Announced on October 14, Trollheim: Gnomes is an upcoming open-world Steam game with eight-player cooperative multiplayer, set in a Nordic folklore fantasy realm. The first trailer of the game has revealed that players can team up, build a base anywhere they like, and try to survive by gathering resources and fighting the Väsen, mythical creatures such as trolls and sirens. Trollheim: Gnomes will be released exclusively on PC and is already available to wishlist on Steam.
Trollheim is an intellectual property with its own lore and stories, much like The Lord of the Rings‘ Middle Earth. A fantasy book titled Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir already takes place in this universe, and the team behind the IP has revealed plans to expand it through other media, including music. Trollheim‘s signature feature appears to be the Väsen, the Swedish word for mythical beings, which now also form the backbone of the franchise’s first video game.
Trollheim: Gnomes Showcases Intriguing Base-Building Mechanics
As an open-world co-op survival game, Trollheim: Gnomes features standard base-building mechanics. However, what makes its building system intriguing is the ability to turn almost any part of its forest into a home. The official Steam page states, “Build idyllic housing in the treetops, within hollowed logs, tucked into rock crevices or by the mist-filled forest lakes.” Some of the creations showcased in the trailer are also quite detailed and creative, giving survival game fans hope that Trollheim: Gnomes will offer plenty of freedom in how they build their bases.
Combat is another interesting aspect of Trollheim: Gnomes, though the first trailer offers only brief glimpses of it. Similar to games like Grounded, where players are much smaller than their surroundings, Trollheim pits gnomes against large enemies such as trolls. Taking down these foes also doesn’t seem straightforward. In one brief moment in the trailer, players can be seen attacking a troll that appears to be stuck in a trap, suggesting they may need to use clever hunting tactics to succeed in battle. However, not all mythical beings in the game’s universe, the Dark Forest, are hostile. Some are actually friendly and might even lend a hand to players.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
Trollheim pits gnomes against large enemies such as trolls.
As for the story, Trollheim: Gnomes follows a group of creatures who have been forced to leave their homeland and are searching for a new place to call home. Their journey has brought them to the Dark Forest, where there is enough room for everyone, but dangers and hostile creatures make survival challenging. Players must reunite with their own kind, create a safe shelter, and overcome the hardships of their new home.
Trollheim: Gnomes currently has no release window, but the developer looks set to reveal more about its plans for the game in the near future. What has been confirmed, however, is that the game will launch in early access on Steam before reaching its full 1.0 release. According to the developer, the EA version will include “core survival gameplay, a wide variety of biomes, several unique Väsen, crafting, processing and cooking across multiple tiers, treehouse building and vertical traversal, cave networks and underground exploration, and solo play and co-op multiplayer.”