Violet and the Grumpy Nisse

About this board game

Violet and the Grumpy Nisse is a two-player trick-taking game that plays in about 30 minutes. One player takes the role of Violet, while the other becomes Torech, a very grumpy nisse from Nordic folklore.

Violet is journeying through the woods to meet her friend Ordep, a friendly troll. Unfortunately, Torech has claimed the woods as his domain after being kicked out of every household in the village, and he intends to make Violet’s journey as unpleasant as possible.

Each character approaches the game differently. Violet controls the pace of the journey, choosing whether to move quickly through the landscape or stay longer to take advantage of a suit. However, she must manage her lantern and keep it fueled, while also keeping her fear under control.

Torech has less control over the game’s pacing, but he can use tricks and traps to disrupt Violet’s progress. As her fear increases, he becomes bolder and introduces more traps. Losing tricks is also far less damaging for Torech than it is for Violet, since he is the master of tricks.

• Violet advances across a map that displays her progress toward Ordep.
• Violet’s fear and Light tracks show how close Torech is to victory.
• The trump suit changes as Violet travels through different parts of the landscape.
• Most cards have special abilities that trigger only when they are not used as trump.

Violet wins by reaching the end of her journey. Torech wins if her lantern runs out of fuel or if fear overwhelms her first. With different traps appearing at different times, every game of Violet and the Grumpy Nisse can unfold in its own unsettling way.