The Vikings were people who loved to play games. Board games were a popular pastime for the Norsemen, and they often used them to teach strategy and military tactics. Some of these games are still played today, offering a fun and challenging experience for players of all ages. Let’s explore some of the most famous Viking board games and see how they’re played!
1) Hnefatafl
This strategy game was popular among the Vikings. Hnefatafl can be played on various board sizes, but the most common is an 11×11 board. The game is played with two sets of pieces, one black, and one white. White has 12 pieces (including a king), and black has 24 pieces (6 on each side of the board). The game begins with the white in the middle of the board and the black surrounding them.
The game’s objective for white is to get the king in the centre of their team to either of the corners of the board. If they do this, they win. For black, the goal is to kill the king by surrounding the king on all four sides and stopping them from getting to the corners of the board.
Black moves first, and players take turns making moves where units can move any number of spaces horizontally or vertically (similar to a castle in chess). Pieces can only move in straight lines, and they can capture the opponent’s pieces by sandwiching them between two of their works. The king can move in any direction, but he can only be captured by being surrounded on four sides.
2) Tablut
This is another popular strategy game among the Vikings, a variation of Hnefatafl. Tablut can be played on various board sizes, but the most common is a 9×9 board. The game is played with two sets of pieces, one black, and one white. White has 12 units, including a king. Black has 24 units with six on each side of the board. The game begins with the white pieces placed in the middle of the board and the black pieces surrounding them.
The game’s objective is the same as Hnefatafl, except for one difference. White needs to get their king to the sides of the board instead of the corners. If they do this, they win. For black is the same as Hnefatafl, to kill the king by surrounding the king on all four sides and stopping them from getting to the corners of the board.
Black moves first, and players take turns making moves. Pieces can only move in straight lines, and they can capture the opponent’s pieces by sandwiching them between two of their works. The king can move in any direction, but he can only be captured by being surrounded on four sides. In this variant of Hnefatafl, the King needs to get to either side of the board and not just the corners.
3) Chess
Chess is a board game that was popular among the Vikings at the end of the Viking period. It is thought to have originated in India and made its way to Europe via the Arabic world. The game is played on a square board with 64 squares, arranged in an 8×8 grid. The game is played with two sets of pieces, one black, and one white. Each player has 16 pieces, including a king, a queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The game begins with the white pieces placed on the board’s first rank (row) and the black pieces placed on the second rank.
The objective of the game is to capture the opponent’s king. Players can do this by either checkmate ( trapping the king so it cannot move) or forcing the king to move into a position where it would be captured.
Players take turns making moves with their pieces. The different pieces have different movements:
- The king can move one square in any direction.
- The queen can move any number of squares in a straight line.
- The rook can move any number of squares horizontally or vertically.
- The bishop can move any number of squares diagonally.
- The knight can move two squares horizontally or vertically and then one square to the side.
- The pawn can move one square forward or two forward on its first move. It can also capture an opponent’s piece by moving one square forward and to the side.
4) Nitavl (Nine Men’s Morris)
Nitavl was a game played with nine black pieces on a white board with three concentric squares. The game’s objective was to capture the opponent’s pieces and to block them from making “mills” three of the player’s units in a row or column. You capture your opponent’s pieces by creating mills. Once one player cannot develop mills with fewer than three pieces, the game is finished, and the player still can produce mills wins.
To capture an opponent’s piece, you had to form a row of three pieces on the board. Once a row was created, one of the pieces in that row could be removed from the board and placed on top of one of the opponent’s pieces, effectively capturing it.
The game was a draw if neither player could make any more moves.
Nitavl was a popular game among the Vikings, and it is thought that it was used to teach strategy and military tactics.
5) Mancala
Mancala is a game that was popular among the Vikings and is still played today. The game is played with two players, each with six pits in front of them. The pits are filled with an equal number of stones or seeds.
The objective of the game is to capture more stones than your opponent. The game is played by taking turns to pick up all the stones in one of your pits and sowing them, one by one, clockwise around the board. If you sow your last stone into an empty pit, you capture all the stones in the opponent’s pit directly opposite. The game ends when one player has no more stones left in their pits, and the other player captures all of their stones.
Mancala is thought to have originated in Africa, and it is believed that the Vikings may have learned the game from traders.
Final Thoughts
Viking board games were a popular pastime for the Norsemen. These games were often used to teach strategy and military tactics; some are still played today. These are just a few of the most famous Viking board games on this list. So, if you’re looking for a fun and challenging game, why not try one of these Viking board games?
