Die Wikinger Saga (2020)

Hearing I ask from the holy races, from Heimdall’s sons, both high and low; Thou wilt, Valfather, that well I relate old tales I remember of men long ago. (Poetic Edda – Völuspa – The Prophecy of the Seeress, stanza 1).

Nine worlds, one destination. Driven by the call of the Nordic gods, 2 to 4 jarls, rulers of Viking villages, embark on an adventurous journey through the nine worlds of Yggdrasil to Asgard. But only the most glorious of them will be admitted to their halls. And so the players set off - with only a handful of mostly inexperienced residents of their villages at first - to experience adventures on land and at sea.

The Norse mythical world of the Vikings consists of 9 different worlds that players will get to know in this "deck building game", such as Midgard, the world of humans, or Jötunheim, the realm of the frost giants. During their travels, other Vikings will join the players, they will learn about mysterious places, seek the help of the gods, fight against dangerous opponents and try to escape overpowering dangers without damage.

The basic game, briefly explained by a “tutorial”, has a modular structure and can be expanded almost as much as desired with additional game material. So little by little, new and more demanding rules come into play. While always 8 adventures (rounds) will be played, these can be put together from 35 different adventures almost any way the players want. Since players choose to play adventures from 3 of the 9 Viking worlds and because each world features other Vikings with different skills and other special rules, players can also adjust the level of difficulty and the duration of the game by their choice of Viking worlds.

With each adventure, players learn more about the legends of Nordic mythology, which graphic artist Michael Menzel brought to life with atmospheric illustrations on various cards, amongst them 34 different Vikings.

From the adventure cards that are placed on the gameboard, players will learn more about the secrets and mythical characters of Nordic mythology. The cards also show a section of the journey ahead. Playing their Viking cards skillfully, players move their Viking figures over this path, collect gold, get glory (victory points) and try to avoid the dangers of the path. With gold they can recruit other Vikings with better skills, filling the card deck with increasingly helpful Vikings. Vikings who fought bravely can be sent to Walhalla. This creates a second deck of cards with Vikings who will assist the players in the often-decisive final adventure at the rainbow bridge Bifröst and can also help them win with the victory points they contain.