Niffelheim

Developer seems to have abandoned GOG version because, on steam its not DRM free, which makes you buy more than one copy to play in coop, so its only natural that some indie developers turns to bad ways of bad companies. This version is also the only game that I bought on GOG that does not run on Slackware current via wine. I recommend not to buy this in its current state and not to support this developer.

The game lacks updates and DLCs Can only advise against a purchase

In Niffelheim, you are a Viking, and you are dead. Stuck on Niffelheim, some Nordic variant of purgatory. Niffelheim is dark, gloomy and it rots. It rots away your equipment, your tools and your weapons. Even though you are dead, you have the hunger of a gargantuan Viking. In order to survive you are constantly tunneling a mine, cutting trees and gather plants, twigs, rodents, dead rodents, and fight off wild wolfs and skeletons. Looting a burial site is a treat. The mood and resource balance makes the grind actually fun. You constantly feel the necessity to keep gathering only to cope with the increasing dangers in Niffelheim. That is till you start to notice a trend. The game only features a few mechanisms. You find ore in the mine, inside your castle. Going deeper in the mine increases the chance of finding more expensive and rare ore. Every level of ore can level your gear. So you dig deeper and deeper till an earthquake happens. It sounds interesting, but what happens is that the mine simply replenishes, it resets. It is not so much wasted effort, because the refresh means more hard to come by coal, but it reminds you, as the player, that the mine is for ore. It is not a dungeon where you find a dragon’s lair, or something interesting, if you would only dig deeper. At nighttime there are wolves, boars, mushrooms and a few skeletons, and during the day Niffelheim is populated by animals and bees. The cycle repeats every day. In other words, once you played Niffelheim for 10+ hours, you know where to find each resource. The dark atmosphere loses its layer of exploration and mystery, and become a simply nice and grim background to a lot of walking and chopping wood.

Warning: if you hate grinding and crafting, this game isn't for you. If you hated Thea 2's crafting system, this game isn't for you. If you play games only to kill, this game isn't for you. There are tons of crafting here, and it does not just focus on combat. I understand it's a personal preference. Alright, are people still interested? Great! This game is like Terraria set in a dark, sad world without the jumping. It's mainly crafting, gathering, hunting, and occasional fighting to gather stuff. You will also fight, but that is not the centerpiece of the game. You make and fight to survive. Some people love that. If you're still interested or enjoy such things, give this a try. I am a sucker for such games and have spent several happy evenings on this game. It was all worth it, and the lore and gameplay are fabulous. My compliments to the devs. Highly recommended for certain kinds of gamers (who will be hooked on such mechanics).