Sophia’s Staff Pick

One of my all-time favorite games is Raiders of the North Sea. This is a worker placement game with a fun twist. On your turn, you place your worker on an open action space that matches the worker's color, then take the action of the space you chose. The twist is now you have to PULL a different worker off the board and wherever you pulled the worker from is another action you get to take! I’ve played many worker placement games throughout my life, and this mechanic has stuck with me as really different and innovative. If you plan well, you can combo your two actions for powerful turns.

Raiding is super fun as well! If you have a large enough crew, and enough supplies, you can raid a settlement, monastery, or even a fortress! The rewards are great but so are the risks. You could lose crew even as you gain valuable plunder and fame. Combat is resolved by a dice roll mitigated by the strength of your crew which adds an element of chance without feeling like it’s all just the luck of the dice.

This game has a lot of great strategic choices in it. When you place your worker you have to think about the actions you can take. Do you recruit a new warrior? Go raid a settlement? Get some supplies to take on your raiding voyage? Head to the Long House to trade your spoils and resources for points. Where you place your worker could block other players, OR aid your opponent by allowing them to pull that worker and take that action on their turn. You could also give your opponent a chance to gain a powerful worker when you place it on the board. You have to be careful where you’re placing and pulling folks! Worker color is also really important. There are three different colors and action spaces correspond to worker color, so you have to plan for that. There’s just a lot of great choices to be made in this game.

I could go on forever about the genius of Shem Phillips’ games but I would highly recommend this one. If you haven’t played a Garphill game before, these are great strategy games. This is an awesome entry point into the world of Garphill Games, all of which are incredible in my opinion. If you haven’t given this one a try, you’re missing out! You can pick up a copy of Raiders of the North Sea HERE!

Thanks for reading and happy gaming Renegades!

About the Author

Sophia Gambill is the Marketing & Sales Coordinator at Renegade Game Studios. A lover of all things tabletop games, her knowledge of the hobby aids her in spreading her passion for games to others.