Odin's Viking Chess: Hnefatafl

No Ads, No Subscriptions, No Tracking.

Odin’s Viking Chess brings you Hnefatafl, the Viking board game, on twelve historical boards. One side besieges; the other guards a king who must reach the edge of the world.

One purchase. No in-app purchases, no third-party ads, and no tracking.

PLAY TOGETHER, YOUR WAY

Live online: challenge a friend and trade moves in real time.
Turn-based online: play at your own pace without being online together.
Nearby: connect device to device and play without a Game Center account.
Pass & Play: share one screen and take turns.
Sides are drawn by a coin toss for the first game and swap with every rematch, so nobody keeps the easier seat.
Online play uses Game Center; turn notifications and a Home Screen widget show when you have moves waiting.

OPTIMIZED FOR IPHONE DUO

Open the phone and the board fills the inner display; close it and your game carries on, on the outer display, right where you were.

TWELVE BOARDS, ONE GAME

Every piece moves like a rook. Capture by trapping a piece between two of yours. The attackers win by surrounding the king; the defenders win when the king escapes.

Fetlar: the modern standard, 11×11, the king escapes to a corner.
Copenhagen: Fetlar with the shieldwall, the edge fort and the encirclement — the online standard.
Brandub: the quickest board, 7×7, from the Irish poems.
Tablut: the Sámi game Linnaeus recorded in 1732, escape at any edge.
Sea Battle: no special squares, the defenders move first, the cargo ship runs for the edge.
Ealdfæder: the defenders start in a square and three attackers take the king at the edge.
Tawlbwrdd 9×9 and 11×11: the Welsh game, a king captured like any piece.
York: the museum’s rules — a weaponless king and an encirclement win.
Imperial Contest: a Victorian parlour game; a coin toss decides who moves first.
Hnefatafl 13×13: Fetlar’s rules on a wider board.
Alea Evangelii: the vast Anglo-Saxon board, 19×19, 73 pieces and sixteen corner squares.

House Rules change any board — single step, an armed or unarmed king, a hostile throne and more — in every mode, and a turn-based or nearby invitation names them before anyone joins.

FIND YOUR CHALLENGE

Play solo as the attackers or the defenders against four computer strengths: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert. The Video Instructions teach the game on the real board, chapter by chapter.

Want a nudge? The coach suggests a move and explains it in the king’s terms — a line to escape, a ring tightening, a capture waiting. Undo during local play lets you try another approach, and every board includes a How to Play guide with its history.

MAKE YOUR PROGRESS COUNT

Earn XP, climb the ranks from Wanderer to Grand King, and pursue 30 achievements and 18 Game Center leaderboards, including a leaderboard for each board. Bigger boards earn more.

Your games save as you play, and iCloud carries them to your other devices.

A PLACE AT THE BOARD

Engraved longships, painted portraits or carved sigils on oak, a rune band and Longhouse gold bring the world of Odin’s Checkers to Hnefatafl. One purchase plays it on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac, in 50 languages, with VoiceOver and Dynamic Type.

Made by the team behind Odin’s Checkers, Squared², Odin’s Tic-Tac-Toe, Odin’s Drop 4+ and Odin’s Reversi. The only promotions you’ll see are for our own games.

Choose a board. Choose a side. See who wants the rematch.