Northgard: Uncharted Lands

Lead a Viking clan across a new continent, with a personal deck that grows as your tactics improve.

Designer: Adrian Dinu
Published by: Open Sesame Games
Editions by: Gém Klub Kft., Geekach LLC, TLAMA games, Evrikus, Czacha Games, Hachette Boardgames USA, Across the Board, Studio H, Board Game Box, Shiro Games

Northgard: Uncharted Lands (2022) brings the Viking strategy video game to the table as a streamlined conquest game. Each player leads a clan on a new continent, collecting fame by exploring, fighting and controlling and developing territories. All of this runs through the cards in your hand, so every turn is a choice between several useful actions. At the end of the turn you pick a new card to add to your personal deck, so your clan gets sharper tactics and better tech as the game goes. Turns alternate quickly, so you must react to the changing board and to your opponents' moves. Think a lean cousin of the bigger Viking conquest games, with a deck-building spine.

Viking clans with unique powersCards trigger every action, and you add one each turnModular board of territories to explore and hold

Who it's for

You like Viking-themed conquest but want a faster, leaner game, perhaps coming from the Northgard video game.

Not for you if…

You want a deep, slow wargame or you dislike dice-driven combat. Fights here include dice and move briskly.

Vibe's take

Fast and reactive, with a steady growth curve. You alternate actions, so you are constantly adapting to what the other clans just did to the map.