''Dead in Vinland'' is a

survival game Survival games are a subgenre of action games which are often set in hostile, intense, open-world environments. Players generally start with minimal equipment and are required to survive as long as possible by finding the resources necessary t ...

developed by CCCP and published in 2018 by

Dear Villagers Plug In Digital is a French video game publisher and distributor. They were founded in 2012 and publish mid-market games for personal computers and consoles under the label Dear Villagers (formerly Playdius), such as The Forgotten City and Carava ...

. Players control a Viking family who shipwrecks on an island. A

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

version was released in 2019. It was renamed to ''Dead in Vinland: True Viking Edition''.

Gameplay

A Viking family becomes shipwrecked on an island named Vinland, a reference to the historical

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland () was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. The name appears in the V ...

settlement in North America. As they attempt to survive in the wilderness, the warlord Bjorn demands they give him tribute. Players control the four Viking family members, each of whom has their own skills, as in

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

s. Surviving requires

resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or ...

, both to provide for their own needs and collect whatever random tribute Bjorn requires of them. After exploring the island, they can find other shipwrecked survivors and invite them to their camp. Collecting resources can impact their mental and physical health; performing the same task repetitively without break can lead to crippling depression and eventual suicide. If any of the initial Viking family members die, the game ends. Eventually, players can encounter mythological gods, who can provide supplies. The game is

turn-based Timekeeping is relevant to many types of games, including video games, tabletop role-playing games, board games, and sports. The passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. In many games, this is don ...

, and each turn is broken into two parts: day and night. Combat is also turn-based and is inspired by

JRPG While the early history and distinctive traits of role-playing video games (RPGs) in East Asia have come from Japan, many video games have also arisen in China, developed in South Korea, and Taiwan. Japanese role-playing games Japanese c ...

s. The game has an optional "True Viking" mode that enables

permadeath Permadeath or permanent death is a game mechanic in both tabletop games and video games in which player characters who lose all of their health are considered dead and cannot be used anymore. Depending on the situation, this could require the p ...

Development

CCCP is a French video game studio. ''Dead in Vinland'' is the sequel to ''Dead in Bermuda'', a similar survival game developed by a smaller team at CCCP. ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' estimated that the game cost €500,000, took a team of 10 people almost two years to develop, and required almost another year of support after launch.

, under the name Playdius, released the Windows and macOS versions on April 12, 2018. A

beta version The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

for Linux was posted to

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

in December 2018, but it is not officially supported. Three DLCs were released. The Switch version was released on July 11, 2019, and includes all the DLC.

Reception

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the game received mixed reviews on both PC and Switch. Jody Macgregor of ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...

'' wrote, "''Dead in Vinland'' combines resource management, RPG combat, uneven writing, and a lot of diciness into something I couldn't stop playing until I finished it." Nic Reuben similarly criticized the game's writing, but his review for ''

Rock Paper Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' is a British video game journalism website. It was launched in July 2007 to focus on PC game, PC games and was acquired by Gamer Network, a network of sites led by ''Eurogamer'', in May 2017. History ''Rock Paper S ...

'' called ''Dead in Vinland'' "a great example of systemic roguelike storytelling" if players can get past the silly dialogue. ''

PCGamesN ''PCGamesN'' is a British website with articles about PC gaming and hardware. History Parent company Network N was founded by James Binns (formerly of Future Publishing) in late May 2012. ''PCGamesN'' launched the following month. PCGamesN ...

''s reviewer, Matt Purslow, compared ''Dead in Vinland'' to '' The Banner Saga'' but said that it allows for more

emergent gameplay Emergent gameplay refers to complex situations in video games, board games, or role-playing games that emerge from the interaction of relatively simple game mechanics. Designers have attempted to encourage emergent play by providing tools to play ...

due to ''Vinland''s focus on management rather than a branching narrative. Cameron Kunzelman of '' Paste'' also disliked the game's combat but said that the game is unique for its intertwined systems of random chance and narrative. Reviewing the Switch version for ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

'', Dom Reseigh-Lincoln criticized the game's reliance on random dice rolls and its combat system, but he enjoyed seeing a struggling settlement eventually flourish.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://deadinvinland.com 2018 video games Dear Villagers games Indie games MacOS games Nintendo Switch games Single-player video games Survival video games Video games developed in France Video games set in Canada Video games set in the Viking Age Windows games