Viking Funeral

Available for free on the IronWall Games website.

Viking Funeral makes use of decks of standard playing cards that would otherwise be disposed of. Like "Risk: Legacy" by the same designer, permanent changes are made to the cards throughout the course of play, and these changes will persist into future plays of the game using the same set of cards.

This game is played with a 52-card deck (French-suited) that you supply yourself, and a marker or pen to write on the cards, and optionally, a pair of scissors or matches or something to destroy cards with, and if available, a trash can to serve as "Valhalla".

A single card is drawn randomly at the start of a game and destroyed, but not to the point of its number and suit being unrecognizable. This becomes the "recently deceased".

Players start with a hand of cards, with the lead player playing a single card to the center of the table ("the funeral") that are either in agreement (same suit color) or start a fight (differing suit colors).

Tricks are won by playing the high card when in agreement, or by winning fights (being form the same family as the recently deceased provides a bonus in a fight). The winner takes the trick and puts the cards into that player's victory point pile ("mead hall"). Cards are drawn by the player who did not win cards for their mead hall from the deck ("the village").

Throughout play, players are encouraged to either sing the praises of the "recently deceased" or trash-talk the card, treating each suit as it were an viking family line. The game ends when no more cards are left in the village to replenish players' hands, and the game is won by the player with the most cards in their mead hall, with a tie breaker going to the player whose mead hall cards have the most wounds (as indicated by marks made to cards during play).

In true viking fashion, the game strongly emphasis that there are no ties, either during play or in calculating victory.