How to Play Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in ‘Dad Mode’
If you’re a gaming parent looking to live the immersive life of a medieval Viking raider, I have good news for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla : Ubisoft ‘s Scandinavian open-world action game is perfect for Papal Mode. Valhalla offers a ton of rewarding, fun, and even educational activities that you can do with your baby in your lap, most of which will provide you with buffs and gear to use when you’re alone, when you can finally unleash bloodshed and let chaos reign.
Warning: do not play any of the game missions, if you want to protect your child from violent content. The Vikings of Valhalla are bloodthirsty, and the violence in the missions is absolutely brutal. If you disagree that your child sees you leading a horde of battle-hardened berserkers to a peaceful monastery, then burn it down, steal all the gold and paint the mud red with the blood and entrails of your enemies, keep open – World content detailed below.
The joy of “flying”
Fly is a verbal game based on a real Scandinavian pastime in which pranksters insult each other in rhyming verses; think of them as viking rap battles. In Valhalla, the flying tradition is presented as an interactive multi-choice minigame in which you challenge smart asses across Europe. If the opponent says: “You are a loser, you idiot, you stupid old black grouse!” you could answer: “You are weak, milkmaid, dumbass, louse!”
The winner will receive some Silver, as well as a Charisma Boost that will unlock additional dialogue options throughout the game that will allow you to tackle some future challenges with your tongue rather than the blade of your battle ax. Here is a guide to all Flyting locations in the game , but I urge you not to cheat and read the “correct” answers; it’s much more fun to play it legally.
Let’s play Orlog
Thanks to the various carved bones found during archaeological excavations, we know that the real medieval Vikings loved dice games. Valhalla includes Orlog, a fictional game that bears a passing resemblance to Yahtzee if invented by the Norse barbarians. The game is easy to learn and addictive. I wish I could buy a set of real Orlog dice to play with my family; it is a game that even the smallest child can quickly understand and help you to play.
Plus: if you win, you will receive a token that will give you advantages in future Orlog games. Here is a guide to the Orlog locations .
Animus anomalies, standing stones, and mushroom hunting
I’ve played almost all Assassin’s Creed games, but I’m still not entirely sure how cyber fiction overlaying on a game universe is supposed to work. Narrative consistency aside: In Valhalla, you sometimes encounter glitches in the matrix called Animus anomalies that you can fix. This is done using a small puzzle-based platformer. Here’s a guide to the specific locations of each anomaly on the map, along with some tips for fixing them.
There are also standing stones scattered across the map, each representing a perspective puzzle (for children). Yes, there are also mushroom hikes. Don’t play with your kids on a mushroom trip mission if you’re worried at all about encouraging drug use or eating random mushrooms, which probably aren’t good lessons for kids.
Fishing and Hunting: Longtime Friends of Gamers Dads Are Everywhere
Valhalla gives you many opportunities to catch wildlife and fish. Unlike the challenging hunting and fishing in some of the games, the mechanics of Valhalla outdoors are pretty straightforward. You don’t have to worry about which bait to use or which weapon is best; just go where fish and critters live, find them and kill them. Catching wild prey is fun in and of itself, but it also gives you in-game rewards. Collecting the right combinations of animal and fish skins can earn you minor rewards – tattoo designs, runes for weapons, etc.
If you want a grander hunting experience, you can head to the big game: scattered across England are eleven legendary animals that offer challenging Viking versus nature battles in which you’ll get cool trophies to fool your long house.
Collectibles, collectibles, collectibles!
There are more collectibles scattered across the vast open world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla than I’ll ever have the patience to find. As I progress through the game’s plot, I leave a map littered with buried Roman artifacts, pages of a mysterious Codex, weapons and armor, and more – every spot hides a riddle that I’m too lazy to solve. Spending time with your child in Dad Mode is a great opportunity to go back, clear the map, and get new gear.
If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you can embark on longer and more challenging puzzle missions to collect artifacts that will allow you to wield Thor’s hammer and the legendary Excalibur.
Be warned: some treasures are hidden inside heavily fortified fortresses, so if you’re not very good at hidden missions, getting them will take bloodshed, it might be best to leave it after sleeping.
Podcasting “Exploration” and “Viking”
Valhalla is a great game. Exploring its countryside could provide a welcome respite from the blood-drenched deaths of the plot. You can sit with your child and try to climb Norway’s highest mountain purely for the pleasure of descending, catch some lightning beetles, or simply cruise the rivers of England with your crew, stopping from time to time to fish or track deer in the English countryside.
One of my favorite parts of the game: as you travel the seas or rivers, your berserker horde will become positively sensitive, treating each other with plaintive tunes and telling funny and heroic Viking tales. You can choose a destination anywhere in the world and then sit back and relax as Jörg tells you about his childhood. It’s like a medieval version of a podcast on the road.
As an added bonus, you will no doubt float past unsuspecting monasteries on the way, so you can mark them as raiding targets, and make these monks pay for their religious intolerance with their very lives – as soon as the child lays down sleep, of course.