Dolmenjord – Viking Islands Review

Game: Dolmenjord – Viking Islands
Genre: Casual, Indie, Strategy, Puzzle
System: Steam (Windows & macOS)
Developers | Publishers: Allan Postal, Mens Sana Interactive | Mens Sana Interactive
Controller Support: Yes
Price: US $ 2.99 | UK £ 2.49 | EU € 2,99
Release Date: November 18th, 2022

Review code used, with many thanks to Mens Sana Interactive.

Dolmenjord – Viking Islands is a logic puzzle game inspired by Norse mythology. It’s another excellent puzzle game in publisher Mens Sana’s catalogue that joins the Island Farmer,Floating Farmer and Island Cites.

Help the Vikings

Following the Norse Mythology storyline, after many years of battles, the Vikings decided it was high time they conquered some new lands, 60 in all.

So, with the protection of the god Njord, a new clan specialized in navigation sets off in search of glory. This is where you come in, as it’s your role to help the Vikings set up a village on each island.

You are given a collection of pieces at the bottom of the screen. Using them, you must lay a path to the port and place cute little buildings along the route. But, of course, it’s more complex than putting the pieces where you like; that would be less fun.

Diorama with Grids

Every diorama island has a grid, and there is only a certain amount of space to place the paths and houses. When you place the path, it must run from the village to the port, and to make matters trickier, all the buildings must face the path.

The game starts easily enough, but it’s only a short time until the difficulty increases. Different-shaped buildings are added that have a larger footprint. So instead of a building only needing one tile to sit on, buildings need four, six or more tiles and must always be placed facing the path.

Casual Mode

Thankfully there isn’t a timer for completing the puzzle; you can take as long as you need. In addition, you can change the game to causal mode. Doing so highlights the squares to place the path on, giving you a hint. Once you build a village, Njord, the Norse God, activates the Dolmen, which completes the island conquest, and you move on to the next island.

Challenging

None of the 60 islands is overly challenging, and I completed the game in a few hours. There are 4 different island environments to play through, each as detailed as the last. It’s a chill game to play with Nordic-themed music to tap your toes to while building a village.

The islands are wonderfully detailed, and you can zoom in and move the camera around each island. As a result, it is easy to see, and all the islands are clear and colourful.

Controls and keyboard and mouse, or you can use the mouse on its own. Both options work as they should. You can also use a controller; I tried that method out too, and it works fine. However, I much preferred to use the mouse.

Conclusion

Dolmenjord – Viking Islands is a cute, wholesome puzzle game. Once again, a quality title from Mens Sana Interactive. It is enjoyable to play with gorgeous artwork to look at; what’s not to like?  I’d recommend Dolmenjord – Viking Islands to any puzzle-loving fans.

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up