Haithabu

About this board game

Haithabu is a trading and strategy game for 2–4 players, with play lasting about 90 minutes. Set in the Viking settlement of Haithabu—known as Hedeby in English—the game brings players into a world of commerce, changing powers, and growing Christianization.

Located at the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, Haithabu stood on trade routes linking Scandinavia and the Frankish Empire. Goods arrived from across the known world, including the Baltics, Baghdad, and Constantinople. In the game, players take the role of Vikings trading with this wide-ranging network while living through the upheavals and dark days at the end of the Early Middle Ages.

Each turn, players perform an individual action using an action rondel. The central challenge is not simply choosing what to do, but deciding when to do it: during each round, each color of action can be selected only once. This creates a tightly timed system in which one decision can affect the opportunities that remain.

• Trade with the known world in the setting of Viking-era Haithabu.
• Use the action rondel to select individual actions.
• Plan around the once-per-round availability of each action color.
• React to changing market prices and complications caused by event dice.

Market prices can shift as play unfolds, requiring players to respond to a changing commercial environment. Event dice can introduce further complications, ensuring that plans must account for more than the action rondel alone.

Against this backdrop, Haithabu reflects a settlement shaped by constant wars, changes of power, and progressive Christianization. Its historical story ultimately ends in 1050, when the Norwegian king sacked and burned the town during a conflict with Denmark.