Vikings Gaming Review

Is Vikings a good game:

Draw a tile and place it on the table . Place the "Maple" on a wooden figure or tile ... Score and repeat. Is this term familiar? If you're a fan of games like Carcassonne or other Carcassonne, this is a must have. However, in this review we are not building roads, towns, farms and cloisters in French countryside. Today, our Maples can take on one of six roles depending on the point helmet wears and their color. The tiles we are drawing have only two properties: water and island. This is the world of Vikings, a game originally released by Hans Im Gluck (and distributed by Games in Rio Grande in the United States) in the 200 released. However, it is scheduled to be reprinted and republished by Z-Man Games in May 2014, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to see one of my favorite games, explain the gameplay and give me some thoughts on it. Read on!

Vikings is a tile laying and auction / bidding strategy game by Kissling, for 2 to 4 players ages 10 to 10 and played in about 60 minutes. The Vikings playing best with 2-3 players.

What is tile hitting in Vikings war of clans :

In the Vikings, players will acquire Viking Maples (including land tiles) and settle on islands near their homeland as artisans, nobles and other occupations. New landscapes may be threatened if the ship is attacked, but if the Viking fighters are in the right place, they will provide protection and gain victory points and / or gold. Each type of Viking can earn victory points and gold in different ways. After six rounds, the most successful Viking leader won the game.

Each player starts with an L-shaped cardboard base representing his or her country. The vertical side of the Homeland base shows rows of Viking settlers in different colors. These match the six colors of the wooden Viking Miple and represent different professions: fisherman (blue), goldsmith (yellow), scout (green), noble (red), warrior (black) and boatman (gray). The Vikings are kept in a draw bag during the game.

The central game board has a large rotating wheel with 12 spaces where landscape tiles and Vikings will be placed for purchase. It has a stack of landscape tiles as well as an area for a victory point track. The tiles have a variety of configurations, showing part of an island (left, center or right) or attacking ships. Each player starts with a starting land tile, a number of players, two player markers (for using their player color and victory point track) and a scoring summary card depending on a certain amount of coin tokens. There is also a start player marker to keep track of the first player for each round.

What board game do they play in Vikings :

The land tiles are randomized and placed on the game board facing six stacks. The tiles in the first stack are placed one by one, and in a designated place around the wheels of the game board. Then, 12 Vikings are drawn from the bag, sorted by color, and placed around the wheels in a certain color order (as shown on the game board), so that there are 1 tile and 1 Viking in each place.

Each player acquires Vikings and Tiles, one set (a tile and related Viking) at a time, paying for the coins shown next to the wheel set. The set of "0" spaces can only be taken for free if there is no other Viking of the same color on the wheel. If a set is taken from "0" position, the wheel is rotated clockwise until "0" reaches the first set of wheels. This effectively reduces the cost of all the remaining tiles and Viking.

Once a set is achieved, the player adds both tiles and viking to his home base. A land tile can be placed in any row, on the edge of the water, on the edge of the water and on the edge of the land, and the parts of the island can be followed correctly (left -> middle [s] -> right). A ship tile can only be placed in the first (top) row. If a player places a tile in a row that matches the color of the Viking acquired with the tile, the Viking can be placed on the tile immediately. (For example, a Green Scout Viking can be placed on a tile that was just placed in the Green Scout Row.) If the color of the row where the tiles were placed does not match the color of the Viking, the Viking is placed in the upper left corner of the Homeland Base Tile. Near. Only a Viking can be placed on a tile, and once placed, the Viking cannot be moved throughout the game.

Since the tiles and Vikings are being placed, players must be aware of the following situation: A ship (placed in the top row) is said to be "threatened" by any Viking placed further down in the same column. The threat extends to rows (and co) that match the color of the ship. The threat Vikings will not score. However, if a black warrior Viking exists directly on the tiles below the ship, a threatening ship is considered to be “withdrawn”. So, the fighters are defending the Vikings in the column, and they are able to score goals.

When all 12 sets of tiles / viking are purchased from the wheel, the goal ends with a scoring episode. At the end of rounds 1, 3 and 5, it is a "small" scoring and after rounds 2, 4 and 6, a "big" scoring occurs. Before scoring a goal, if a player's gray boatman is at the base of the Vikings, each boatman is able to move all Vikings of one color, or 1 Viking of each available color, from the base to any suitable empty land tiles. (Gray Boat Viking used for this purpose is excluded from the game; it no longer works.) Next, players must consider whether the Vikings in each column will be threatened by a ship (and will not score), or a warrior protected from the ship. By Black warriors either earn the value of the coin or earn victory points that are shown on the ship (above it) which is resisting it. Each red noble on a tile earns 2 victory points. Each green scout on a tile earns 1 victory point, as well as 1 extra victory point for each yellow goldsmith and blue fishermen. The yellow goldsmiths earn 3 coins each directly below the scout (as in a small scoring). In the scoring phase at the end of the game the blue fishermen are considered only for their own scoring.

When a scoring is done, the wheel is filled for the next round, placing the tiles from the next stack and drawing 12 new viking from the bag, as was done before. All tiles and Vikings remain fixed in a player's area (and may score again in future scoring stages). The Start Player marker is passed clockwise to the next player and a new round begins.

After the completion of the 6th round (and its big scoring episode), a final scoring is done. The winner is the player with the most winning points.

Game experience:

Let’s get this way off the bat: I really enjoy the Vikings. It's easy to teach, and using just a few simple mechanics for a game (buy tiles and Vikings and place them in your homeland) has an amazing strategy that needs to be put to use. I especially like the way the purchasing wheel works. You really have to consider your preferences carefully. Determining whether to take a free set in the "0" space (if it's your turn) is one of the most strategic elements of the game; If you accept the "0" set, you will now make the rest of the sets cheaper for other players to purchase. Do you really want to do this? Conversely, are you sure you want to purchase the set that frees the "0" set for the next player?

Of course, you need to balance the price concerns by trying to get the right combination of tiles and Viking colors you need at the right time. You need to make sure you can capture enough Black Warrior Vikings to protect your columns from invading ships. And if you think “I don’t have to worry about attacking the ship, because I won’t make any purchases”, think again. It is almost inevitable that at least a few times during the game, you will have no choice but to buy a ship. Another good strategy is to try to collect the gray boat Vikings as much as possible, since, at the end of the big scoring round, they will allow you to score points and / or coins to the Viking groups on your tiles. Blue fishermen are important for feeding your entire collection of Vikings, and it’s easy to forget them until it’s too late. Finally, getting coins (since you have to purchase a set at each turn) is also an important goal. Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either. I was just re-reading the rules book, and the "Tips" section can be summarized with "Do everything ... even if you won't be able to".

In one of my games, one player tried an interesting “breaking technique”. He tried to keep as little money as possible in his hand: this allowed him to take "0" sets more often and although he may not always like the best set to add to his homeland, it actually seemed to work for him. In addition, he often snatched the necessary sets from other players (which he seemed very happy to do!)

I haven't mentioned yet that the game comes with a "progress" (or "advanced") version. An element of this variant is to modify the tile and viking placement stage by adding an auction, where players bid for the right to keep the set on wheels (some choices that are not recommended by the rules of the base game). There is also a set of "special" tiles that have been added alternately. These are not placed in the same area as the island and ship tiles, but instead, they give some extra scoring opportunities, both at the end of the game and at the end of the game. I think these variant elements and rules are really a great addition to the game, and once players feel comfortable using the rules of the base game, I see no reason not to play the improved version all the time.

Another thing I like about the Vikings is how fast it moves. One would think that players could be “analytically paralyzed” with so many painful (occasional) decisions to make. However, this is not the case; I’ve always experienced very little down time in my turn.

Last thought:

With the exception of the difficulties I had with 4 players, I still consider it a great game. For me, the Vikings look deceptively easy, and hit that sweet spot in need of a good amount of strategy. As mentioned above, the game comes with extra tiles that can be added to play the improved version and in my opinion, the improved option only adds to the replay value of an already great game. The Vikings should be readily available again in its reprinted version and it is absolutely worth checking out. This new version is good news for anyone looking forward to adding this game to their collection.

I've played Vikings with each of the listed players (2, 3, and 4), and I think it works best with 2 or 3. For the right price at the right time. In rounds where a player ends up growing, they may feel like they are fighting a losing battle over tile / Viking choices. It can be quite crazy to keep your eyes on a specific set of your needs, just snatching it before it turns to your right by the player. I probably won’t go out of my way to play this game with 4 players.