Raiders of the North Seas is one of my favorite board games. I love the gameplay and I love the Viking theme. It’s a game that has generated great buzz and sees strong sales, but did you realize there is a whole North Seas saga that includes three base games, a slew of expansions, and a kit that bridges all of them together in a loose narrative?
As I mentioned a few paragraphs up, there is also a slew of expansions for the three base games:
- Rocks of Ruin just released, which is an expansion for Explorers. The premise is that storms have wrecked longboats and you must navigate the obstacles to salvage shipwrecked resources.
- Fields of Fame is an expansion for Raiders of the North Sea that adds another player while also introducing Jarls to the game.
- Hall of Heroes is also an expansion for Raiders. Hall of Heroes adds a Mead Hall to the board with mechanics for card drafting.
To close, there is a way to tie the three games of the North Sea Saga together: The North Sea Runesaga.
It is not a standalone game. Instead, The North Sea Runesaga to collect “runes” as they progress through the three games. While each rune will adds subtle flavor to the game that comes after it, Runesaga is not meant to wholly upend the games, instead it’s meant to bolster them and add flavor.
After all three games have been played, players add up the number of runes they’ve collected and the overall winner of the campaign is declared Chieftain. It’s another piece of flavor for an already wonderful trilogy.
I can’t recommend the North Sea series enough. Raiders of the North Sea is a must purchase for most gamers. And if you enjoy the Viking theme at all, it’s likely you’ll want to dive deeper into the North Sea Saga.