Tafl: viking chess

Tafl is a Scandinavian strategy board game dating back to the Middle Ages, where two asymmetric sides clash on a grid board with completely different win conditions. The attacking black pieces try to surround and capture the white king, while the defending white pieces work to escort their king to the edge or corner of the board. Every match is a tense back-and-forth of blocking, flanking, and sacrifice.

The game offers serious depth through multiple variants. Choose from four board sizes — 7x7 up to 13x13 — each changing the pacing and complexity dramatically. Victory conditions shift between getting the king to the board edge versus a corner, and encirclement rules vary between two-sided and four-sided capture. That alone gives you dozens of distinct rulesets to master. Play solo against an AI opponent, challenge a friend on the same device in pass-and-play mode, or test your tactics against real players worldwide in online multiplayer. Black always moves first, pieces slide any number of squares vertically or horizontally, and positional pressure builds fast.

If you enjoy abstract strategy games like chess, checkers, or Go, Tafl delivers a genuinely different challenge rooted in Norse history. Fans searching for Viking board games online, hnefatafl free play, or medieval strategy games no download will find exactly what they need here. This is pure tactical gameplay with no luck involved — just planning, patience, and reading your opponent.