Northgard Uncharted Lands Viking Adventure Strategy Board Game 14+

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1. Levi Verified Buyer – 5 July 2024

   I’ll start out by saying this isn’t meant to be a review of the game’s mechanics or cover what a 4X game is. I’ll also mention that I play a fair amount of tabletop games but this is the first 4X my gaming group has played. So, with that out of the way, here is what I thought of Northgard after having played a 3 player game. The components seem to be high quality. All of the cardboard map tiles and tokens are extra thick and seem like they will last many games without having problems with curling up on the sides. The artwork on the box and rules book is well done. The artwork on the cards is also well done but I would have liked to have seen more variety in artwork between the different factions. The included box insert / organizer is among the best that I’ve seen ship with a game and does a good job of keeping all the pieces organized and is not difficult to remove the pieces from. The game includes a ton of minis, some for the monsters and the majority being for the players. The minis all look nice and serve their purpose just fine but don’t expect Games Workshop level of detail miniatures. The rule book is well written for the most part but it doesn’t include an index which makes looking up a specific rule while playing a little cumbersome. So, did we enjoy it? Yes, yes we did! Everyone in my gaming group had a blast playing and at the end of the game everyone agreed that it would be a game we’d like to play again. I don’t have any other 4X games to compare it to, but 4Xs have a reputation for being ‘heavy’ and being long drawn out games (I’m looking at you Twilight Imperium). Northgard was pretty easy for us to pick up and play and I think our game lasted about 2 hours, which I don’t think is bad for a first play. My only major criticism of the game is its cost. At the time of writing this review it’s selling for $90. The game does include a fair amount of minis, the components are high quality, and it does have a lot of replayability, but I still think it’s a little on the expensive side for what’s included in the box.

   

2. Santiago Dionisio Verified Buyer – 16 March 2025

   Great light 4x game.
   

3. Maroszek Verified Buyer – 18 March 2025

   Northguard is a 2 to 5 player 4x (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) board game with an emphasis on combat. The quality here is top notch–the color’s really pop, the counters are thick and easy to read, and the miniatures are detailed too. Also, as you can see in the photos, the built-in storage is also well thought out. So how does it play? Once you get the rules down the turns are pretty streamlined. The only thing I really had issue with rule wise is that when you lose a battle and retreat you can scatter like the wind. This can be problematic as it almost rewards losing. This is easy enough to fix though, we just house ruled that if you invade and are repelled you get kicked back to ONE of the territories you started from. This adds a little more risk to the fight if you were to lose it. As I mentioned this game is highly combat focused. Which isn’t a bad thing, just know your audience if you want to pick up a copy for your family and/or gaming group. Another thing to mention is that while there is card drafting (a nice touch btw!), it is random. In the pictures taken while playing green ended up drawing very few tiles with food. Which granted, this also encourages you to fight, explore, and push out, they also got two of the creatures fairly quickly (optional components included in the core box!). Is this bad? No, but bear in mind that if RNG hates you on a particular day it may be a quick game! Thankfully the games do not take too long to get through, there is a built-in timer (7 turns) that will end the game if you don’t hit the objectives (3 large buildings in complete territories. There are rules included to extend the time (10 rounds), but I think the standard 7 will provide enough for most players. All in all, I like it. It’s shorter/less time to prep than some of my coffin boxes (looking at you Rune Wars!), but it offers us a quick PvP centric 4x.