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About Raiders of the North Sea
Raiders of the North Sea is Shem Phillips's worker-placement game about Viking crews raiding settlements to impress the Chieftain. Its twist is that you only ever hold one worker: on your turn you place it, pick up a different one and take both actions. You spend the early game hiring crew and gathering provisions, then raid harbours, outposts, monasteries and fortresses for plunder.
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Is Raiders of the North Sea Right for You?
Best for
Raiders of the North Sea is an ideal step from gateway games into worker placement. The place-one, pick-up-one rule is simple to teach and creates constant small decisions, and the raiding gives the game a clear arc. It plays well at two to four and is at its best with three or four.
Maybe skip it if…
It is a points race with a light theme, and players who want deep engines will find it straightforward after a few plays. The dice in raids add luck some groups dislike.
How to Play Raiders of the North Sea
Setup
Place the village board and the raid board, and seed the raid locations with plunder and Valkyrie. Each player takes a longship board, one worker and starting silver.
On Your Turn
- Work: place your worker on an empty village space and take its action, then pick up a different worker and take that space's action.
- Or raid: with enough crew, provisions and the right coloured worker, raid a settlement for plunder, Valkyrie and points.
- Hire crew and make offerings to the Chieftain as your resources allow.
How to Win
The game ends when only one fortress raid remains, the offerings run out, or the last Valkyrie is taken. Score points, armour, Valkyrie and offerings.
💡 Strategy Tips
The worker you pick up matters as much as the one you place. Leave the space you want next turn free for yourself if you can.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Raiding too early. You need crew, provisions and the right worker, and a half-prepared raid wastes a turn.
- Ignoring the Chieftain. Offerings score well at the end, and they are easy to forget until the supply runs out.
- Overhiring crew. A big crew is strong, but crew cards cost silver and only a few are needed for most raids.
- Forgetting that the worker you pick up is your next action. Taking the wrong worker can leave you with nothing useful to do.
Advanced Strategy
- Plan two turns ahead: where you place now decides which worker you pick up, which decides your next action.
- Watch which coloured workers are on the board. Raids require specific colours, and denying them slows rivals down.
- Valkyrie give points but kill crew. Plan losses into your crew size before a big raid.
- Time the end game. The game can finish quickly once fortress raids begin, so do not save everything for the last turn.
Variants & House Rules
Hall of Heroes and Fields of Fame
Two expansions that add new raid options, cards and ways to score. Each adds a little rules weight and a lot of variety.
Explorers and Shipwrights of the North Sea
The other two games in the trilogy. They share the setting but are separate games with different mechanisms.
Video Guides
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Our Verdict
Raiders of the North Sea is a smart, compact worker-placement game with one rule that makes it distinctive. It is quick to teach, plays in about an hour and gives players a satisfying build from village work to fortress raids. A good first stop for anyone moving past gateway games.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed it?
Shem Phillips, published by Garphill Games. It is the middle game of the North Sea trilogy, with Shipwrights of the North Sea and Explorers of the North Sea.
Is it good at two?
Yes, it works well, though three and four make the board more contested and the raid race more interesting.
How much luck is there?
Some. Raids involve dice rolls, but preparation and timing matter far more than any single roll.