Entering Valheim

Defeating the first boss

Last night was amazing. My son and I, along with the help of my brother and nephew, took down Eikthyr, an electrified stag. And we lived to tell the tale.

Alright, yes, I played a game on my laptop.

And yes, I may have let out a scream of shock and delight as I was one-shot killed by a surprise troll that snuck up on me (yes it was 12 feet tall, and no I don't have the best awareness of my surroundings). I also ran around a fire attempting to evade a grizzly bear that came into our camp. We thought we were safe, we'd built our shelter on an island, nobody told me that bears could swim.

Early LAN parties

Multiplayer gaming has been a fun, albeit sporadic, part of my life through the years.

One of my fondest memories goes back to the early 2000s.

My brother and I, along with three friends, got together for an evening.

We dragged our monitors and PC towers into one home, and connected everything with cables.

Snacks were ready, the right music had been chosen¹, and we all sat down for a LAN party.

Age of Empires II, Quake II, and Command and Conquer: Red Alert II were the games on offer.

Battles were fought, alliances made and broken.

We were a bunch of mid teen, homeschooled boys, and we found ourselves getting more energetic as the night went on. Our parents for some reason were fine with us staying up.

The sun set, the music continued, and the battles waged.

By morning we were starting to feel it.

We crashed on mats and beds, and tried to sleep. But the excitement was too much. After ten minutes, me and two friends got back up and continued playing.

Eventually the rest joined us.

We played through the morning and into the early evening.

Then we went home to sleep.

There's something special about playing games live with friends. My brother-in-law and I have played PUBG over the years doing just that. At one point my wife joined, and I distinctly remember her brother trying to save her by hauling her out of a building—only to succumb to the blue wall that sucks everyone.

As an adult I've intentionally steered away from massive multiplayer online games—not because they aren't fun, but because I realized there is no cutoff to playing. There's no point at which you'll naturally stop. It can just go on forever.²

Though I enjoy gaming, it's important to have ways to bring it to an end. Life is far more exciting after all.

But live, multiplayer sessions with friends, offer a fun time with a built-in expiration date. Even in the most extreme scenario where you stay up all night, eventually people have to go home.

A few years ago my brother and I replicated the LAN party experience with friends. We dragged our computers together, and played Age of Empires II. Of course we also spent half the time trying to get everything setup—not nearly as fun, but the idea still held.

Journey to Valheim

This week that feeling returned.

My son and I started playing Valheim. It's an exploration and survival game; but you're vikings.

The game concept is simple. Run around and build stuff, upgrade, and fight bosses. It's also available on both Mac and PC.

It's really easy to turn your computer into a hosted game, and your friends can join in with a code.

Over two nights we pulled in two of my brothers, and my nephew. Some of us were in the room, and the rest joined over FaceTime.

On the first evening we felt ready for the big boss battle.

There were four of us. We'd managed to scrounge together crude bows, and I had a long spear to poke at the enemy.

We summoned the creature, and a massive flaming stag appeared.

We laughed and yelled like little kids as we tried to survive.

I distracted it by poking and running, and the rest took it down with flaming arrows.

After an extended battle we came out as the victors.

We collected our trophy, got our upgrade, and congratulated ourselves on a job well done. It was a perfect way to end the evening.

Last night we jumped in again, this time with my nephew joining. We had a few upgrades this time, understood how the game worked better, and took down the stag again.

This weekend we'll go in again, but move onto the second boss. From the hints on the stones it looks like it may be a massive mountain troll. We'll be ready, pointed spears in hand.³

1. We unironically played Enya. My mind still attributes Orinoco Flow to tanks and soldiers sweeping across battlefields.
2. Nearly a year of my life spent playing RuneScape as an early teen helped cement in my mind the futility of it. You can mine mithril forever, but you'll always be just one more haul away from that armor you've been dreaming of. It's not worth it.
3. And yes, the name of Leroy Jenkins was invoked more than once.