| Cloudheim | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Cloudheim is a co-op survival-crafting action RPG where players explore a fragmented world to save it from destruction. Read our review of its early-access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Everything We Know About Cloudheim
Cloudheim Plot
Ragnarok has struck, and the earthen realm has been left shattered from the fated cataclysm. However, the remaining gods have chosen you and your friends to reshape and reconstruct to make a new world. Aboard the massive floating turtle fortress, the Odin Shell, the band of adventurers seek out to battle the chaotic enemies that inhabit the dangerous fractured world, and become powerful as the gods themselves in order to reform the realm. They must battle through ever-changing dungeons, seek treasure, craft weapons and relics, and expand their floating fortress to achieve their goal of making a home for all.
Cloudheim Gameplay
Cloudheim is a co-op action RPG with physics based combat. Players can go play solo, or in a party of up to four total players and go on adventures amongst the clouds in the sky. Collect resources and craft evolving weapons that bestow powerful techniques to be used in combat. Fighting enemies involve using physics-based combos, enabling players to juggle foes in mid-air to continue dishing out damage. Environments are destructible, and can cause bonus damage against enemies when utilized during combat.
The core gameplay of Cloudheim stems from the question What if we take the juggling from fighting games, and make it the combat foundation in a co-op RPG?
as per David Hunt, the CEO and founder of the developing studio, Noodle Cat Games.
Players of up to four can board the floating turtle fortress, the Odin Shell, and expand its facilities and establishments to better suit the party’s adventuring needs.
Cloudheim Release Date
Set to release on December 4, 2025, Cloudheim can be purchased in Early Access on Steam and Epic Games on that date, with a price to follow.
| Digital Storefronts | |
|---|---|
 Steam |
 Epic |
| TBD | |
 PSN |
 Xbox |
| Coming Soon | |
Cloudheim Review [Early Access]
Fun With Action, Physics, and Crafting
I was a big MMORPG fan back in my childhood—from the classics like Ragnarok Online and World of Warcraft to ones like Trickster Online, Fiesta Online, and Dragon Nest, I’ve played them in some way or another, perhaps too much so, to the chagrin of my parents. While traditional MMORPGs like those are not as widespread as they used to be, they hold a special place in my heart and helped shape me into the gamer I am today.
So why am I telling you this? Dragon Nest was one that was particularly one of my favorites, and somehow, seeing the trailer of Cloudheim really reminded me of that game (the original one by the way, not the mobile versions that followed after). Granted that it’s more inspired by Zelda, but something about it really screamed Dragon Nest for me. Wanting to kind of dive into the nostalgia of it all, I took a chance with Cloudheim—and I came out with no regrets whatsoever.
The Wrecked World of Cloudheim
In this strange land of Cloudheim, the catastrophic Ragnarok shattered the world into fragments of its past, bringing about corruption into the world. The ancient turtle god Odin Shell and the female god Sylf has chosen you (and several other players, if you’re playing in co-op) to restore harmony and peace by luring out the other gods of old back from their slumber to help you on your quest to save the world from further destruction and corruption.
Action-Packed, Physics-Based Combat
In either solo or co-op play, players explore the vast world of Cloudheim in an attempt to save the world by discovering forgotten gods, and engage in exhilarating, combo-driven, physics-based combat. Exploring the world lets you acquire more resources for crafting, unlocking hidden treasure chests, solving overworld puzzles that grant great rewards, and more. The combat echoes games like Devil May Cry where you deal more damage and receive extra rewards if you can chain together hit combos.
Players each control their one character, who can choose their class at will depending on the weapon of choice. For instance, I chose the sword of the Runemaster, a sword-wielding mage that also has a bit of healing spells in their arsenal. Likewise, if you choose the hammer, you will be a Breaker, a toughie warrior that can also dish out enormous damage by slamming enemies with fire and physical skills. Fortunately, you’re not restricted to one class either, and are able to choose two weapons and have them in your loadout simultaneously.
Each player can dual-wield two weapons, two skills from any class provided they’re unlocked, four tools (Kick, Evade, Lasso, and another of your choice), and three accessories that add buffs. There’s a bit of variety going on here, especially with each weapon having their own type of ability. The bread and butter of it all, aside from the weapons, is the Lasso and Kick skills—which are self-explanatory, but boy, they are frankly one of the best things in game (at least for me).
With it being physics-based, the mechanics of it all can be both hilarious and frustrating at the same time. For one thing, lasso-ing and kicking your enemies into oblivion no matter how huge they are is insanely fun. Imagine, goblins and tree trunks twice your size start rolling through the air the moment their armor is shattered through if you kick them—a nice sense of accomplishment.
However, it’s also…not so great. Because of how the physics goes and how almost everything in the world is destructible, enemies will get stuck in tiny crevices or even clip through the darn floor. Everything—including yourself—is immensely floaty the moment you’re even just an inch airborne. It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time, yet superbly fun. Just be careful about where you’re kicking that darned goblin.
Survival Crafting and Base-Building Mechanics
Aside from the action-packed combat, another focus in Cloudheim is the crafting mechanics and the base-building. While you’re not out there saving the world, you take respite on the back of the ancient turtle god that summoned you in the first place. Odin Shell is so massive that you can have your own little base full of crafting stations and material repositories, which is important in making sure your character is well-equipped for battle.
The player character’s main source of power is their weapon, and crafting and upgrading will take you into greater heights. Weapons have rarities, and of course, are stronger and have better abilities the rarer they are. To make these weapons, you need materials—and materials can be freely found in dungeons and on the surface world. Luckily enough, you don’t need a backpack to lug around all that unprocessed ore, as they are magically sent to a handy-dandy treasure chest that holds all your loot. Thank you, magic!
Materials are cleansed and processed in Odin Shell, with an easy to remember match-3 rule for everything. Three ores make one bar of material, and three bars of a certain material will make a weapon. No complex recipes, no need for an extra notebook to keep track of what you need—just remember that 3 is the magic number.
There’s a bit of RNG in there as well, since you’re not always guaranteed the exact same weapon when you forge them together. It can get grindy in that regard, especially with the resource gathering, but if you’re a fan of going through blood, sweat, and tears for greatness, then Cloudheim might just be right up your alley.
What’s fun is that you’re not limited to only forging weapons in the game—later on, you’ll also be able to delve into cooking and alchemy to make dishes and potions, which can then be sold in-base for extra gold coins or used in combat. There’s quite a bit to do in the game, even at Early Access, although just a touch grindy.
Nostalgic, Bright Graphics
While not the most cutting-edge of visuals, it still carries with it a nostalgic charm of older games. It’s pleasing to the eyes, cartoon-like with minimal harsh lines and having a more soft type of aesthetic. It’s directly inspired by the Zelda visuals, which is evident in its art style.
With that said, that’s also perhaps why it reminded me so much of the MMORPGs of back then, especially Dragon Nest—it’s not realistic, kind of polygonal-looking, but still aesthetically pleasing. There is a nice mix of muted colors and bright colors—after all, it’s fantasy. Anything goes.
Made For Co-Op
While the game is definitely playable solo, there are a lot of instances where you know that it’s primarily designed for a co-op experience. A lot of the areas and bosses can be quite tiresome if you’re playing alone with the sheer number of enemies there are at a given time.
For example, a main story quest early on requires you to slay an entire army of tiny tree trunks on legs and its beefed up leader. Not too difficult, to be honest, but because you’re just one person, it takes significantly longer to clear, especially if you’re a character that lacks AoE skills. There’s also a boss fight in the Rose Ruins that requires quite a bit of maneuvering and running around—not just to dodge the enemy’s laser eye beams but also to make sure you’re defeating the goblins at a certain spot to defuse the enemy’s shields, knock them crazy with attacks, then rinse and repeat the cycle.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean the game is unplayable as a solo player, but it’s a good example of "the more, the merrier", unless you like that little spice of challenge in your life.
Unintuitive Inventory Mechanics
Despite all that though, the inventory mechanics for the game are not the best. While you are able to take stacks out from your magic treasure chest of loot at the base with a single click, putting them back in is more tedious than it should be. You have to hold the Right Mouse Button (by default) and wait for…all of it to be fed into the chest. Every…single one. So if you’ve got 300 Odin Berries dropped to the ground by accident…well, have fun with that.
This goes for things also like feeding your pet Gnasher or the Odin Shell—it just takes a while for the Gnasher since you need to feed him a certain amount of his fruits to get an item, but when feeding the Odin Shell, each Odin Fruit is placed inside and it spits out a random Acorn at the same time. So, again, if you have 300 Odin Berries to feed—tedious things.
And you only have four slots in your base inventory, each holding a max of 30 units of any item. That’s…a lot of going back and forth if you’re the type to stockpile things or were too into the zone of dungeon exploring and making enemies fly through the air to clear out your inventory periodically.
The Narrative Feels Bare, Text Isn’t Complete
Granted it’s in Early Access, but the narrative is just so-so—not immensely gripping, but it’s serviceable for what it is. You’re a Runari, a specially chosen one of the gods tasked to save the broken world of Cloudheim. You travel the world in search of the gods to help you with your ambitious mission…and that’s about it.
Perhaps this will change more once the full version is out, but it’s not the best for those who like having that immersive experience and lore to really get that feeling in. Nevertheless, it’s decent, and it makes sense for being a co-op action RPG.
To add to that, the dialogue of the characters you meet aren’t properly punctuated or highlighted, or cut weirdly in the text box, which isn’t visually appealing—a minor gripe at best, but more polishing could be done.
Slowly Reaching For The Skies
Cloudheim, even at its Early Access phase, is shaping up to be a fun survival-crafting open-world and dungeon exploring action RPG game. It’s still at its infancy and needs more than just a bit of polishing, but with the way it’s going, I have high hopes for it to become something even better.
Game8 Reviews
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Cloudheim Product Information
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| Title | Cloudheim |
|---|---|
| Release Date | December 4, 2025 |
| Developer | Noodle Cat Games |
| Publisher | Noodle Cat Games |
| Supported Platforms | Steam, Epic Games |
| Genre | Action, RPG |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Cloudheim Official Website |
