With the rising popularity of the new God of War PS4/PS5 saga and Valheim, Viking and Nordic-themed games are now back on gamers’ radar. However, most of them only provide a closed, single-player experience. They are fun but it could get lonely playing alone sometimes. Therefore, if you are looking for more Viking-themed multiplayer games like Valheim and Tribes of Midgard to play with your Discord group, you’re in luck. Read on and prepare yourself for digital fights worthy of Valhalla!
1. Valheim – PC
It’s a no-brainer to put Valheim into this list considering the game instantly garner 4 million sales in less than a month — while still in Early Access, to boot. You could say that this particular game is what kickstarted another wave of both multiplayer survival and Viking trends in the industry. Here as battle-slain warriors, you and up to nine friends are sent to Valheim to bring order into the chaotic tenth Norse world within the world tree Yggdrasil.
What made it stands out among other survival titles is thanks to layers of goals you need to do before you’re able to summon and defeat mythical boss enemies. It’s extremely open in terms of mechanics too, giving you the ability to build small bases into a full-fledged village, boats, and level up character skills. There is a lot of stuff to do and discover instead of just chopping trees or mining ores just to continue playing for the billionth time. The game also supports player-hosted servers so you don’t need to worry if Valheim’s multiplayer community will ever die.
2. Tribes of Midgard – PS4, PS5, PC
Like Valheim, a total of 10 players can play this game together. However, unlike the previously mentioned game, there’s more emphasis on combat and surviving enemy onslaught than surviving in the wilds. As you’re tasked to protect the Yggdrasil tree, waves of relentless monsters from Hellthings to Jotunn giants will show up to harass you every night. There’s no permadeath too so in theory it makes setting up tactics to defend yourselves and Yggdrasil a bit easier, but of course everything is easier said than done in a lot of survival games.
The console releases support match-making as well, in case you have trouble getting all nine of your co-op partners to get online at the same time.
3. Northgard – PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Android
Talking about tactics, there are a handful of Viking-themed strategy games you could play together. First up is Northgard, an RTS where you take control of six different Viking clans in an attempt to conquer the titular new land. The main focus in this game is taking territory and managing resources, not just to win through conquest. Somewhat similar to the Civilization series there are four ways to secure your victory in a match: Through dominating your enemies’ territories and town hall, increasing Fame points and build the Altar of Kings, raking in Commercial points and win through trades, or gathering Lore and be the first to unlock Ancestral Knowledge.
Being a Viking isn’t just about pillaging and fighting, obviously.
With quite a several skill-based playstyles to experiment with, most matches can even run up to 1 or 2 hours. Keep in mind though, the multiplayer is only for the up to six players (human and AI) skirmish mode, not for the campaign mode.
4. Ancestors Legacy – PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
If you want something more straightforward like Company of Heroes (with a pinch of Total War battle gameplay) where raiding enemies is the main gameplay complete, with squad-based units, a veterancy system, and active abilities, then there’s Ancestors Legacy.
Although it has a really small amount of unique units per faction (like just six!), Destructive Creations manages to fill that hole with a deep combat engagement system. Deciding when to use abilities like throwing axes or setting up traps while charging or flanking in an attempt to start engagement is extremely important. As does the retreat system, where first your units simply disengage from the combat area and then went full retreat once they’re completely overrun. Making sure you can handle ambushes in the middle of a re-engagement, or inflict them on your enemies, is pivotal to victory.
Like Northgard though, multiplayer is only for skirmish but at least it does support cross-play between Steam and GOG. The game also has an ample amount of campaign levels with a heavy narrative focus for solo players.
5. Raiders of the North Sea – PC, Android, iOS, Board Game
An adaptation from a board game with the same name, as you can expect Raiders of the North Sea is mostly balanced for two to four players. But, it also has dozens of single-player missions with slight rule variations for more playing options.
Translating a board game into a digital game might sound like it could turn into a hassle, but this is one of those adaptations that’s easy to learn and follow along with. Simply manage your worker to gain resources like provisions and silver, then raid fortresses to rake in victory points. Once all fortresses have been taken over, one player with the most points wins. Definitely, a simple, yet fun game to play with friends when you all can’t meet each other in person.
6. Niffelheim – PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Another multiplayer survival game with a Nordic backdrop is the 2D side-scroller Niffelheim. As a warrior who fell in battle but end up trapped in the harsh world of Niffelheim, you must find your way to Asgard by collecting 20 pieces of a portal that’s closely guarded by giants, undead, and other monstrosities. And of course, you must prepare yourself to face those challenges by scavenging and crafting foods, items, bases, and equipment from the caves and forests in the area.
You can still make a fun survival game from a side-scrolling perspective.
Compared to most crafting survival games, developer Ellada Games implements a system that makes resource gathering less of a chore. If all players are in the same Clan, the game lets you pool items in specific chests for sharing base-building and item upgrading materials. It also has a convenient drop-in, drop-out multiplayer: with one player-hosted server that can contain up to 16 players. One thing to remember though, unlocking achievements can only be done in the single-player mode for some reason.
7. Viking Squad – PS4, PC
Although the clean and colorful hand-drawn 2D art (courtesy of Jesse “The Drawbarian” Turner) might remind you of Castle Crashers, Viking Squad offers something that’s a bit more complex and requires tight cooperation between players instead of just mashing buttons.
The obvious example is, first, the combat areas are in four horizontal lanes. Both enemies or allies that stand in front of you will hide everything behind them. And lastly, each playable character has its own move sets. All these factors combined create a more tactical way to approach a usually simple beat-em-up gameplay. Not to mention that there’s a New Game+ feature that adds extra content as well. Any group who wants to prove themselves worthy of Valhalla should test their cooperation skills with Viking Squad.
8. Die for Valhalla! – PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Nevertheless, in case you’re looking for a more uncomplicated Nordic myth-styled co-op beat-em-up experience (but still have a gameplay twist or two), Die for Valhalla! is your next best choice. Here, each player plays as a Valkyrie with the ability to possess fallen Viking warriors. While these undead warriors’ looks are randomly generated, they are divided into seven different classes all with unique playstyles and combos. Your Valkyrie isn’t a slouch either, as she has 80 skills that you can unlock by leveling up.
Die, and die, and die again for a seat in Valhalla.
The game features two difficulty modes: Normal that plays like a run-of-the-mill arcade game and potions only have useful or hilarious effects (or both), and the rogue-lite Hardcore mode where enemies hit harder, potions have debuffing effects, and of course the sub-genre staple permadeath. Aside from campaign mode, this game provides additional Deathmatch and Survival Challenge modes too.
9. Vikings: Wolves of Midgard – PS4, Xbox One, PC
Now, if you enjoy isometric hack-and-slash style RPG like Diablo then this one is a decent alternative. When you start the game, instead of choosing a class, you’re asked to pick one from five gods to worship — Thor, Odin, Tyr, Loki, and Scathi. Each of them grants special skills depending on what kind of weapon is favored by the particular god. For example, Thor favored two-handed hammers, swords, or axes, and only by using one of them, you can use access the exclusive Battle Cry skill.
The way to level up is kind of unique too. As you kill enemies, you absorb their blood, then sacrifice them at a shrine. Then there’s a lite survival mechanic where if you stay too long in the cold or poisonous air, you’ll die. Although it doesn’t really have the depth of Diablo and other popular loot-based action RPGs, those little details do make Wolves of Midgard an interesting enough co-op experience.
10. Titan Quest: Ragnarok – PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Switch, PC, iOS, Android
Another co-op RPG title with a Nordic myth theme is the Ragnarok expansion for Titan Quest Anniversary Edition. If you’ve already played hundreds of hours of Titan Quest before, don’t want to slog through all the Greek levels, or just want to jump straight to the Ragnarok contents, thankfully you can skip the previous Acts and make a new level 40 character instantly.
Since it is an expansion/DLC, it’s hard not to mention the base game. Simply put, it is one of the easier hack-and-slash RPGs to get into thanks to the abundance of Rebirth Fountains/checkpoints and straightforward skill trees that still lets you mix-and-match abilities. If you like what Titan Quest has to offer, Ragnarok basically gives you all that and more for much-needed gameplay and visual variety: more forest and snowy areas, more weapons such as throwing knives and axes, more levels up to 85, additional warrior-shaman class Runemaster – that’s adept at using melee and rune magic, among others. Also, your character can wear pants now instead of just letting the air breeze through their tunic all the time.
11. The Lost Vikings – SNES, Genesis, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
In this classic puzzle-platforming game three Vikings; Erik, Baleog, and Olaf; are kidnapped by an alien emperor, Tomatork, for an intergalactic zoo. Despite escaping his clutch, they got lost in various periods of time. Yeah, the story is made-up non-sense but a multiplayer Viking game is a multiplayer Viking game. Can’t argue with that theming.
It does say Viking on the cover…
Swapping control between the three Vikings (both in solo or two-player co-op) each character has the ability to carry and use items as well as utilizing a unique set of skills to solve puzzles. For example, Erik is the fastest, can jump, and bash through walls. Baleog is armed with a sword and a bow to defeat enemies or hit switches from a distance, while Olaf can block enemies and projectiles and glide using a multipurpose shield. Cooperation is key since losing any of them means you can’t progress through the level.
12. The Lost Vikings 2 – SNES, Saturn, PS1, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
The three Vikings got captured once again by Tomator, but this time, they gained new abilities when escaping thanks to salvaging parts of the alien emperor’s robot bodyguards. Together with Fang the werewolf, who can walk on walls, and a fire-breathing dragon named Scorch, you and your partner must now control five of them to find their way back home. You can easily play both The Lost Vikings and its sequel in modern systems thanks to the Blizzard Arcade Collection rerelease.
13. Magicka – Xbox 360, PC, Android, iOS
Although the series doesn’t really feature Vikings, having you play as wizards instead, and developed by a bunch of Sweden university students, Magicka’s world is loosely based on Norse and Scandinavian mythology (with a heavy sprinkle of pop culture references). There’s Midgard, Niflheim, a hammer weapon called Mjölner, and most places are named in Swedish.
Like they said, “don’t cross the stream.”
The best thing about Magicka as a multiplayer game isn’t just the fact it has a unique magic system where you have to manually input and combine eight different elements to create offensive and defensive spells alike. Or the physics engine that lets you push enemies to their deaths. Or the variety of character skins and weapons that provides different playstyle. No, the best thing about it is friendly fire is always on. Be prepared to make lost a friend or two once your playthrough ends.
14. Ragnarok Online – PC
Like Magicka, this MMORPG adaptation of a Korean manhwa with the same name mostly borrows heavily from Nordic myths and names. The story tells how the world of Rune-Midgard is now being invaded again by the demons after the Norman (the human race) has forgotten about the 1,000 years of a peace pact between them, the demons, and the gods. Considering the theme, Gravity should’ve added a Viking class to the 55 playable classes from the hundreds of updates the company has pushed out since 2002. Aside from the PC version, you and your friends can also play it on Android and iOS through the Eternal Love and Ragnarok X mobile spin-offs.
15. For Honor – PS4, Xbox One, PC
The premise of For Honor is like something a 10-years-old would come up with: what if Vikings, samurais, and medieval European knights – all living in different time periods – are pitted against each other? So yeah, as you can expect it’s not a fully Viking-oriented game. Thankfully, the plot is silly enough to work while delivering an interesting twist to the conventional fighting or beat-em-up genre since it ditches the typical Ubisoft open-world mechanics. With a two-player co-op story mode to boot!
For Honor’s gameplay is not hard to learn and somewhat hard to master. When dealing with basic infantry mooks, you can just slash through them like butter similar to Dynasty Warriors. But facing other humans (or human-like AI) characters is when stuff gets tricky. All characters have their own fighting styles, and once you face each other, the game enters a dueling mode where you and your opponent have to position your attacks from three directions. Observing visual hints from the UI and character animations is vital for both defending attacks or exploiting a chink in the opponent’s armor for a counter-attack.
In terms of the story, all the factions’ plot intertwines with each other, starting from the Knight point of view, then the Viking in the middle, and ends with the Samurai. So you do have to play as the other factions first and cannot skip any of them.
That’s one nice clean cut.
16. Rune – PS2, PC
Don’t expect much in terms of visuals since this is a 2000-released game after all. But gameplay-wise, Rune still delivers satisfying combat complete with chunky, gory goodness. You take control of Ragnar who has been tasked by Odin to stop the villain Cornack from releasing Loki and unleashing Ragnarok.
To achieve that goal Ragnar, can cleave his enemies in half using a variety of swords, clubs, and axes that can be powered with runes for unique effects like absorbing health or mind control. Or you can also just throw your weapons into their faces to deal massive damages. Limbs can be dismembered and most of the time striking their heads ensure instant deaths. It’s no Soldier of Fortune, but it still indulges you in a particular bloody Viking/Barbarian fantasy. Although it doesn’t officially support cooperative campaign mode, dedicated fans have managed to make a co-op mod. And if you’re not interested in co-oping and want to smash each other’s heads in, the high-octane PVP mode still holds up quite well.
17. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Yeah, technically Skyrim and the whole Elder Scrolls series have their own lore made up from a lot of religions, folktales, myths, and other pop culture media. However, Skyrim in particular does borrow a lot of inspiration and even terms from Nordic myths, from the undead Draugr, the Nord race, to the Hall of Valor, the in-universe equivalent of Valhalla. So technically, it still counts as a Viking game, right? It even has that popular horned iron helmet from Viking fiction.
But you might wonder, why does a single-player RPG get into a multiplayer games list? Well, of course, the answer is mods. Like Rune, fans have taken matters into their own hands and made their own co-op mod. It works for Fallout 4 too!
“It just works!”
18. Riders of Asgard – PC
If your gaming group is really hooked up on Viking games, then the last title I can recommend to you and your friends is Riders of Asgard. It’s basically Trials: Evolution (or Gravity Defied for Java phones, if you know/remember that) with a Viking skin.
While the novelty of Viking characters wore out pretty quickly, it gives the game a reason to include additional puzzle-like mechanics into the stunt biking genre, like opening a path or breaking an obstacle with an ax. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have online multiplayer, only local.
Personally, I think these are the best multiplayer-oriented Viking or Nordic-themed games that you can play together with friends. Do you think the list is missing your other favorites? Let me know in the comments.
