“I lost the concept of home, until my grandmother took me into these forests” – Trollheim: Gnomes is a survival game from ex-DICE and Paradox devs that channels childhood fairytales
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
The article newly highlights the personal childhood memories behind Trollheim: Gnomes, the announced survival-crafting game from Swedish studio Off-leash Interactive and publisher Fireshine Games. Film-maker Björne Larson says his grandmother’s stories about forest gnomes and trolls helped him feel at home after his parents divorced, and that experience informs the game’s woodland setting and its emphasis on finding a place among its inhabitants.
Players take the role of three-inch gnomes in a procedurally generated forest inspired by Nordic folklore, exploring, crafting and building alongside up to eight players. Its Väsen can pose threats, such as hungry trolls, but are framed as neighbours who may be calmed through gifts or music; the article also notes familiar survival-game features, including gliding and template-based building, which could weaken the fairytale atmosphere.
- The game draws on its creator’s childhood woodland memories.
- Tiny gnomes explore and build in a Nordic folklore forest.
- Up to eight players can try to live alongside Väsen.
New here? Start with this
Nordic folklore includes stories of forests inhabited by supernatural beings, sometimes called Väsen. These figures can be helpful, threatening or simply part of the landscape, and tales about them often reflect people’s relationship with nature and the unknown.
Survival-crafting games typically ask players to gather materials, make equipment and build shelter in a world where they must manage danger and resources. Trollheim: Gnomes places that familiar format in a folklore-inspired forest, where small gnome characters explore and try to live alongside its inhabitants.
The game is being made by Off-leash Interactive, whose team includes developers who have worked at DICE, Paradox Interactive, Starbreeze and Coldwood. Its approach matters to players interested in whether a survival game can make cooperation and a storybook setting as central as crafting and survival.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Trollheim: Gnomes could offer a distinctive survival game by treating the forest as a place to belong, with folklore, cooperation and relationships with its inhabitants at the centre. Its small-scale setting and equipment-led progression may also give players room to shape their own stories together.
The case against
The familiar survival-crafting loop of exploring, gathering and building could make the game feel conventional despite its fairytale setting. If those systems dominate play, the forest’s folklore and sense of wonder may become a backdrop rather than the experience’s defining feature.