viking Fury

Design Notes:

Some of what follows will make more sense when you have a copy of Viking Fury in front of you but a lot of gamers have been asking for some information on the design and nature of the game - so with apologies for blowing our own horns in advance, here we go…..

The origins of this game go back to a Ragnar bash c. 1983. Phil invented a table-top game in which a Viking raiding party clambered off a boat and ravaged a Saxon village. Beer, a pig and a monk were amongst items stolen. The Saxon warriors turned up and the Vikings either fought them hand to hand or made a bee-line back to the longship.

In a bid to provide an evening’s light entertainment at Heartbreak Ridge (the Ragnar bash of 2003), Phil was commissioned to re-produce the earlier game. However, Phil (being Phil) came up with a Viking Empire game. Viking Fury grew out of this second original idea.

As with all Ragnar games the design was driven by the theme and, as with any game, abstractions have been made. Some of the following points are more obvious than others, but hopefully the list will be of interest.

• centuries of time have been condensed, but the voyages of Vikings were measured in Days.
• a longship generally represents a fleet

• the Vikings traded seal skins, furs of various mammals and walrus tusks (along with a wide selection of other goods)
• the trading of goods simulates the establishment of trading stations. These were often the springboard from which Vikings went on to conquer and settle
• the Vikings were distinctly Norwegian, Swedish or Danish, but the various chieftains were often mercenary and free-booting. This is reflected in the game by NOT assigning players to particular nations.
• Vikings didn’t fight each other (much), so this element is only delivered through the Rune cards
• Vikings raided some regions again and again and long before any attempt at settlement. Whilst raiding might only involve a small fleet, settling generally involved migrations of population from the homelands or other Viking centres. We’ve tried to keep the spirit of this, whilst designing some fairly slick systems.
• the subtle difference between the ‘raid’ and the ‘settling’ combat systems reflects the fact that a settlement attempt might well be carried out in the face of well-organised resistance (Alfred, burnt cakes, etc ) whereas a raid would probably disappear back over the horizon at the first sign of trouble (burnt fingers, rather than cakes).
• the Wind Dial developed from a desire to explore movement as a tactical feature of the game. Movement seems to be a largely forgotten device in current game design.
• having just one of the Rune card ‘Winter Storms’ we found, provided enough risk when ending a turn at sea or on a river. The re-shuffle was added so that the card remained a threat at virtually all times.
• the ‘instantaneous’ return to the Wintering box allows the game to have greater pace and liberates the Viking, so that he may sail ‘to the ends of the earth’ to become the 'stuff' of Sagas (and still get back for tea)

To be sure, gamers will recognise the influence of other games in Viking Fury. However, we also hope that they will acknowledge that this game is a refreshing mix of styles: the German ‘puzzle’ tradition combined with English table-top. If you have any questions about the game design, please e-mail us.

Above all, we hope you enjoy playing Viking Fury (cue horn music and dry ice).

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