$29.99Expeditions: Viking Lead a Clan, Shape a Saga
Raid, trade and bargain your way through 9th-century England as a chieftain whose choices decide the story.
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A chieftain's choices, remembered
You inherit a modest village and a problem: the Norse lands are picked clean, so wealth and renown must come from across the sea. How you get it is the game. Raid the monasteries, trade with the locals, or play the factions of Britain against each other, Norsemen, Picts and Angles alike. Your reputation travels ahead of you: the same deed can make some fear you and others trust you, and both matter when you next need a favour. Companions react too, and bloodthirsty huscarls lose heart if you keep sparing people. You can even toggle non-lethal attacks in a fight and let every enemy live. The story stays with you either way, and a second chieftain who plays it cruel will meet a very different England.
War without wizards
Combat is turn-based on a hex grid, and strictly human: no spells, no monsters, just shields, axes and archers with a limited number of arrows. You assemble your warband, position them, and decide who holds the line and who flanks. Wounds are taken seriously: nobody dies mid-fight, but injuries follow you off the battlefield and only a healer at camp mends them, so a lost skirmish is a setback to recover from, not a game over. Character creation lets you shape your chieftain's stats, skills and abilities, and since most negotiations, thefts and chance encounters hinge on the leader's skills, who you build shapes far more than combat. The writing carries it all, with dialogue that lets you answer as the person you decided to be.
What should you know before setting sail?
Can you play it solo?
Yes, it is a singleplayer game through and through. You lead the warband alone, and the party around your chieftain is made of characters you recruit and get to know over the course of the campaign.
How long does a playthrough take?
Expect a long game. Players commonly spend dozens of hours on a single campaign, and since you can play a trader, a diplomat or a ruthless raider, a second run with different choices plays out differently.
Is the combat hard?
It is deliberate rather than punishing. Battles are turn-based and reward careful positioning, and the game is forgiving in one unusual way: wounded characters never die in combat, they carry injuries that a healer at camp can treat, so a lost fight costs you time and supplies instead of ending your story.
Do your choices really matter?
They do, in ways both large and small. Your reputation shapes how factions and strangers treat you, your decisions affect your companions' morale and how they fight, and you can resolve quests as a plunderer, a peacemaker or anything between. Two chieftains can walk very different roads through the same campaign.
