Shipwrights of the North Sea was the first game in the North Sea Trilogy by New Zealand designer Shem Phillips and his company Garphill Games. The second game in the series, Raiders of the North Sea, was nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres (the German ‘Enthusiast Game of the Year’ which is chosen at the same time as the coveted Spiel des Jahres) in 2017. Now Garphill Games, in partnership with Dice Up Games, are returning to the Sagas with The North Sea Epilogues – A Roleplaying Game.
The board game trilogy, which rounded off with Explorers of the North Sea in 2016, is a fantastic range of board games, each of which uses different mechanics (Shipwrights is a fleet-building card drafting game, Raiders is a great worker placement game, while Explorers is a tile-laying exploration game). Each game takes place during the Viking era and one of the (several) expansions, The North Sea: Runesaga includes a campaign that allows all three games to be played in sequence.
The RPG is being designed by Tom Devine and Kristin Devine, the team behind indie label Dice Up Games . They’ve previously released Truth & Daring and Wits & Chivalry, both of which use John Harper’s Lasers & Feelings sci-fi RPG system.
Shem Phillips is currently working on a new trilogy of games, set in the same era as the Viking trilogy, but exploring the West Kingdom. The first game, Architects of the West Kingdom, is set during the final years of the Carolingian Empire, around 850 AD and sees players take on roles of royal builders constructing landmarks and the Archbishop’s Cathedral, which was successfully funded on Kickstarter earlier this year.
It seems a number of board game companies have started casting an eye towards the RPG market. Renegade Game Studios, who actually distribute Raiders of the North Sea in North America, ran the successful Overlight Kickstarter that recently funded and are also distributing Jon Gilmour’s Kids on Bikes – Strange Adventures in Small Towns RPG. Jon Gilmour is probably better known as a board game designer himself, with titles such as Dead of Winter, Dinosaur Island, and Wasteland Express Delivery Service all being critically acclaimed. Jon’s zombie survival game, Dead of Winter, is one board game title that is prime to make the jump to a tabletop RPG, as is Scythe - the alternate-history game set in the ashes of the first great war in 1920’s Europe, designed by Jamey Stegmaier with the evocative art of Jakub Rozalski.
Of course, Evil Hat have also recently completed their Kickstarter for Uprising: The Dystopian Universe RPG which is based upon the card games The Resistance, Coup, and One Night Revolution by Indie Boards & Cards.
What other board or card games would you like to see make the transition to RPG?
The board game trilogy, which rounded off with Explorers of the North Sea in 2016, is a fantastic range of board games, each of which uses different mechanics (Shipwrights is a fleet-building card drafting game, Raiders is a great worker placement game, while Explorers is a tile-laying exploration game). Each game takes place during the Viking era and one of the (several) expansions, The North Sea: Runesaga includes a campaign that allows all three games to be played in sequence.
The RPG is being designed by Tom Devine and Kristin Devine, the team behind indie label Dice Up Games . They’ve previously released Truth & Daring and Wits & Chivalry, both of which use John Harper’s Lasers & Feelings sci-fi RPG system.
Shem Phillips is currently working on a new trilogy of games, set in the same era as the Viking trilogy, but exploring the West Kingdom. The first game, Architects of the West Kingdom, is set during the final years of the Carolingian Empire, around 850 AD and sees players take on roles of royal builders constructing landmarks and the Archbishop’s Cathedral, which was successfully funded on Kickstarter earlier this year.
It seems a number of board game companies have started casting an eye towards the RPG market. Renegade Game Studios, who actually distribute Raiders of the North Sea in North America, ran the successful Overlight Kickstarter that recently funded and are also distributing Jon Gilmour’s Kids on Bikes – Strange Adventures in Small Towns RPG. Jon Gilmour is probably better known as a board game designer himself, with titles such as Dead of Winter, Dinosaur Island, and Wasteland Express Delivery Service all being critically acclaimed. Jon’s zombie survival game, Dead of Winter, is one board game title that is prime to make the jump to a tabletop RPG, as is Scythe - the alternate-history game set in the ashes of the first great war in 1920’s Europe, designed by Jamey Stegmaier with the evocative art of Jakub Rozalski.
Of course, Evil Hat have also recently completed their Kickstarter for Uprising: The Dystopian Universe RPG which is based upon the card games The Resistance, Coup, and One Night Revolution by Indie Boards & Cards.
What other board or card games would you like to see make the transition to RPG?
