Whenever a genre reaches trend status, new projects need to find an identity that sets them apart from the crowd, and Trollheim: Gnomes sharpens its voice by turning to a slice of Nordic Folklore not typically explored by Hollywood or even truly by gaming. Foraging for scraps, hunting for food, scouring for secrets, and building homes out of spare parts, survival sandbox games test our resilience, aspiration, creativity, and curiosity. Regardless of the setting and tone, they offer us opportunities and then challenge us to make the most of them, be it alone or as part of a community.
In preparation for the game’s reveal, I attended a hand-off session that introduced Trollheim: Gnomes and the team behind it. While still too early for me to make a proper judgment on the project and its potential, I learned what to expect from Trollheim as a universe, the Dark Forest as a setting, and the gnome as a protagonist, along with other fascinating details. Coming from Off-Leash Interactive, Trollheim Studios, and Fireshine Games, Trollheim: Gnomes plans to enter Steam Early Access later this year.
A Magical Realm Rooted In Myth, Mystery, And Memories
While I’ll get to the gameplay showcased in the hands-off preview momentarily, Trollheim: Gnomes‘ most striking aspect is, well, the World of Trollheim. Open-world games give players a second home, where they can unwind after a long day and lose hours of their nights; if you cannot see yourself creating a life in one of these realms, you won’t last too long. Even though I only saw a sliver of what this sandbox has in store, I came out wanting to try it out for myself.
The hands-off preview began with Bjorne Larson, the founder of the Trollheim IP, setting the scene for both the game and its world. Before moving forward, I should specify that Trollheim: Gnomes adapts an already established transmedia property, although familiarity is not remotely required. Born from Nordic folk belief, Trollheim is a timeless saga set within the Dark Forest, a refuge for mythical beings who were driven out of Midgård by Oden.
Trollheim’s mythical beings are collectively known as Väsen. They include, but aren’t limited to, trolls, gnomes, faeries, and sirens.
The Dark Forest
Despite the somewhat foreboding name, the Dark Forest is founded on mystery, hope, and magic. It’s a place where the trees reach up to the heavens, blocking the sun without extinguishing the light of life. It’s a place where gnomes build homes way above the ground, finding security, safety, and community in the process. It’s a place where creatures of different sizes and temperaments exist as neighbors, though some might be more neighborly than others. It’s a place for facing and entering the unknown.
As somebody who hasn’t been particularly exposed to Scandinavian culture, I admit that my understanding of its myths has been shaped by movies like The Northman, The Ritual, and Midsommar, all of which are pretty intense. Rather than Vikings, blood, and horror, Trollheim roots itself in ancient nature and uses the (mostly) peaceful journeys of magical entities to tell human stories that bring us together.Although mythology played a significant role in building the World of Trollheim and the Dark Forest, Bjorne and members of the development team also turned to their childhoods spent in Sweden’s dense forests, where they played, went on adventures, and learned about the Väsen.
Through Trollheim: Gnomes, Off-Leash hopes to share their forest with the rest of the world. Despite the mythical factor, the game doesn’t ignore realism in its art style, world design, or gameplay. The developer strives to make the Dark Forest feel real, and the same can be said for what you create within it.
Surviving And Thriving In The Dark Forest
Trollheim: Gnomes is a survival sandbox game that specifies its core perspective right in the title: We are gnomes. Crucially, we are the tiniest beings in the Dark Forest, and we feel it in more ways than one. The hand-off preview showcased the playable character’s worldview by emphasizing the sheer scale of everything around them. As they look up, they see trees that stretch out like skyscrapers, making the thought of climbing them seem like a true challenge, and you can ascend each and every one of them. The gnome’s size unlocks unique possibilities in the environment, turning twigs into tools, branches into bridges, and forks into real estate.
Using procedural generation, each Dark Forest is one of a kind, and a new playthrough means a new sandbox. Regardless of the map, we won’t have the forest to ourselves, as we exist alongside other Väsen, with the preview specifically highlighting a troll. Off-Leash stresses that these mythical beings are not inherently good or evil, and they could be aggressive or peaceful neighbors. The way our gnome approaches Väsen plays a part in defining these interactions, and they could end up leading to a combat scenario if things head south.
I didn’t see a great deal of the combat mechanics, but it appears to be built around the gnome’s relative speed compared to other beings like trolls. Players can prepare tools and weapons to counter their enemies, and the crafting system stretches beyond battle items to include stuff like paragliders that aid exploration.
Rather than individual meters, your gnome has a single life bar that holistically covers your basic state, including things like stamina. This system is influenced by their current status. For instance, feeling hungry or cold impacts it; however, you can also feel better by listening to a nice song.
Building A Home In The Dark Forest
Going by what I saw, Trollheim: Gnomes‘ core loop is relatively typical for a survival game. You spend your time searching for resources to keep you fed and sheltered from the cold, all the while dealing with the various obstacles and threats that naturally stem from living in such an open environment. Rather than following a linear path, we are dropped into a true playground that lets stories emerge depending on how players interact with the world.
Except for the universe itself, Gnomes‘ base-building is its biggest selling point, and that goes beyond the fundamental house-forming process. Mechanically, the system utilizes holographic blueprinting to allow players to preview 3D holograms of walls they are about to set, a fairly standard technique for the genre. Rather than the mechanics themselves, I found the actual location scouting of the bases to be the most intriguing aspect of this part of the game. As previously mentioned, we can climb every tree, all of which can be transformed into canvases for our base-building ambition.
Found a massive branch that overlooks a beautiful part of the Dark Forest? Well, why not turn it into your home? Quite a few of us have memories of building treehouses as children, and Trollheim: Gnomes taps into that shared experience and sprinkles a touch of magic over it. While I imagine many folks will be able to create some truly incredible structures, functionality and survivability are also important, so you might want to disguise your home if you deem it necessary.
Off-Leash emphasized that Trollheim: Gnomes strives to make creativity feel earned. Consequently, players need to take into account the surface they are building upon and the pieces they are using, both of which contribute to the base’s stability.
A Donsy Of Gnomes
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Trollheim: Gnomes features a shared world that supports up to 8 players, though someone can play alone if that’s what they prefer. Along with reintroducing players to nature, the game wants to bring folks together by unleashing them on a sandbox designed to accommodate their wish to create and connect.
Co-op links back to the childhood experiences and wonder that inspired the World of Trollheim, as players come together to explore the unknown, survive the wilderness, go on their own adventures, and form memories that last a lifetime. Whether the group approaches every project as a unit or decides to spread themselves out, they need to think about how what they build impacts the community at large, encouraging a holistic point of view rather than isolated thinking.
Trollheim: Gnomes appears to be all about intentional gameplay – what you do and what you bring impacts what you get. If I want a cozy sandbox to enjoy with friends, this game could be the one for me; if you prefer an isolated experience that lets you immerse yourself in nature’s beauty and silence, this game could be the one for you.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, there’s only so much I can learn and outline from a hands-off preview, and direct experience is naturally required to get a full handle on what Trollheim: Gnomes is and could become. As of right now, Off-Leash Interactive hasn’t announced a release date for the Steam Early Access version, nor do we know what will be included in that version. Still, I am interested in following this project’s development, even if solely to see more of this world and its Nordic mythology. Base-building survival sandbox games aren’t exactly in short supply, but Trollheim: Gnomes has enough going on to hopefully distinguish itself from everything else in the genre.
Trollheim: Gnomes
- Released
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2026
- Developer(s)
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Off-Leash Interactive, Trollheim Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Trollheim Studios, Fireshine Games
- Early Access Release
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2026
