Tap the game to open it fullscreen. On a computer, Esc exits; on a phone, use the ✕ button.

How to play

You play the king (with the crown) and the four defenders, in purple, and you go first. Tap a piece: green dots show where it can go. Tap the destination. Pieces move in straight lines, like a chess rook. A piece is captured if it is caught between two enemy pieces. The king wins by reaching any golden corner. The attackers, in red, win if they surround the king on all four sides.

The story behind it

Hnefatafl was played in the Viking Age, but the original rules were lost and have been reconstructed from later sources. This 7×7 board is a simplified version. Read the story in Hnefatafl: the board game the Vikings played and no one knows exactly how it went.