Gamex Report: Sunday - 5th Post - Wikinger (Vikings)

After staying up way too late on Saturday, I still managed to get up early so I could play more of the great games Jay brought along. When I got down to the demo area, I wanted to play Caylus Magna Carta. However, Bernie and Devi were already playing the game with another guy. So, I settled for the chance to play Wikinger - or, as Jay will soon call it, Vikings. Can you believe that that name wasn't already taken?

Vikings has one 'exciting' mechanic - a wheel built into the board which sets the price for recruiting vikings and their respective island piece to your group. You buy vikings of different colors (farmers, nobles, goldsmiths, scouts, warriors, boatmen) and each comes with an island piece (a beginning, middle or end) that you can build out on your play space. Red gives you points, Yellow gives you Gold to buy things, Blue feed your vikings at the end of the game - and on and on. You need them all but can only buy so many. As Jay said, "a game where you can't do everything you want each turn. What a concept!"

Now, I have to say - the theme of this game makes no sense at all and has nothing to do with the admittedly enjoyable mechanics. In an upcoming (although actually recorded back at Orccon) Boardgame Babylon episode, art director jim pinto points out how 'phony' the mechanics of many designer games appear to be when you think about it with regard to the theme. Vikings is a particularly good example of this but the truth of the matter is that I don't care. Indeed, it is all artificial but it is also an enjoyable game that, again, plays through in about forty-five to sixty minutes (depending on your DPF - Deliberative Player Factor).

Jay explained the basics but didn't overwhelm us with the sometimes quirky scoring. In the end, we all found many things we would do differently but the first time is always a learning game. Indeed, nearly everything gets a chance to add victory points at the end, in addition to the incidental scoring and money payouts which happen throughout the game. All in all, I was very fond of Vikings and may very well get it. The Viking meeples are certainly neat ("Vikeeples?")

Check out Jay looking at me disapprovingly! "Did he ask permission to take this photo?" ;)