- Publishers : Studio H, Open Sesame Games
- Designers : Adrian Dinu
- Artist(s) : Grosnez
- Player : 2–5
- Playing time : 45–90 Min
- Weight BGG : 2.70
Based on the Northgard video game universe, Northgard: Uncharted Lands is a game of conquest and exploration set in the Viking era. Each player controls a Viking clan seeking to achieve victory by reaping glory in various ways or by controlling the most prized territories of this new continent.
How do you play?
The game takes place in 7 rounds, called years. At the start of each turn, you draw 4 cards which will allow you to perform different actions.
By playing cards, you will be able to:
🔸 Recruit units in a territory you control, with a unit bonus if you have a barracks.
🔸 Build buildings that will allow you to harvest food, wood, carved stone, build defense towers and barracks. In certain territories, you will be able to erect large buildings to collect victory points, draw new cards and strengthen defense during battles.
🔸 Move to adjacent territories and engage in combat if there are opposing units.
🔸 The explore action will allow you to add new terrain tiles and move on them.
🔸 You will also be able to draw new cards and perform special actions with certain cards.
When you pass, you choose a new card available on the market at the start of the round.
There are additional modules with wild creatures moving around the board and having harmful powers. There are also modules including leaders, asymmetrical clan powers, new tiles, etc.
You will take turns trying to expand to conquer new territories, construct buildings, fight opponents and wild creatures in order to obtain the most victory points at the end of the game.
The end of the game can be triggered in two ways: either a player controls at least three closed territories with a large building in each of them, or simply at the end of the seventh round.
Is it good?
If you are looking for a smooth, fast and simple conquest game, this is the one for you.
Everything has been simplified so that it is accessible to as many people as possible. It includes a small deckbuilding and construction component, but you won’t spend hours and hours planning everything like in other 4X games. This game focuses primarily on conquest and combat against other players and creatures.
Besides, in my opinion, all the modules are essential to make the game deeper and more interesting.
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Review Northgard
Positives
- A fast, accessible and family-friendly 4x
- Pretty illustrations on the cards
Negatives
- When everything is against us (dice, opponents, creatures, etc.) and we suffer the whole game
- Not so pretty terrain tiles and lack of visibility for resources
Breakdown
- Components and illustrations 8.0
- Mechanics 7.5
- Thematic 7.5
- Replayability 7.5
- Handling 9.5
- Interaction 10.0
- Originality 7.0
