Trollheim: Gnomes bertujuan membawa misteri dan kejenakaan folklor Nordik ke dalam game kerajinan bertahan hidup

Trollheim: Gnomes, a new survival crafting game for PC based on Nordic folklore that IGN announced as part of IGN Fan Fest, comes from a team of ex-Mojang developers who all grew up playing in the Nordic woods and hearing folk tales of Sprýg Gnomes and other creatures and want to make a game about it. I got an early look at it, and there's one key thing that might set it apart in a very, very crowded genre: combat is optional.

You'll gather building materials and as you level up, you'll be able to not only craft more and more intricate and complex structures, but you'll able to do so higher and higher up in the trees. It might be best thought of like living in a dark-forest version of a condo high-rise: the best unit is the penthouse. And you will run into opposition in the form of the Väsen, who are signficantly larger than your three-inch-tall gnome. All of that sounds pretty run-of-the-mill, right? But that's where the combat-optional hook comes in. The Väsen won't attack you on sight. They will if you antagonize them, but intriguingly, you can also befriend them by bringing them food or other items they need.

"If you want to hang out and make it cozy, that's up to you, said game director Jojje Dalunde. "You will always be able to achieve the same goals using a friendly approach as you would a hostile approach." Added studio founder Bjorne Larson, "We want combat to feel intentional. It's an opt-in. You will always know that you're stepping into something you might not be able to handle. You will be able to just enjoy your time with your friends and live the cozy experience of being this tiny Sprýg Gnome."

Adding to the cozy-if-you-want-it-to-be appeal of Trollheim are two welcome features: co-op and procedural generation. No matter how many people play with you (the max in one world is eight players), the Dark Forest – which the developers call a "main character" in Trollheim – will procedurally generate every time you start a new game, which should help the woods always feel new and mysterious.

But even if you don't opt in to combat, you'll still have to survive. Cold, wetness, and hunger are all very real threats to contend with. though your crafting extends beyond just housing. You can also make things like wingsuits to help you get around the Dark Forest more quickly and easily. You've got a single life bar to worry about that incorporates health and stamina into one meter for you to manage. I also saw some stealth elements in the hands-off demo I was presented, which made me happy to see.

Again, it won't be easy for Trollheim: Gnomes to stand out in the glut of its fellow survival crafting games. But the developers are, if nothing else, committed to building out their world. In addition to a Trollheim video game, they're constructing "an interconnected narrative that spans books, games, collectibles, film and lifestyle." The first of those transmedia experiences is a 288-page book available now called Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir. You can wishlist Trollheim: Gnomes on Steam if you're interested.