Sandbox experiences with RPG mechanics are my jam, from the Mount and Blade series to Kenshi; this is easily one of my favorite game genres. Now, thanks to the developers at Laps Games, I was able to check out their upcoming title, Valorborn. A fantasy medieval sandbox RPG, where you can lead a life of adventure, crime, crafting, or a big mix of them all. If you see a door, you can open it; if it is locked and you are sneaky enough, you can pick the lock to open it. Maybe I am foreshadowing a bit of my experience with the game, but I will just say that I had a large amount of expensive gear early on in my playthrough.
Valorborn Key Features
- Living Open World: Roam a sprawling medieval fantasy sandbox where bustling kingdoms, cannibal tribes, trolls, and undead guardians all coexist. Every horizon hides fresh danger and untold
- Exploration: No door is just decor: every house, castle, and cave can be entered from cellar to rooftop.
- Character Creation & Growth: Shape a lone hero or command an entire party, customizing appearance and backstory; every action grants experience, unlocking brutal combat skills or deadly stealth abilities.
- Building & Crafting: Hunt, gather, and forge your legacy. Rent a townhouse to refurbish, or raise a wilderness camp, then craft weapons, armor, and tools to outfit your journey.
- Multi-Character Control: Lead companions or venture solo as each character pursues unique quests simultaneously, letting you weave multiple destinies in one ever-evolving world.
But Did You Die?
So most of my time spent in Valorborn was gathering materials and breaking into guardhouses to stock up on gear. I did not do much adventuring, to be honest, because I was just trying to get a feel for the game’s world. For this demo, there are two starting backgrounds that you can choose from: a hunter background that begins with a few basic crafting stations or a lone fighter/soldier who washed up on shore with the gear on their back near a town. I found out the hard way that I could not save my playthrough, so I was able to check out each starting background. (WARNING: In the demo version, you cannot save your playthrough.)
Not being able to save deterred me from spending too much time with the demo. This style of game requires a lot of time to advance in anything from crafting to combat. So to answer the header question, no, I did not die while playing Valorborn. I walked into a coastal town, took a quest from an NPC, and then watched the guards’ patrol schedule to see the best time to break into their living quarters. I equipped myself with expensive stolen gear, stole over 100 gold, and then left the town as if nothing happened.
Very Early Access With A Lot of Potential
While playing Valorborn, I sought quality-of-life features, such as faster movement through time/movement acceleration and the ability to automate tasks for my characters, like harvesting resources. These are game-enhancing features that I have experienced in other titles that allow for heavy-duty multitasking. I didn’t dive deep into the demo’s mechanics because it can’t be saved. So I interacted with the world around the starting area, which was different for each background. It is easy to see that Valorborn has a lot of upside and plenty to do within the large sandbox world. I have high hopes for this game and look forward to picking up the early access version down the line closer to the 1.0 release. If you enjoy games such as Kenshi, I would recommend checking out the demo for Laps Games’ Valorborn.
