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I just want the bees in Valheim to be happyI get a real buzz out of it
I get a real buzz out of it
I and a few of my oldest pals donned our ragged tunics and purchased tickets toValheimlast week. It’s a vikingsurvival gamethat’s been popping off over the last few days, so we had to see if it was all it was cracked up to be.
After our first play session, it became clear that the most important aspect of survival in Norse purgatory wasn’t beard management, or axe-throwing, or even longboat races. It was… bees. Everything hinged on their happiness.
Valheim Early Access Launch TrailerWatch on YouTube
Valheim Early Access Launch Trailer
For a good few minutes, it was just some fellas quietly punching the shit out of a shack. The soft thud of knuckle on wood, like the sound of flies bashing against a window. The starry night sky glistened above us. Valheim truly is beautiful sometimes.
After much slugging away, Sigmund decided that perhaps he could use his hammer to knock it down. Ah, yes. “That could work,” we said in unison.
We came to learn, however, that bees have feelings, and are very demanding. Interact with a bee hive in Valheim and it’ll tell you how the bees are feeling and what they’re up to. At night it says, in big yellow letters, “the bees are sleeping”. Awww, okay, little buddies. You sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite, ha get it beca-. If the bees are feeling good, it says “the bees are happy”, and your heart melts.
Sigmund (the member of our party who basically did all the crafting, while the rest of us sprinted at boar or burned newt meat) built a foundation - the basis for most important structures in Valheim - in preparation for improvements to our base. It went around the beehive. We checked on the bees. It said the “bees need more open space”. Wait. What. How. Bees canfly. We all gathered around and looked down at the beehive and frowned. No, NO. We cannot have this, we decided.
Perhaps we placed so much importance on the bees' wellbeing because they were a bit like us: just doing their best to survive. I like to think there’s something deep there. Maybe they represent the human psyche when base-building in Valheim - working as a group to fit all the required resources together, and protecting home at all costs. Everyone has to be happy with the decision to place your new kiln outside, on a particular spot. There must be a consensus on where the walls go. No not there,there. Or maybe the bees are like a parallel universe, you know? They produce honey only when they’re happy, like how we’re only productive when the whole gang is on the same page and enjoying themselves.
Flashbackto all of us pelting a shack with our fists. Delighting in the existence of raspberries. Running half-naked from a troll. Smiling down at a beehive.
Hmmm, maybe it is none of those things. Maybe it is as simple as: bee happy, we happy.
