The idea
The players lead small groups of Vikings to explore the islands near their homeland. Once discovered, craftsmen and nobles settle the
islands to make their homes. To protect these newly discovered islands from attacks, players can station Viking warriors between their
new islands and the approaching ships, which can also add to their fame and gold. After 6 rounds the most successful leader wins!
Contents
- 1 game board with wheel (On yucata.de the wheel will be replaced by a table.)
- 8 player markers (not needed on yucata.de)
- gold coins
- 1 start player figure
- 4 player bases (homeland)
- 78 Vikings (13 each in the colors: blue = fisherman, yellow = goldsmith, green = scout, red = noble, black = warrior, gray = boatsman)
- 76 tiles (62 island tiles and 14 ship tiles) among them 4 start tiles
- 25 special tiles (Progress Variant)
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5x |
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21x |
3x |
4x |
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3x |
start tile |
Preparation
Each player takes:
- 1 player base as his homeland. It serves as the player’s starting point.
- 1 start tile. A player’s start tile will be added to their base on their first turn. (With fewer than 4 players, remove the unused start tiles from the game.)
- with 2 players 30 gold in coins, with 3 players 25 gold in coins, and with 4 players 20 gold in coins.
- each player start with 10 points
In addition:
- Shuffle the remaining 72 tiles face down and place them face down in 6 stacks of 12 tiles each.
- Mix all 78 Vikings thoroughly.
- The start player takes the start player figure.
Playing the game overview
The game is played over
6 rounds, in each, one of the 6 tile stacks is used.
At the beginning of each round, the players lay out an
offering (of 12 tiles with 12
Vikings). Therefore the tiles will be placed face up on the 12 spaces in the table.
Placing the tiles according to the following:
– the first
island tile drawn is placed on the value 0 space. Additional island tiles
drawn are placed on increasingly costly spaces (e.g. 1, then 2, then 3, and so on).
– the first
ship tile drawn is placed on the value 11 space. Additional ship tiles
drawn are placed on decreasingly costly spaces (e.g. 10, then 9, then 8, and so
on).
Next the start player draws 12 Vikings from the cloth sack at random and sorts
them by color. He then places the 12 Vikings on the places provided for them
around the wheel, one per place. He places them starting at zero and moving
clockwise around to 11, placing all of one color before moving to the next, and so
on. He places the Vikings always in the following order: first, all of the
blue fishermen, then all of the
yellow goldsmiths, then all of the
green scouts, than all of the
red nobles, than all of the
black warriors and
finally all of the
gray boatsmen. If there are no Vikings in a color, it is skipped.
In clockwise order, players take turns acquiring tiles and Vikings, one
set (1 tile and
the corresponding Viking) at a time. After taking a set, the player immediately
adds both the Viking and the tile to his homeland. When all 12 tiles and Vikings have
been taken, the round ends with a scoring. Depending on the round:
• After the 1st, 3rd, and 5th rounds is a small scoring of goldsmiths.
• After the 2nd, 4th, and 6th rounds is a large scoring (all but blue).
• After the 6th round, there is also a final scoring (special bonuses).
Acquire set (tile and Viking)
On his turn (beginning with the start player and continuing clockwise around the
table) each player
must pay for and acquire 1 set (tile and Viking). The player pays
the cost (in gold coins) shown next to the set on the wheel (0 - 11). The player
immediately adds the tile and Viking to his homeland (see page 3). This continues
until all 12 sets have been acquired (e.g. with 4 players, each player acquires
exactly 3 sets.)
- A player may only acquire the set at space 0 on the wheel, when the Viking there
is the only Viking of that color still on the wheel.
Except for that one restriction, a player may acquire any set he can afford.
- On his turn, a player must always take a Viking/tile set. If a player has no coins
or insufficient coins to acquire the least expensive set allowed, he must take the
0 set, even if this breaks the rule above regarding taking the 0 set.
- A player may, at any time, exchange victory points for coins at a 1 to 1 rate (1
victory point for 1 gold coin). The player immediately moves his scoring marker
back on the track 1 space for each value 1 coin taken. The player may not move
his marker below 0, however. Thus, a player may not ever have negative victory
points or money! A player is never required to exchange victory points for coins
to avoid having to take the set at 0 on the wheel.
Reduce price
After a player has acquired a set, if there is no set at 0 (the player just acquired the
0 set), move the wheel clockwise until you reach the first set still on the wheel (see
figure 2). Thus, all sets still on the wheel are reduced in price.
Place tile and Viking
The different rows
The player’s homeland is his base for placing tiles and Vikings. All tiles he acquires
must be placed adjacent to this base or to already acquired tiles. All Vikings he
acquires must be placed on his base or on acquired tiles. His base has one
row for each type:
ship,
warrior,
noble,
scout,
goldsmith
and
fisherman). In each row, a
player may place any number of tiles.
Placing a tile
In each turn a player acquires 1 set, which he must immediately place in his play
area on or connected to his homeland.
When he acquires a
ship tile, he must place it in the first row:
- The first three ships acquired can be placed in any of the first 3 columns of the ship
row. Ships cannot be placed in columns 4+ until columns 1-3 are filled with ships.
Future ships must always be placed next to another ship.
When a player acquires an
island tile, he must place it according to the
following rules in one of the other five rows of his homeland:
- When placing an island tile, the player must place it so at least one of its sides
must be touching either another tile or the base (touching only diagonally does
not fulfill this rule).
- All island tiles have a specific orientation. The player may not place a tile upside-down
(e.g. a left-side of an island placed on the right side).
- If a player places a tile to the right or left of another island tile, a newly placed
island tile must match either sea to sea, or land to land (or sea to base).
- If the player cannot place the tile anywhere legally, he discards it from play and
places the Viking on his base next to the boatsman graphic.
Note: when a player places the first ship or island tile on his homeland, he
places his
start tile at the same time.
Placing a Viking
- When the player places an island tile in the row that matches the color of the
Viking that was taken as part of the set (e.g.
blue fisherman Viking and the tile is placed in the fisherman row), the player may immediately place the Viking on the island tile he just placed. The player may not place the Viking on a
different tile in the same row or any other row! Once a Viking is placed on an
island tile, it remains there for the rest of the game. If the player does not want
to place the Viking on that tile, he places it on his base next to the boatsman graphic.
- When the player places an island tile in a row other than the row that matches
the Viking, he places the Viking on his base next to the boatsman graphic. The
player is not required to place the island tile into the row matching the Viking,
even if it is possible. The player may be able to move the Vikings on his base
before the next large scoring by using a boatsman Viking.
- When a player acquires a Viking with a ship tile, he must place the Viking on
his base next to the boatsman graphic.
- When a player acquires a boatsman Viking, he must always place it on his base next to the boatsman graphic.
- Only one Viking may be placed on each island tile.
- A Viking may only be placed in its own row (or on the base next to the
boatsman graphic).
- The players may never trade or transfer tiles or Vikings amongst themselves.
- A player may place as many Vikings as he wishes on his base next to the
boatsman graphic.
Scoring
When there are no more tile/Viking sets around the wheel, it is time for a small or
large scoring. Players earn points or gold for Vikings on the islands, regardless if the
island is complete or not.
Small scoring
The small scoring occurs at the ends of rounds 1, 3, and 5. A player earns
3 gold coins for each
goldsmith he has on an island tile (not his base).
If a
goldsmith is threatened by a ship, he earns the player no coins.
Large scoring
The large scoring occurs at the end of rounds 2, 4, and 6. The players take
turns in clockwise order, beginning with the start player, executing actions
and scoring. Each player moves his scoring marker on the scoring track
immediately to record the points he earns. The players score the Vikings from
the top to bottom in their play areas.
1.) Boatsman: only at the beginning of a large scoring can the
boatsman move Vikings from the base to the islands.
1 boatsman can move either all Vikings of one color or 1 Viking of each available color from the base to empty island tiles. All rules for
placing Vikings must be followed. In each large scoring, a player may
use as many of his boatsmen as he wishes. A player may only use a
boatman to move Vikings from the base to the islands. He may not
move Vikings among the islands. After a player uses a boatsman, he
discards it from the game.
During the third large scoring (after the 6th round) each player
must
use all
boatsmen that he can to move any remaining Vikings from
the base to the islands!
2.) Ships: a ship threatens the Vikings that stand on islands directly
below the ship. The effect of the threat extends to (including) the row
that matches the color of the ship’s sail. Any Viking threatened by a
ship cannot earn coins or points. To emphasize its effect, players
should put affected Vikings on their sides during scoring.
3.) Warrior: when a
warrior stands on an island tile directly below a
ship, the warrior repels the threat of the ship. Thus, Vikings below the
warrior are not threatened by the ship and the player collects the coins
or points indicated on the ship tile.
4.) Noble: for each
noble standing on an island tile, the player
earns
2 victory points. If a
noble is threatened by a ship, the player
earns no points for that
noble.
5.) Scout: for each
scout standing on an island tile, the player
earns
1 victory point. In addition, the player earns
1 victory point each for a
goldsmith and
fisherman, which stand on island tiles directly
below the
scout.
If the
scout is threatened by a ship, the player earns
no points for that
scout, and also no points for the
goldsmith and
fisherman.
6.) Goldsmith: for each
goldsmith standing on an island tile, the
player earns
3 gold coins. If the
goldsmith is threatened by a ship,
the player earns no coins for that
goldsmith.
7.) Fisherman: the
fisherman is only responsible for supplying the
Vikings with food, which is only scored in the
final scoring. In the
large scoring, he counts only in connection with the
scout.
Next round
After the scoring, the start player gives the start player figure to his left neighbor, who
begins the next round by placing a new supply of tiles and Vikings in the spaces around
the wheel.
Final scoring
After the 6 stacks of 12 tiles have been exhausted and the third large scoring
has been completed, the players perform the final scoring.
The final scoring is scored as follows (in the order shown):
- Ships: for each ship not repelled by a warrior, the player must give up the value
shown on the unrepelled ship - in coins or victory points. If a player has to give up
coins, but has none left, he gives up victory points instead on a 1 for 1 basis.
- Gold: for each 5 gold coins the player has, he scores 1 victory point, retuning the
scored coins to the bank. He keeps any remaining coins in his play area.
- Boatsman: the player with the most boatsmen
left on his base earns 10 victory
points. If players tie for the most, they each get 10 victory points. Note: in the large
scoring at the end of the 6th round, each player must use as many boatsmen as he
has to move Vikings from his base to empty islands. He cannot choose to leave
Vikings behind if they have an empty island to go to and a boatman to take them.
- Completed islands: the player with the most completed islands earns 7 victory
points. If players tie for the most, they each get 7 victory points. A completed island
has a left end, a right end, and any number of middle parts, with no empty spaces.
The tiles need not be occupied by Vikings.
- Longest island: the player with the longest completed island earns 5 victory
points. In this case, longest means the island with the most tiles. If players tie for the
most, they each get 5 victory points.
- Over and under supply: each player counts the number of Vikings he has (both
on islands and his base, including his remaining boatsmen). All Vikings must be
supplied with fish to eat. Each fisherman standing on an island that is not
threatened by a ship can supply himself and 4 other Vikings (total of 5 Vikings) with
fish to eat.
For each additional Viking that the player’s fishermen could supply, the player
earns 2 victory points (over supply). For each existing Viking that the player’s
fishermen cannot supply, the player loses 1 victory point (under supply).
If a fisherman is threatened by a ship or a fisherman stands on the player’s
base (not on an island), he can supply no Vikings, but must be supplied.
Game end
After the final scoring, the game ends. The winner is the player with the most victory
points. If there is a tie for most points, the player among those tied with the most
value in coins is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied players rejoice in their shared
victory.
Tips
Coins are very important to the game, so players should try to have a supply of
coins. Although both earn a player coins, repelled ships earn them every other
round, while the goldsmith earns them every round. Thus, goldsmiths earn a player a faster and more regular income.
Because of the turning of the wheel, sets that start the round expensively will
become cheaper later on. Waiting until the wheel has turned can save a player
several coins, but waiting too long can lose the player an important set.
Thus, if a player sees a perfect set on the wheel, he may be better off paying a high
price, so that he guarantees that he gets it. Only pay for the acquisition of sets with victory points when the set is a perfect fit
for you, as the cost for spending victory points is very high.
Players should acquire warriors when they become available, even if they do not
have ships that need to be repelled. A player may find himself acquiring an
unexpected ship later and wish he had a warrior to repel it.
A player should place his first ship on the right-most place at the top of his base.
This allows him to place other island tiles in the first two columns without the fear
of them being threatened early in the game, giving him time to place warriors
below the ships to repel them and protect the Vikings below them.
Remember that players may only use their boatsmen every other round (with the
large scoring) to move Vikings from their bases to the islands.
Player should take care not to forget the important role of fishermen, even
though it happens only during the final scoring. Forgetful players can find
themselves losing many points at game end.
Players should take care not to ignore the elements of the final scoring. There are
many scoring opportunities there and these can make the difference between
winning and losing.
Progress/No Auction Variant
Boatsman rule change
A
boatsman moves only 1 Viking from the player’s base to an island tile at the
beginning of a large scoring round.
Special Tiles
Four special tiles are played face up on the board at the beginning of the game. Whenever a player
acquires the current most expensive set, he may also take 1 of
the 4 face up special tiles. However, when a player acquires a set at a cost of 0,
he does not take a special tile!
The player adds the special tile taken to his display
or sets it aside, depending on the special tile taken.
In each round the players may never take more special tiles than those laid out at
the beginning of the round. Empty spaces created when a special tile is taken are
not filled until the beginning of the next round.
Immediately Resolved
 | 1 tile - The player immediately takes 5 coins |
Small & Large Scoring
 | 2 tiles - For each
goldsmith standing on an island tile and not threatened by a ship, the player earns 1
gold coin. |
 | 1 tile - For each
goldsmith standing on an island tile and not threatened by a ship, the player earns 2
gold coins. |
Large Scoring
 | 6 tiles - One boatsman moves either all Vikings of one color or 1 Viking of each color from the
player’s base to unoccupied island tiles (as in the basic game). The boat tile and the
boatsmen are removed from the game after this use. |
 | 3 tiles - For each noble
standing on an island tile and not threatened by a ship, the player earns 1 additional victory point. |
 | 1 tile - For each scout
standing on an island tile and not threatened by a ship, the player earns 1 additional victory point. |
 | 1 tile - For each fisherman
standing on an island tile and not threatened by a ship, the player earns 1 additional victory point. |
Final Scoring
 | 4 tiles - The tile is not used to move Vikings from the base to the island.
When determining which player has the most boatsmen on his base at game end, the
tile counts as 1 boatsman as though it were made of wood like the others. |
 | 1 tile - At game
end, the player earns 3 victory points for each over supplied Viking and loses 1 victory
point for each under supplied Viking. |
 | 1 tile - At game end, the player earns 1 victory point for each 3 gold coins, instead of 5. |
 | 4 tiles - The player must immediately exchange the special tile with a normal tile in his display.
The replaced tile must picture the same building as the special tile. The replaced tile is
removed from the game. If the player has no such tile in his display, he places the special
tile to the side of his base for now. When the player acquires an appropriate island tile
later in the game, he must then immediately exchange the special tile for the normal tile
he just acquired.
At game end, the player earns 1 victory point for each Viking standing on the special tile
and on a tile diagonally or orthogonally adjacent to the special tile (maximum 9), but
only if the special tile is not threatened by a ship. The other tiles may be threatened. |
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