Northgard

Northgard looks like a Viking-themed AgeofEmpires but is much more.

It’s spring, and my Viking colonists are gleefully filling their bellies now that the snow has melted and our food stores are filling up. The farmers and hunters are working hard, and with their appetite sated, my warriors are itching for a fight. I don’t have time to enjoy it. I’m already preparing for Northgard’s next harsh winter. Even more than dragons or undead, foul weather is the greatest threat to my growing settlement.

Northgard looks like a throwback, a game that would have fit in with Age of Empires and Settlers, but while the inspiration is clear, it would be a disservice to imply that it’s trading in nostalgia. This Viking saga builds on the RTS games of the ’90s, but it’s not beholden to them.

The basics are still familiar. You start with a town hall and some villagers, eventually growing it into a settlement that can handle raids from monsters and other Vikings. That’s done by finding resources and exploiting them using specialist workers and buildings.

Building slots limit how much you can construct. The map is made up of regions containing resources, treasure, and enemies, but only has space for a few buildings, and they’ve got to be colonized before they can be used. As each new layer, from weather to warfare, is introduced, the pace of expansion is a relief. It slows things down so you can take a moment to set priorities, whether that’s making pals or scouting the area. But despite the measured pace, winter’s approach means there’s always some tension.

Winter can be overcome by worker placement and preparation. Workers can be switched, so if a warband is just sitting around, you can make all of them farmers, fishermen or hunters to help keep everyone fed. With the right buildings and workers, even the most brutal winters can be handled.

If you’re military-minded, you’ll want to keep an army around. By generating lore, a stand-in for science, technological advancements can be made, including warmer clothes for warriors. That’s a game-changer, making winter one of the best times to go on the offensive, when enemy Vikings might not be as prepared.

Fame and fortune

Fame is Northgard’s most unusual resource. It’s a representation of a clan’s great deeds, like killing a wyvern or defeating another player, and unlocks bonuses. It drives exploration, as you seek out greater foes, but also weaves its way throughout the game. Fighting, feasting, building monuments—do cool things and you’ll be rewarded.

While each clan shares a lot of the same features, they’re still a distinct bunch. The Wolf Clan, for instance, are an angry mob. Their warriors can gather food by killing hostile beasties, and they also generate happiness, ensuring the settlement remains productive and new villagers keep appearing. Ultimately this means they don’t need as many farmers, fishermen, or hunters and can afford to invest in larger warbands.

The campaign serves as a solid introduction to each of these clans, and eventually leads to some creative, novel missions. They can be brief if you clock the optimal path, but there’s very little repetition. Each new chapter pushes you into trying new things. The story the campaign hangs on is less compelling. It’s a tired revenge tale with twists so boring they’ll put you to sleep.

Northgard lives in the skirmish mode. The campaign mission design is good, but sometimes you just want to shake off the shackles and batter some Vikings in a sandbox. When all of the game’s concepts collide, instead of being separated by levels, it becomes a tricky, unpredictable real-time strategy that pulls you in all these different directions. Every game is fat with potential, helped in great part by a map generator that spits out a brilliant array of as-goodas-bespoke battlefields.

If you’re militaryminded, you’ll want to keep an army around