About the Game
Hwæt! Praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
Beowulf: A Board Game is no longer available for sale
Beowulf: A Board Game finds each player building and managing their own Viking kingdom in the world of the poem. On each turn, Beowulf moves along the course of his life, altering the balances of power and affecting risks and rewards for all players. Beowulf is also a powerful hero who will come to the aid of any player struggling with a monster that is too great for them to handle. However, as Beowulf is building his own kingdom, he will claim any Trophies (the corpses of monsters he kills) and exact a costly tribute of gold for his heroism.
Each player collects a hand of cards from the Rune Deck which is made up of the various powers, abilities and resources that they can bring to bear as they try to grow their own kingdom. Each players’ Rune cards are held in secret, creating a captivating game of social brinksmanship and deception as the players attempt to secure the powers they need while preventing any other kingdoms from growing too powerful.
Raiding is an important mechanic of the game, allowing a player to use their armies in offensive and defensive maneuvers that pit player vs player in a battle for Trophies or for specific Rune cards that another player might possess. When raiding, the player can use their own kingdom’s Armies or spend their Gold to hire Mercenaries to enhance their offense. Depending on the size of the attacking and defending armies, the players will roll either a four, six, or ten-sided die to determine the victor and claim the spoils
On each turn, players draw a card from the WYRD Deck, which is composed of events, hardships, and instances drawn from the source text and the greater Viking Age. The player must either face the consequences, or reap the benefits of these cards throughout the game. Among the WYRD Deck are the various monsters that inhabit the game; these portentous creatures are brutal and deadly, but if killed by the player, they are immediately claimed as Trophies.
As each game draws to a close, Beowulf dies by the fang of the mighty dragon, signalling the beginning of the end for the tribes of the North. In this final section, players scramble to secure Trophies from the Geats or bury their own holdings of gold and Trophies to honor the glory of their tribe and keep their Trophies safe from last-minute raids. The player with the most Trophies at the end of the game is the winner and cements their own legend before the tides of history wash them away forever.