new trading post. There are many victory conditions as well, so it's not always "kill or be killed" in this game.Northgard offers players a single player experience by playing with AIs with various personalities or with their friends online. However, many players have reported that the game does have a somewhat flawed AI-player relationship. Even if you're best buddies with an AI's clan through healthy trading relationships, their clan members will still attack your people, which frankly feels a lot like a betrayal. It'd be nice to have a tutorial as well.
That said though, Northgard is an impressive game especially if you enjoy a bit of city-builder/strategy game like Valhalla Hills.
Valheim
Valheim is a survival and exploration game where you get to play as a fallen Viking warrior reincarnated in the titular world. You’ll gather resources and build massive Viking longhouses and castles, unlocking new items and resources as you go around its procedurally-generated world. It’s also a co-op game where you can dive into the treacherous world with your friends and players from around the world.As you explore Valheim, you’ll have to deal with Odin’s enemies, which is the reason why he put you in the world in the first place. Apart from minor Greylings and Greydwarves, you’ll need to contend with massive Trolls, undead skeletons, and Frost Drakes. Plus, you’ll also need to battle bosses like The Elder, Moder the Frost Dragon, and the grotesque Bonemass. Thankfully, you don’t have to do this alone since you can take them down with friends who will go on longboat adventures with you. In addition, you’ll have access to a variety of weapons ranging from swords, axes, bows, and spears to keep your opponents at bay.
Overall, Valheim is an open-world survival adventure co-op game you can dive into alone or with your friends. There’s something in it for everyone, whether you want to become a famed berserker known for killing monsters or a famed architect known for building massive halls and longhouses. Get into it today and start your Viking adventure!