There are a surprisingly high number of video games that have Swedish themes or are set in the Scandinavian country. Before we look at the best of them, let us take a look at the state of gaming in Sweden.
The Swedish Gaming Industry
The Swedish gaming industry is booming. According to the Swedish Game Developer Index, between 2009 and 2019, there was a 25% increase in revenue, from €91 million to €2,318 million. Swedes were learning computer literacy long before other countries in the 1980s, and in 1998, when home computers had begun to cement themselves as standard in people’s homes, the government provided subsidies and tax incentives to help people lease or buy computers. Furthermore, Sweden had early access to broadband internet. Putting that all together, it is no wonder that Sweden’s game developers are now competing with those in the US and Japan with games like the incredibly successful Minecraft from Stockholm’s Mojang Studios.
According to the Swedish Game Developer Index, between 2009 and 2019, there was a 25% increase in revenue, from €91 million to €2,318 million.
And today, more and more Swedes are playing online games of all types, including casino games like the excellent options provided by Casumo casino. Of course, not only are games made by Swedish developers becoming more popular all the time. There are also plenty of video games on the market that contain Swedish themes. Here are three superb games that are by Swedish game developers and also set in Sweden.
Year Walk
This 2013 adventure game from Swedish mobile game developer Simogo is inspired by the ancient Swedish folk tradition known as Årsgång (“Year Walk” in English), which is a complex form of divination involving walking to a church so you may have a vision of the future. After the protagonist of the game, Daniel Svensson finds out his lover has been proposed to, he embarks on a Year Walk to a church and encounters numerous mythical creatures from Swedish folklore, such as the Mylings, the Night Raven, the Hulrda, and the Church Grim. Daniel is told Year Walking is dangerous before he sets out, but he goes anyway. Year Walk was hugely successful upon its release and continues to be popular today.
Little Misfortune
Developed and published by the independent Swedish studio Killmonday Games, Little Misfortune is a marvelous and macabre dark fantasy adventure. Set in 1993 in the fictional Swedish town of Openfields, eight-year-old Misfortune hears a voice telling her she will die today. When the voice learns that Misfortune can hear him, the voice invites the girl to play a game involving making choices. If Misfortune beats the game, she will win eternal happiness. It is not long before Misfortune is on all kinds of wondrous adventures, including meeting an anthropomorphic fox called Benjamin and going through a portal to the Fourth Reality where Misfortune encounters death. The 2019 game, which is set in a 2.5D perspective, also features some fantastic minigames, including the classic fairground game Whack-A-Mole. The game has great gameplay and stunning artwork, so do not miss out on Little Misfortune.
Generation Zero
The most enthralling game set in Sweden has to be 2019’s Generation Zero. The first-person shooter, co-operative, open-world survival game was developed and published by Swedish game developers Avalanche Studios. Generation Zero is set in the year 1989, following the apocalypse, where Sweden is overrun by killer robots. You play as a teenage boy who is returning to his native country after a long trip. In post-apocalypse Sweden, you must try to discover what has happened to your family and why the apocalypse happened. Oh, you also need to defeat those evil robots, of course. The robots range in size from small spotting drones and lightly-armored scouts to robots that are bigger than houses.
