Explorers of the North Sea is set in the latter years of the Viking Age. As ambitious sea captains, players seek out new lands to settle and control. They will need to transport their crew among the newly discovered islands to capture livestock, construct outposts and fulfill various other goals. So ready the longships, there are new horizons to explore!
Gameplay Overview
Each player starts with 7 Vikings and a Longboat on a shared, central Island. From there players will place tiles and begin to venture out to the newly discovered Islands.
Proceeding clockwise from the starting player, each player takes their turn in full. On their turn, players first place 1 of their 3 tiles, expanding the game board. They can then take up to 4 actions (any number of the following):
1. Load Longship
2. Unload Longship + Deliver Livestock
3. Move Longship + Destroy an Enemy Ship
4. Move Vikings + Raid a Settlement
5. Transport Livestock
6. Construct an Outpost (costs 2 actions)
After taking their actions, players draw a new tile to their hand, ending their turn.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately after the turn where the player holding the Winter Token has no more Tiles in hand. This should be exactly 48 turns (there are 48 Tiles). Victory Points are gained from:
1. Delivered Livestock
2. Constructed Outposts
3. Destroyed Enemy Ships
4. Raided Settlements
5. Viking Deaths
6. Controlled Islands
7. Captain Cards
The player with the highest total is the winner!
- Strong engine-building and map expansion
- Wintery sea vibe aligns with theme even if not strictly winter-only
- Season-agnostic adventuring with a wintry atmosphere
- Viking expeditions in the North Sea
- tile-placement/engine-building feel with sea/commerce flavor
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Tile placement and pick-up-and-deliver — Place tiles to expand your domain and fulfill shipment objectives; manage crew/resources
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- winter is coming okay winter is oh shoot
- there's a game called winter this one's perfect good God
References (from this video)
- cute and approachable
- mean enough to offer competition
- some players feel mean-spirited in blocking
- PVP resource gathering and route building
- Exploration and settlement on northern seas
- light theme with practical mechanisms
- Shipwrights of the North Sea
- Nova Luna
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Pick up and deliver / resource route blocking — build networks, collect resources, block opponents
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a deck deconstruction game where you have a bunch of cards in your hand with differing values
- it's mean but like the funny thing is it's mean but like you don't necessarily get a Target so somebody usually ends up being the punching bag
- we did a video on the new iteration of libertalia Winds of galecrest from stonemeyer games you can go check that out
- this is one of those games where it's like a badge of honor if you win and we've just had such a great time with it
- it's a really cool experience I think that's the best way this is a really cool experience of a game to play
References (from this video)
- Dull
- Boring
- Weak compared to other games in trilogy
- Nordic
- Adventure
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- you're listening to the broken meeple show a podcast that speaks passionately about board games
- it's only a game
- I hate pretentiousness in games
- we got to be able to dislike some things you know I'm all about balance you can love something but you got to hate something as well
- I'm worried that they've gone too far
- definitely I think the most complicated game that they have put out ever I'm not joking