Pyramid Mini-Review
Fjords
Published by Rio Grande Games
Designed by Franz-Benno Delonge
Translated by Jay Tummelson
40 Full Color Landscape Tiles, 8 Wooden Farms in two colors, 40 Wooden Field Counters in two colors, & Full-Color Rules Leaflet; $19.99
Having had enough of the sea, of rape and pillage abroad, and of spam and parrots, a good Viking settles down to farm the rich meadowlands between the mountains and the turbulent waters of Scandinavia's fjords. This is the theme for Fjords, a two-player tile-laying game wherein each Viking explores the fjord, securing the best sites for his farms, before cultivating new fields. The aim being to have the most fields.
Fjords is played in three two-stage rounds. Stage one is Discovery: The players lay the hexagon-shaped tiles in turn such that at least two sides must connect and the terrain (blue sea, green meadowlands, and black mountains) match adjacent tiles. When adding a new tile, a player can choose to place a farm on its meadowland section. His opponent can freely give placement advice, which can also be ignored. Gaps (known as lochs) can be left in the tile layout.
When all the tiles have been placed, the second stage -- Land Claim -- begins. Field counters are placed in turn, in empty meadowland adjacent to an existing field or farm of the same color. Once all field counters are placed, the number for each player is counted up and noted down. Two more rounds are played, the highest score from the three rounds determining . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: March 9, 2007
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