Planning should be part of the adventure, not the obstacle.
Valculator is a companion for Valheim players, helping them plan builds by calculating the materials needed for equipment, upgrades and crafting.
The project began with a spreadsheet.
While playing together, we created a simple table to work out the resources needed for our first set of bronze armour. Before long it had grown to include tools, weapons, upgrade costs, workbench requirements and material checklists.
Eventually the spreadsheet became more complicated than the problem it was trying to solve. Rather than continuing to add rows and formulas, we decided to build the tool it was trying to become.
Years later, Valculator continues to be used by players around the world, with around 2,000 players using it each month.
From spreadsheet to shared tool
The first version solved one immediate problem: working out how much copper, tin and other materials were needed before setting out to collect them.
As we continued playing, the spreadsheet evolved alongside us. New equipment meant new recipes, upgrade paths, workbench requirements and comparisons. Every session seemed to introduce another feature that felt useful.
Eventually it became clear that the spreadsheet itself had become the obstacle.
Valculator brought everything together into a purpose-built interface where players could search for what they wanted to build, adjust quantities and upgrade levels, then immediately see the combined materials required.
What began as a simple planning aid became a tool designed to support the wider Valheim community.
Finding the right item
Valheim contains hundreds of craftable items, weapons, tools and pieces of equipment. The interface needed to make that catalogue manageable without asking players to already know where everything belonged.
Search and filtering help narrow the list quickly, while grid and list views support different ways of browsing. Each result keeps the most useful information visible, including quantity, weight and upgrade level.
The aim is to make adding an item feel immediate, even when the catalogue itself is large.
Helping players plan
Good planning is part of what makes Valheim enjoyable.
Gathering resources, preparing for an expedition and deciding what to build next are all part of the experience. Repeating the same calculations every time is not.
Valculator supports the decisions players are already making. Search and filtering help them quickly find what they're looking for, while quantities and upgrade levels automatically update the final material list.
Because Valheim is often played with friends, selections can also be shared, making it easier for a group to organise larger building projects or prepare together before setting out on a resource run.
The goal was never to replace the game or its community. It was simply to remove one small piece of friction so players could spend more time enjoying what they came for.
Built from play
Every feature in Valculator began during a play session.
New equipment, changing crafting recipes and larger building projects naturally introduced new problems to solve. Rather than trying to anticipate every possible use case, the project evolved alongside the game itself, with each addition earning its place by making planning easier.
That approach kept the calculator focused. Instead of becoming another general-purpose wiki, it remained centred on one goal: helping players prepare for whatever they wanted to build next.
Principles
Start with a real problem
Valculator wasn't imagined in isolation.
It solved a problem we kept running into while playing the game ourselves, meaning every new feature had to earn its place by making that experience better.
Know when the prototype has done its job
The spreadsheet proved the idea.
The website made it sustainable.
Building the right tool became simpler than continuing to extend the original solution.
Help players plan, not calculate
Players arrive knowing what they want to build.
Recipes, upgrade costs and material totals are handled in the background so the focus stays on planning rather than arithmetic.
Make large collections easy to explore
Search and filtering are not secondary features.
They are what make a catalogue of hundreds of items feel approachable, allowing players to move quickly from an idea to a complete plan.
Build something worth returning to
Valculator focuses on one task and aims to do it well.
That clarity has helped the project remain useful long after its initial release, with around 2,000 players using it each month.
Reflection
Valculator reinforced how much value there is in solving one problem well.
The project doesn't try to become a complete companion app or replace every source of information about Valheim. It focuses on a single moment in the player's journey: knowing what they want to make and wanting a clear answer before setting out to gather the materials.
What began as a spreadsheet for one playthrough became a tool that players continue to return to years later. Today, around 2,000 people use Valculator each month, a reminder that thoughtfully solving a simple problem can often have a longer life than trying to solve every problem at once.
