Fjordar is an epic, tactical strategy game for 1 to 4 players, set during the Norwegian Civil War. The game begins in the year 1130, when the old king Sigurd Jorsalfar dies. Each player begins the game as one of Sigurd's heirs or one of the other influential people in Norway at the time, who is vying for power in the vacuum left by the old king's death.

As the game progresses through the 110 years of the conflict, players will use their heirs that are spread around the board to either strengthen their influence through marriage, or to continue the fight for control over Norway. By gaining glory in combat you can also attract famous warriors to your cause.

The game is played on a modular, semi-abstract, three dimensional board with a typical Norwegian coastal landscape, with mountains, fjords and islands, without being a map of Norway. Since the board is modular, players can set up the board in a new way each time they play, giving them the possibility for endless variety.

A player's turn in Fjordar typically goes like this: You play a card with movement points and various abilities, and use the movement points to move your units and establish supplylines. If you have moved one or more of your units into an area with enemy soldiers, you and the other player resolve combat by each choosing a combat card in secret and reveal them simultaneously, with the combat cards adding extra strength to your units' base strength. What combat card is the most effective is highly dependent on each situation.
You may then use your units to perform various actions at the different locations on the board. In forests you can build new ships, churches and villages. In villages you can muster troops and collect taxes, while in the castles you can marry away your heirs or bring them home to your own castle along your supplylines.

Some of the effects on previously played movement cards and combat cards also carry over to your later turns, which means that through proper planning, and adding the right persons to your cause, you can build up to some very effective turns later in the game.

Points are scored for building new stave churches, burning stave churches, founding new villages, igniting beacons and moving your heirs between castles. The game is over when a player has reached a certain number of points, whereupon there is a final score count where you may score extra points depending on how much glory you have gained in battle and what families you have connected to through marriage.

—description from the designer

Games