Whether semi-factual or entirely fictional, today’s media is obsessed with Vikings. For history enthusiasts that’s a blessing, meaning there’s a wealth of films, TV series (including the recent ), books, comics, tabletop games and videogames to discover. If you really want to immerse yourself in and the world of Norse adventure, it’s perhaps the last of these, videogames, that can be the most exciting.
But where do you start? Which games are the most historically accurate, the most intellectually challenging, or just the most fun? Whether you’re a lifelong gamer or not, if you want to begin a mythic exploration of Norse-inspired lands in an open-world RPG, or command Viking settlers in a slower-paced RTS, here’s our list of the best Viking games that anyone who loves history should play. Whether you play the original version, or 2019’s revamped and remastered Definitive Edition, is a genre-defining RTS that’s a must-play regardless of whether you love history — and Vikings — or not. Whether you launch a single player campaign or go multiplayer, you’ll take charge of a small settlement and grow it into a city, and an economic and military powerhouse, expanding into new lands, conquering and settling.
You’ll build defences, farms, castles, monasteries, and universities. You’ll create an army, and a force of farmers, miners, foragers, and hunters. The balance of this — how much you decide to prioritise your economy or your military might, and whether .