Viking Heroes 5

hübsch gemacht , wie die Vorgänger, macht Spaß, zu spielen

very positive

Updated Review - 4/17/25 Summary: Excellent time management game for experienced gamers. Unique gameplay mechanics. Complex gameplay. Challenging time limits. Good worker run and work speed. Fleshed-out, super cheesy, but cute, story line. Unique Mechanic: In the Viking Heroes series, in addition to your regular workers, you have other characters (e.g. the four viking siblings) that you need to unlock on a level who have specific roles. (Helga does the magical stuff, Everand does the fighting, etc.) Controlling these separate characters with specific functions/abilities adds a new layer of complexity on top of a regular time-management game. It's the first time I've come across this mechanic (at least one that is fully developed). I am a very experienced casual gamer returning to the genre after 10+ years away. VH 5 was one of the first games I played on my return. I was lukewarm about the game due to the complexity of never-before-seen mechanics, so many uneducated strategic decisions to make, and the difficulty earning three stars on a level. I stopped after 18 levels and wrote my original review (shown below). Since then, I have re-immersed myself in time management games, including playing Viking Heroes 3 and 4, and can now enthusiastically recommend this series to experienced gamers. I would still highly recommend starting with VH 3 and/or 4, but if you want to jump into a tornado, start here. VH 3 and 4 are simpler (not simple!) than VH 5. There are fewer mechanics in the game, so I was introduced to unique gameplay mechanics (specifically controlling a separate set of characters), with fewer other general gameplay nuances to learn. I also thought the levels were well balanced. There was enough direction and guidance to complete the goals without holding your hand, and the network of routes available to get there had just the right amount of decisions to make. The time limits were also a good amount of challenge, not guaranteed three stars each time. VH 5 has a significant increase in difficulty from VH 3 and 4 when it comes to earning three-stars on a level. The levels are more open-ended. You don't need to upgrade every building or clear every obstacle to finish the level; in fact, oftentimes you can't do all that and still earn three stars. You have to make a lot of decisions of what to do and what you can do without. I run completely out of time on some levels because I unnecessarily develop my factories too much. Back to the game! Original Review - 4/7/25 Good implementation of a casual, time management game, but too many concurrent avenues to work on to be fun for me. Complex gameplay. Good worker run and work speed. I like to be able to earn 3 stars on a level with an increasing amount of difficulty as the game progresses. I wasn't able to do this on the first time playing a level even for the first few levels. There were simply too many different sequential task threads that needed to be completed concurrently without significant planning that was difficult to do before the level started. And the levels were long enough to not be worth the effort to redo. It's a lot of trial-and-error playthroughs to beat a level with 3 stars. I really like a game that is complex enough to require that, but not from the start.