Pound the drums and race your ship
Ragnarock is a rhythm game where you drum along to music and steer a viking longship through stylised Nordic waters. Hit the beats in time and your crew pulls harder, pushing you ahead of the ships you're racing. The soundtrack runs from celtic rock to viking power metal, with bands like Alestorm, Gloryhammer and Electric Callboy in the base game's 46 songs. Each song has 3 difficulty levels, so the basics are easy to pick up while the top level takes real practice. There are also thousands of community-made tracks available through custom song support, and several DLC packs add extra licensed tracks.
Play with your group in several ways
You can race against each other in public or private online matches for up to 6 players, or take the couch route with local split-screen for up to 4 players. Online play is cross-platform, so PC and VR players can compete in the same race. If the group isn't all online at once, solo mode lets you chase your own best records against a ghost ship of your earlier run. Character customization is included, so each player can set up their own viking look before setting sail.
Before you start
Drumming to the beat is the whole mechanic: keep time and your ship speeds up, lose the rhythm and you fall behind. Expect the early songs to feel straightforward and the higher difficulties to demand tight timing, since the game rewards precision over button mashing. You'll need a controller-friendly setup or a way to hit drum inputs consistently, and VR is supported if you have the hardware, though it's optional. Songs come from licensed artists, and a few tracks live in DLC packs rather than the base lineup, so check the track list if you're after a specific band. Custom songs expand the library considerably, but they're community-made, so quality varies from track to track.