Tafl: viking chess

Category: 2 Player, Multiplayer Plays: 43 Rating:

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2-players 158 board game 37 boardgame 28 boardgames 24 chess 10 Multiplayer game 40

How to Play

Game Overview

So Tafl is basically this old Norse board game that''s like a mix of chess and a siege, but way more lopsided and tense. One player controls a king and a bunch of defenders trying to get him to safety, while the other has twice as many attackers trying to catch him. It feels scrappy and unfair in a good way -- you''re either desperately running for the edge or methodically boxing someone in. The visual style is clean and minimalist, like wooden pieces on a grid with a muted color palette, which fits the whole ancient battlefield vibe. No flashy animations, just you staring at the board and sweating over each move. What hits you is how quickly things can flip -- one slip and your king gets pinched between two enemies, or you thought you had him cornered but he squeezes through a gap. Who gets hooked? People who like abstract strategy games like chess or Go but want something less studied and more chaotic. It''s great for two players who enjoy trash talk, because every capture feels personal. The AI is decent enough to practice against, but the real fun is local multiplayer with a friend who gets salty. The different board sizes and rules (like whether corners or edges are the goal) keep it fresh without overcomplicating things. Just don''t expect a balanced, fair fight -- that''s not the point.

About Tafl: viking chess

Tafl: Viking Chess is one of those games that looks simple on the surface but gets real mean once you start playing. You pick a side--attackers in black or defenders in white--and then it's just you and a board that feels way smaller than it looks. The attackers move first, which is important because they're already surrounding the king at the start. The defenders have fewer pieces but they've got the king, and that little guy needs to either reach a corner if there are fortress symbols there or hit the edge of the board if that's highlighted instead. Every game you can tweak the board size, victory conditions, and encirclement rules, and those changes aren't cosmetic--they shift how you think about every single move.

Movement works like a rook in chess, straight lines only, no diagonals. You can slide any number of empty squares, but you can't jump over anyone. The central throne and corner fortresses are special--only the king can sit there. Capturing happens by sandwiching an enemy piece between two of yours, or between one of yours and the throne itself, but that throne is hostile to attackers even when empty, while defenders only get in trouble if it's empty. You don't have to capture just because you can, which sometimes makes you hesitate and that's where mistakes happen. Captured pieces are gone forever, no coming back.

The real loop is about positioning and patience. As attackers, you're trying to close in like a net, but the defenders can slip through gaps if you're sloppy. As defenders, you're shepherding the king toward escape while sacrificing soldiers to buy time. The AI is surprisingly sharp--it'll set up traps that look like openings but aren't. Later boards have different sizes, and the encirclement rules can change how many pieces you need to trap the king, which forces you to rethink your whole approach. The satisfying moment is when you finally corner the king after a long chase, or when you slip him past a wall of black pieces to the edge. There's no upgrade system or levels with names--it's pure, mean strategy that rewards thinking a few moves ahead. The difficulty builds naturally as you face tougher AI that doesn't let you get away with lazy plays.

Tips & Tricks

Getting the first move as black lets you set the tempo, so don't waste it on random advances. I used to push a piece straight toward the king, but that just got it pinched between two defenders on the next turn. A better opener is to spread your attackers across the board, blocking escape routes early. For defense, keeping your king near the center too long is a death sentence -- start planning his exit from turn one, even if you don't move him yet. I learned that the hard way when my king got boxed in by a wall of black pieces. White's real advantage is the throne: standing on it makes the king invulnerable to capture from three sides, so use it as a safe hub while you clear a path. On the flip side, attacking that throne is tricky because the center cells are hostile only to black when the king sits there. A mistake that cost me a game: forgetting that the empty throne hurts defenders too. If white leaves the throne empty, it becomes a trap for their own pieces. Also, those corner fortresses aren't just escape goals -- they're also safe spots for white's pieces to rest, so don't let black blockade them. One weird trick: if you're losing as black, try sacrificing a piece on the edge to create a pincer opportunity on the next move. It's risky but can flip the game.