[7] Each world is split into several biomes, such as meadows, the Black Forest, swamps, mountains, plains, oceans, the Mistlands, the Deep North, and the Ashlands.

[9] To survive, players must gather natural resources found throughout the world, either through foraging, hunting, mining, or farming.

This can not only restore health and stamina, but can also temporarily increase how much of each the player has, depending on the variation and quality of the food that is eaten.

[14][15] Players can travel through the different biomes either by foot or on crafted boats, which range from rafts to different types of Viking longships.

[16] Led only by their instincts and occasional hints from a raven,[17] the player must prepare to fight the sworn enemies of Odin himself.

Studio co-founders Richard Svensson and Henrik Tornqvist were both coworkers at a local game development company called Pieces Interactive.

[19][20] He ended up leaving Pieces Interactive in 2018 to work on Valheim full time, and convinced Tornqvist to join him later that year.

[26] The game's original soundtrack was released 29 October 2021, by Iron Gate AB, to stream on Spotify and for purchase on Steam.

This content included enemies, neutral NPCs, random events, items, food, building parts, the sixth main boss, crafting stations, weapons, and a few other miscellaneous features.

These versions, developed by external studios Piktiv and Fishlabs, would support cross-platform play and launch directly into Xbox Game Pass.

Meanwhile, Iron Gate Studio would focus on the "core Valheim experience and its next major update milestones".

[33] The Washington Post appreciated that Valheim did not elaborate on certain gameplay and story elements, allowing its fans to build a sense of community with each other by sharing things like design ideas and theories about the game's lore.