Pax Viking

I have never been one to bow before Eklund grandeur, and I do not miss the card-driven BDSM that is so often sold as depth. I came to Pax Viking hoping the son had kept the family madness while making room for an actual game. He has. This is a Pax whose rules can be read, understood, and made to reveal their basic demands quickly, which feels almost charitable for the line.

You take a Viking chieftain, their ships and their forces, then send them from the frozen north towards the far east in search of glory, fire, and axes. Area control, fighting, and engine building all share the table, but the game does not dump a cliff face of information in your lap before you have taken a step. The rulebook earns a straightforward B+; it does not make you solve a puzzle merely to begin.

The real business, though, is diplomacy. You build your position, make plans early, then watch the other players spoil them, copy them, or offer an alliance that will last precisely until it stops serving them. It moved comfortably with five players; with three, the win sat on a knife-edge and the whole affair became properly grand guignol. You will betray your friends, and you will have sound geopolitical reasons for doing it.

The standard game with the standard saga deck is already a very good experience, especially as a safe first encounter with the game. Its depth also leaves room for games to go slack, particularly with a wholly random saga setup; presumably there is an audience that considers this Eklundian fog part of the attraction. If Pax games worry you, or you have dismissed them for the wrong reasons, Pax Viking is the one worth trying.