In Fyrdwisa, players take on the role of an Anglo-Saxon war leader seeking dominion over their enemies on the battlefields of the dark ages. They make use of strategically deployed armies and barricades, occupy neutral cities to control their resources, and fight their way across the battlefield to capture their opponent's capital.
Fyrdwisa is a turn-based strategy game in which players spend action points and reveal resource cards to perform actions. Depending on the neutral cities they control, players receive between 1 and 6 action points each turn. Players may save action points from turn to turn (up to 12 points) to perform special actions or execute sudden military maneuvers. Depending on the number of players, there are up to 4 neutral cities for players to attack. Each city's resource is revealed when it is first occupied. The game includes cards for 10 possible city resources (which are assigned randomly) so each game plays out differently. When attacked, neutral cities may "bribe" players into retreating by providing them with a single-use special resource card.
Fyrdwisa is played on a cloth game board printed with a hexagonal battlefield. Each hexagon is divided into six triangles, in which players place small glass game pieces. Action point counters are printed in the corners of the game board, to assist in tracking available points each turn. City resources are printed on heavy stock paper cards.