A FEAST FOR ODIN

Let me tell you a fascinating story called A Feast for Odin. It’s not just any old story—it’s a board game where you get to be a Viking! Picture this: you and your friends become explorers, founders of civilizations, and conquerors. You’ll want to collect lots of valuable things, because the player with the most valuable possessions wins!

SETUP

First things first, let’s set up the game. Put the action board in the middle of the playing area. If there are four players, add the two extensions to the bottom of the board. Place the goods on the table, close enough for everyone to reach. And don’t forget to put the supply boards for the specialty tiles beside the goods boxes.

So, here’s the deal: we start by putting special tiles on this oval-shaped supply board. Then, we sort the ships into different piles based on their types, placing them on the supply board. Now, let’s talk about the occupation cards. We’ll sort them by the color of their backs and divide them into two decks.

Now, it’s time for each player to get their starting card from the light stack of occupation cards. Along with that, each player will also receive a bow and arrow, a snare, a spear, and a mead tile. The remaining weapons will be put in a stack on the table, face down. To complete the setup, every player will choose a home board, selecting the side based on the number of rounds they want to play.

Alright, let’s get this game going! First, we need to shuffle the mountain strips and uncover two of them. The remaining six cards will be our draw pile. Now, let’s sort the rest of the goods and put them in their own stacks, all set to be drawn. Make sure to arrange the four exploration boards in this order: Shetland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland.

Now, let’s place the remaining tiles in their own stacks. And just like that, we’re ready to kick off the game!

GAMEPLAY

Alright, who’s going to start? Randomly, of course. Now, the game consists of six rounds, and each round has twelve phases. Exciting, isn’t it?

In the first phase, you’ll collect the Viking that is to the left of the table. Add them to the other Vikings on the thing square. Remember, each round brings a new Viking.

Take a look below the round number. You’ll find what you’re going to earn during that harvest. Make sure to collect those rewards.

If you need them, turn the exploration boards. The board tells you when to turn them. When you do, put two silver pieces on the ones you didn’t turn.

Take a weapon card and add it to your supply.

Starting with the first player, each person takes turns putting Vikings on an empty space on the action board. Keep going until everyone has either passed or placed their Vikings. Remember, you have to use the action spaces right after you put your Vikings on them.

This phase ends when all Vikings have been placed. Some players might run out before others. If you have no Vikings, you have to pass. Once every player has passed, we can move on to the next phase.

When you play as a Viking, you have a chance to be the first player in the next action phase.

During this phase, you earn silver based on the value you uncover on the income diagonal.

In this phase, animals also have a chance to breed. If you have two of the same kind of livestock that are not pregnant, you can flip a card to indicate that one of them is now pregnant. If there are already pregnant animals, you can flip them and collect a matching animal. However, only one animal of each type can become pregnant each round.

When we play this game, we have to remember a few important things. First, we need to place our food tiles or a silver coin on the empty spaces on the table. The orange tiles have to be placed apart, they can’t touch each other. And the red tiles can’t touch either. But we can place silver coins next to each other. If we want to take up more space, we can also place one tile of each type horizontally.

As we play, we also get to collect bonuses. If we leave a goods space uncovered, but the eight spaces around it are covered, we get a bonus and collect that good.

Mountain strips are important too. They allow us to collect more building resources. We have to remove the left resource that’s closest to the arrow and put it back in our supply. And if a mountain is empty, we can add a new mountain strip and get the goods that come with it.

When the game ends, we have to bring back all of our Vikings to our Think Square. And then we can start the next round.

END OF GAME

When the game comes to an end after the Feast phase of the last round, there won’t be any bonuses. The points are then calculated using the scoring pad, and the player with the most points wins the game.

Scoring

Earning Points

For ships: Each whaling board is worth three points, each knar is worth five points, and each longship is worth eight points.

For emigrations: Each knar used for emigration earns eighteen points, while each longship used for emigration earns twenty-one points.

For explorations: The top right corner of each exploration card displays its value in points.

For homes: Sheds earn eight points, stone houses earn ten points, and long houses earn seventeen points.

When it comes to scoring points in this game, there are a few key factors to keep in mind. Let’s take a closer look at each one.

Livestock

Sheep are worth two points each, but if they happen to be pregnant, they’re worth even more – three points! On the other hand, cows are worth three points each, but if they’re pregnant, they’re worth an impressive four points.

Jobs

If you have any occupation cards in play, you’ll want to pay attention to this. You’ll tally up the values of each card and add them to your overall score. So, make sure to make the most of your job opportunities!

Silver

Now, let’s talk about silver. You can earn points by collecting silver, but here’s the catch: only the silver found in the supply will count towards your score. Any silver you find on the boards won’t earn you any points. So make sure to focus on the right kind of silver!

Income

Lastly, you’ll need to take into account your income. Keep track of your final income and put it in the correct category. But remember, you won’t actually receive any income in the final round – it’s just for scoring purposes.

Losing Points

While it’s important to score points, you should also be aware that you can lose points too. Any boards and buildings that you have will deduct points from your total. This includes homes, sheds, exploration boards, and the home board. So, consider your strategy carefully and don’t forget about those deductions!