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Collection Status
Your Rating
Description
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!
Year Published
2016
Featured Videos
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 8
This page: 8
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–8 of 8
Video 1RcXw6gbP18
Allies or Enemies top_100_list at 5:11 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61082 · mention_pk 153516
Click to watch at 5:11 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- evokes Wind Waker feel
- strong exploration and island hopping flavor
Cons
- some players may find it asymmetric or fiddly
Thematic elements
- exploration, raiding, and resource management
- Viking exploration across islands and seas
- Wind Waker-esque island hopping vibe
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area and action selection — choosing actions to move around the map and develop the realm
- engine building — exploring islands to collect resources and build capabilities
- engine-building via exploration — exploring islands to collect resources and build capabilities
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's ugly as is a game comes
- Prelude expansion which I'm going to say is the only expansion you need for this game
- it's the chess of racing games
- it's a game of inches
- the Wind Waker-esque board game that is out there
- the campaign element really nicely and I like that they group The like the each play is three chapters in a setting
- you can play a game of this in an hour and a half with two players
- you are building that Tableau and your Tableau gets outrageous
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Rp8vOUPx-7k
Allies or Enemies top_100_list at 9:38 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61186 · mention_pk 153816
Click to watch at 9:38 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Strong thematic fit and engaging puzzle
- Re-playability through campaign variability
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Venture and exploration with crews and maps
- North Sea exploration and settlement
Comparison games
- Great Western Trail
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Campaign-driven variability — Campaigns alter board setup and available choices.
- Resource gathering and ship/crew management — Manage resources to progress and develop your settlement.
- Resource management — Manage resources to progress and develop your settlement.
- worker placement — Plan actions through cards and place crew for actions.
- Worker placement / action planning via cards — Plan actions through cards and place crew for actions.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's gorgeous
- everything about this game is gorgeous
- it's jazz chess with insects
- it's a combat game that I really like
- don't be turned off by it being too pretty
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video w2ZKAz-zIWE
Allies or Enemies top_100_list at 21:10 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61189 · mention_pk 153842
Click to watch at 21:10 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Enjoyable exploration and territory claiming
- Leaders provide varied goals for replayability
Cons
- Complexity can scale with player count
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's legitimately pretty cool
- it's a really cool game
- it's a starter worker placement game
- it's surprisingly thinky for a game that's one page of rules
- it's asymmetric and the factions play very differently
- the theme is absurd
- it's thinky because of planning ahead
- it's a flicking game, it's a dexterity game
- the artwork is beautiful
- it's purposely mean
- it's a great space game
- it's a big epic adventure
- every time you put a tile in and it affects everything else in your area
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video _DhIh6t9W2c
Allies or Enemies top_100_list at 25:36
video_pk 61162 · mention_pk 153739
Click to watch at 25:36 · YouTube ↗
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Array
- Array
- building and exploration with modular board
- Array
- Viking exploration and settlement
- Array
- Array
- Array
- positive
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's just like a super easy to teach but super mean game that you can play with your family
- I love games where you're involved on everyone's turn
- the expansions have added a lot to it
- the production value of the aliens those miniatures
- this is basically alien the board game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Ox0WPw3vRAE
Allies Arene Enemies top_100_list at 18:50
video_pk 61019 · mention_pk 153424
Click to watch at 18:50 · YouTube ↗
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
- Wind Waker (inspiration)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- space-building and island claiming — Exploration and building on islands with Viking ships.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is really interconnected worker placementish game.
- it's surprisingly smooth for how many moving parts there are.
- it's a game of inches where every space matters.
- there's way too many moving parts to explain here, but it is very very satisfying.
- you can definitely not just follow one thing and focus on one thing.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video S5x3IB7U84E
Foster The Meatball a Channel top_10_list at 7:29 sentiment: positive
video_pk 6136 · mention_pk 18160
Click to watch at 7:29 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Strong engine-building and map expansion
- Wintery sea vibe aligns with theme even if not strictly winter-only
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Season-agnostic adventuring with a wintry atmosphere
- Viking expeditions in the North Sea
- tile-placement/engine-building feel with sea/commerce flavor
Comparison games
none
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
No key topics recorded for this video.
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)
No references stored for this video.
Video zD_qiW67avc
Foster The Meatball general_discussion at 8:44 sentiment: positive
video_pk 2025 · mention_pk 5786
Click to watch at 8:44 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- cute and approachable
- mean enough to offer competition
Cons
- some players feel mean-spirited in blocking
Thematic elements
- PVP resource gathering and route building
- Exploration and settlement on northern seas
- light theme with practical mechanisms
Comparison games
- 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
No key topics recorded for this video.
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)
No references stored for this video.
Video HkK1sbaUv54
The Broken Meeple review at 9:53 sentiment: negative
video_pk 1145 · mention_pk 3307
Click to watch at 9:53 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
none
Cons
- Dull
- Boring
- Weak compared to other games in trilogy
Thematic elements
- Nordic
- Adventure
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
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
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–8 of 8