There are certain gaming combinations that sound so ridiculous on paper that you can’t help but be curious. Norse gods wielding guns is certainly one of them. Gods With Guns takes the legendary warriors, deities and troublemakers of Norse mythology and drops them into a fast-paced roguelike shooter where Ragnarok is apparently best dealt with by reaching for a firearm. It is gloriously silly, occasionally chaotic, and, beneath the ridiculous premise, surprisingly thoughtful when it comes to building the right combination of weapons, ammunition and abilities.
Developed and published by Indiedges, Gods With Guns gives you control of eight mythological heroes, including Odin, Thor, Loki and Hela, as they fight their way through endless enemies and survive the coming apocalypse. The basic idea is simple enough, but the game throws plenty of toys into the mix. There are 36 guns, 26 types of ammunition and 60 cards to collect, so the real pleasure comes from experimenting with different combinations and discovering just how ridiculous your particular build can become.
It is a game that wears its absurdity proudly. Thankfully, it also understands that a silly concept still needs solid mechanics underneath it, and that is where Gods With Guns is at its most interesting.
When Valhalla Goes Fully Automatic
The first thing that strikes you is how naturally the game’s gunplay fits into its chaotic world. This is a fast-paced 2D shooter where enemies arrive in waves, bullets fill the screen, and survival depends on movement just as much as firepower. You are constantly dodging incoming attacks while looking for opportunities to unleash your own barrage, creating the sort of frantic rhythm that roguelike shooters do particularly well.
The controls are designed around that immediacy. There is little time to worry about complicated systems when a screen full of enemies is bearing down on you. Instead, the emphasis is on positioning, shooting, and making quick decisions about where to move next. When everything comes together, there is a satisfying sense of momentum as you weave between attacks while your weapon tears through another wave of unfortunate enemies.
The guns themselves provide plenty of variety. With 36 different weapons available, there is considerable room for experimentation, and finding a firearm that complements your chosen hero can make a noticeable difference to how a run develops. Some players will naturally gravitate towards rapid-fire weapons, while others may prefer something with heavier impact or a more unusual effect.
That variety is important because roguelike games live or die by their ability to make each run feel slightly different. Gods With Guns understands this, and its arsenal gives you plenty of reasons to try another run after a particularly unfortunate encounter brings the previous one to an abrupt end.
Odin, Thor, Loki and a Rather Unusual Arsenal
The choice of playable heroes adds another layer to the experience. Gods With Guns takes familiar figures from Norse mythology and gives them a distinctly modern makeover, but it doesn’t simply rely on the novelty of seeing Thor carry a gun. The different characters are part of the game’s broader build system, encouraging you to think about how your chosen hero works alongside the weapons, ammunition and cards you collect.
That is where the game’s sense of experimentation really shines. A weapon that feels fairly ordinary in one run can become much more interesting when combined with the right ammunition or card effects. Suddenly you aren’t just asking which gun is strongest. You’re thinking about which combination creates the most effective overall build.
The 26 ammunition types are particularly useful in this respect. They add another layer to the shooting mechanics beyond simply choosing a weapon and pulling the trigger. Elemental and other specialised effects can interact with the rest of your build, creating those satisfying moments when several systems suddenly start working together.
It is the sort of design that encourages curiosity. You may begin a run with one particular idea in mind, only to find a card or ammunition type that sends you in a completely different direction. Some of the best roguelike experiences come from precisely that sort of accidental experimentation, where your eventual build is nothing like the one you originally intended to create.
The Cards Are Where Things Get Interesting
The 60 upgrade cards are arguably the most important part of Gods With Guns, giving the game a strategic layer beneath all the shooting. Collecting cards lets you strengthen your character and shape the direction of a run, with combinations that can turn an ordinary loadout into something considerably more powerful.
This is also where the game becomes more than a straightforward bullet hell shooter. The moment you start considering how your cards interact with your weapons, ammunition and chosen hero, there is a genuine element of build crafting. You aren’t simply trying to survive the next wave. You’re gradually constructing a machine designed to survive everything the game can throw at you.
That process is one of the most enjoyable parts of the experience. There is a lovely little thrill when you realise that two seemingly unrelated upgrades complement each other perfectly. A run can suddenly shift from an uphill struggle to a discovery of an absurdly powerful combination.
Of course, that is the other side of roguelike design. Not every run will produce a brilliant build, and sometimes the cards and equipment available simply don’t cooperate. That randomness can be frustrating, but it also motivates you to try again. You never quite know what combination might appear in the next run.
Bullet Hell Meets Norse Mythology
The visual spectacle can be impressive, particularly when the action ramps up and the screen erupts with projectiles. There is something wonderfully excessive about watching mythological heroes fight through hordes of enemies while firing modern weapons in every direction. The premise may be ridiculous, but the game commits to it enough that the combination becomes part of its charm rather than simply a gimmick.
The downside is that all those bullets can occasionally become a little too much. During the more intense encounters, the sheer density of projectiles and enemies can make it difficult to see exactly what is happening. Hazards can be obscured by the visual chaos, which is particularly unfortunate during tougher boss encounters, where a single missed attack can bring a promising run to an end.
This is a familiar problem with bullet hell games. The spectacle is part of the appeal, but there is a fine line between exciting chaos and simply making it difficult to read the battlefield. Gods With Guns occasionally crosses that line, especially when the action becomes particularly busy.
The Roguelike Grind
As enjoyable as the individual runs can be, Gods With Guns does have a familiar roguelike issue. Once you’ve experienced its main loop several times, the underlying structure can start to feel repetitive. Fight enemies, collect upgrades, improve your build, survive increasingly difficult encounters, and eventually start again after defeat. It is a formula that can be incredibly addictive when there is enough variety, but the game sometimes struggles to maintain that sense of discovery over longer sessions.
The criticism of limited late-game content is understandable. There are plenty of weapons, ammunition types and cards to experiment with, but those systems need enough varied situations to keep feeling fresh. Once you’ve become familiar with the basic flow, some encounters can begin to blur together.
That said, the build system does provide a reason to return. There is always another character to try, another weapon combination to investigate, or another card interaction to explore. For players who enjoy experimenting with builds rather than simply chasing a single perfect run, that can provide considerably more longevity.
A Gloriously Bonkers Idea
What I like most about Gods With Guns is that it doesn’t take its premise too seriously, while still taking its gameplay seriously enough. Norse mythology has been reimagined countless times in games, films and television, but there is something wonderfully daft about arming Odin and sending him into a bullet-hell battlefield.
It could easily have been nothing more than a novelty. Thankfully, the weapons, ammunition and cards give the concept enough mechanical depth to stand on its own. The mythology provides the personality, while the roguelike systems give you a reason to keep playing.
There is also a pleasing sense of discovery in working out which characters and upgrades work together. The best runs aren’t simply about having the biggest gun. They’re about finding synergy between several different systems and watching that combination evolve as the run progresses.
Final Thoughts
Gods With Guns is exactly the sort of game that can make you smile simply because of how ridiculous its central idea is. Norse gods battling Ragnarok with modern firearms should not work as naturally as it does, yet the combination of fast 2D gunplay, roguelike progression and card-based build crafting gives the game a surprisingly solid foundation.
The 36 guns, 26 ammunition types and 60 cards provide plenty of room for experimentation, while the eight playable heroes give you another reason to explore different approaches. The shooting itself is quick and satisfying, and there is a genuine thrill in creating a build where several upgrades suddenly start working together. When everything clicks, the game can produce exactly the kind of wonderfully overpowered chaos that makes roguelikes so difficult to put down.
It isn’t perfect. The screen can become excessively cluttered during intense encounters, sometimes making hazards difficult to read, and the core loop can start to feel repetitive once the novelty has worn off. The lack of substantial late-game variety also means that players looking for endless depth may eventually find the experience running out of surprises.
For me, though, the sheer personality of Gods With Guns carries it a long way. It knows that watching Loki blast his way through Ragnarok is inherently funny, but it doesn’t expect that joke to carry the entire game. Beneath the guns and mythology is a satisfying little build-crafting system that rewards experimentation and gives each run the potential to become something unexpectedly powerful.
Gods With Guns may not reinvent the roguelike shooter, but it certainly gives the genre one of its more entertaining combinations. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Valhalla was equipped with an armoury, this is probably the closest gaming is going to get to answering that question.
