Viking Horde
Overview
Viking Horde is an Unreal engine solo project created fully in Unreal Engine. The main goal is to survive while gathering loot and plundering islands. Should you perish on the battlefield there is nothing to worry, for Valhalla awaits.
Unique about Viking Horde is that you don't control a character. You are the horde! Steering an ever-growing mass of pillaging spheric Vikings is not only as fun as it sounds, it can also be more challenging than it looks. Clever island designs make this game almost into a puzzle, keeping the player on their toes.
Roles and responsibilities:
Game Design
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Prototyped core systems and interactions.
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Iterated on combat mechanics, enemy behaviors, and obstacles to maximize fun and challenge.
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Crafted a scalable core loop with a rewarding progression system.
Level Designer
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Built 4 prototype islands demonstrating gameplay variety and world-building potential.
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Showcased the scalable scope of the game through modular level design.
Art Direction
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Modeled all art assets in a cohesive low-poly, whimsical style.
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Balanced the playful visuals with punchy SFX and impactful VFX to give combat weight and intensity.
Programming
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Implemented every feature with blueprint coding.
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Made it modular and easy to add new islands, enemies and obstacles on the fly.
Genre:
Platform:
Engine:
Duration:
Team size:
Puzzle, Hack and Slash
PC, itch.io
Unreal Engine
6 weeks
Solo project
Tools Used:
Unreal Engine, Maya, 3DS Max, Adobe premiere
Prototyping
I wasted no time prototyping this game idea. With the most basic of assets I tackled the core principles: character (or horde), camera and controls. I stuck to basic shapes and added feedback where possible. For example: attacking and damage was shown as the object or enemy flashing red for a second.
After thoroughly testing the game’s core systems, I iterated on combat, obstacles, and interactives. I first developed each element in isolation within test levels, then gradually combined them to create layered challenges. These early experiments informed much of the later island design, shaping the fun factor and sense of challenge that define the gameplay experience.
Every prototype was reviewed and documented to capture what worked well and identify areas for improvement. The speed of development was made possible through low-fidelity prototyping and rapid iteration, which kept the project within scope. This process proved both fun and educational, yet it also showed me the importance of prototyping in driving design decisions and ensuring efficient production.
Game Design
Designing Viking Horde in itself was a fun and rewarding experience. All the interactions and mechanics we prototyped were in place and I poured them into levels, creating a foundation to explore endless possibilities. I developed several islands to showcase the systems in action and highlight how they could scale into many more. The levels were carefully structured to avoid overwhelming the player, as the game can be intentionally unforgiving. While a tailored tutorial was planned for future iterations, it remained out of scope for this project.
The levels were designed through a careful composition of obstacles, arranged on islands to encourage players to discover multiple solutions. Regular playtests revealed pitfalls in the designs and guided adjustments until the success–fail ratio aligned with expectations. Each level needed to strike a balance to be challenging enough to engage, yet be accessible enough to avoid frustrating players.
As the islands grew larger and more complex, dedicated tools were implemented to streamline the iteration workflow and support faster testing. To finalize the project, a robust UI was added with a level selection in the menu, to allow players to experience everything the game has to offer.
I added exclusive ingame footage in the adjacent video:
It shows three of the four levels, with a sneak peek at the last one.
Viking Horde has been a true passion project, teaching me a great deal about prototyping and Unreal Engine. It strengthened my design process and reinforced the value of iteration in building engaging gameplay. I hope to one day expand Viking Horde into a full release, with more levels and plenty of Viking mayhem for players to enjoy. In the meantime you can always enjoy a taste here: Itch.io page link