Live the life of a dwarven accountant
NIDAVELLIR
Designer: Serge Laget | Publisher: GRRRE Games
PLAYED
One of the best feelings in board games is a sense of escalation. Whether it’s the visual satisfaction of constructing a grand castle city or the painstaking development of a quaint farmstead, escalation remains vital for the generation of tension and momentum. Some games manage this merely through theme and narrative, but in most cases it is left to mechanics. Thankfully, the latter is undeniably true for Nidavellir, but can mechanics alone save this largely themeless card game?
Nidavellir’s arguably dry gameplay resides within an incongruously detailed setting and backstory, concerning a peaceful dwarven realm suddenly facing peril from the awakened dragon Fafnir. In their roles as respected members of the dwarven council, the king has tasked players with gathering an army. It’s all rather epic, but in actuality this noble quest of recruitment essentially amounts to an expensive pub crawl. Players will travel from one tavern to the next, outbidding their opponents to hire the bravest dwarves to join their battalion.