Nidavellir
Nidavellir, the Dwarf Kingdom, is threatened by the dragon Fafnir. As a venerable Elvaland, you have been appointed by the King. Search through every tavern in the kingdom, hire the most skillful dwarves, recruit the most prestigious heroes, and build the best battalion you can to defeat your mortal enemy!
Each turn in Nidavellir, bid a coin on each tavern. In descending order, choose a character and add this character to your army. Each dwarf class has its own scoring way: blacksmith, hunter, warrior, explorer, and miner. A meticulous recruitment will allow you to attract a powerful hero to your army.
You will also be able to increase the value of your gold coins thanks to the smart 'coin-building' system, and get the best of the other Elvalands.
Number of players: 2 - 5
Game duration: 23 mn
Complexity: 2 / 5
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Play Nidavellir and 943 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
For tips on how to play nidavellir, see Tips_nidavellir
Game Components
Cards:
- 20 Blacksmith cards
- 16 Hunter cards
- 16 Explorer cards
- 18 Warrior cards
- 16 Miner cards
- 1 Special Blacksmith card (Blacksmith Distinction)
- 5 Distinction cards
- 5 Royal Offering cards
- 21 Hero cards
Gold Coins:
- Base coins: 0×5 2×5 3×5 4×5 5×5
- 1 special coin 3 (Hunter Distinction)
- 34 Royal Treasure coins: 5×2 6×2 7×3 8×2 9×3 10×2 11×3 12×2 13×2 14×2 15×1 16×1 17×1 18×1 19×1 20×1 21×1 22×1 23×1 24×1 25×1
Gems:
- 5 Basic gems: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- 1 Special gem 6 (Miner Distinction)
Setup
- each player gets the 5 basic coins
- gems are distributed randomly
- 5 players → gems: 1 2 3 4 5
- 4 players → gems: 2 3 4 5
- 3 players → gems: 3 4 5
- 2 players → gems: 4 5
- tavern signs are placed on the table
- Hero cards can be viewed by clicking on the 6 colored arrow like stripe on the left
- Distinction cards can be viewed by ...
- coins are put in the Royal Treasure
- cards marked with (5) are removed from the game, if there are less then 5 players
- Age 1 cards are shuffled
- Age 2 cards are shuffled
Player Turn
- Enter the Dwarves: Dwarf cards equal to the number of players are placed below each tavern sign (this is automatic)
- Bids: Assign one of your 5 coins - face down - to each of the 3 taverns.
- Resolve each tavern one by one: Turn over only the coins assigned to the tavern currently being resolved.
- Bid Revelation: The tokens placed by each player to the current tavern is revealed automatically.
- Choose a card: The active player takes a Dwarf or Royal Offering card.
- Recruit a Hero: If active player just filled up a new row, they can take a hero card.
- Replace coins: If active player played 0, add up the values of the 2 coins in your pouch, and replace the bigger with the coin showing the sum.
- Royal Offering: Add the offering value to any one of your non-zero coins - including one assigned to a tavern that has not yet been resolved - and replace that coin with one of the resulting value from the Royal Treasure chest. If the replaced coin originally came from the chest, put it back there, otherwise return it to the game box. If you change the coin that you assigned to the current tavern, the original coin value still applies when deciding whether and how to swap jewels.
End of Age 1: Troop Evaluation
Majorities for the different classes are awarded the Distinction cards. If two or more players tie for a class, then no-one is awarded the Distinction:
- The King's Hand: Majority of Warriors Add +5 to one of your coins.
- Hunting Master: Majority of Hunters Trade your 0 coin for a special coin with a value of 3.
- Crown Jeweler: Majority of Miners Gain special value 6 Gem. Does not get traded, you will always win ties. +3 to Final Bravery Value.
- King's Great Armorer: Majority of Blacksmiths Gain special Blacksmith worth 2 ranks. May trigger recruitment of a Hero card.
- Pioneer of the Kingdom: Majority of Explorers Draw 3 cards from Age 2 deck, keep 1. Gain benefit accordingly.
End of Age 2: End of Game
When all Age 2 cards have been taken total your Final Bravery Value:
- Your Bravery Value for each class
- The Bravery Value on each Neutral Hero in your Command Zone
- The total value of your gold coins.
- Specific Bonuses:
- Special value 6 gem gains +3 to Bravery Value
- Having the most ranks in Warriors will allow you to add your highest value coin a second time.
List of Heroes
Basic Game (Neutral Heroes)
- Astrid: Worth points equal to your highest coin.
- Dwerg: Worth 13, 40, 81, 108 or 135 points depend on the numbers.
- Grid: Worth 7 points. Add 7 to one of your coins.
- Skaa: Worth 17 points.
- Thrud: Worth 13 points. Move her to any column when she is about to be covered. Remove from columns before scoring.
- Uline: Worth 9 points. Place coins last. When trading, choose any 2 coins from your hand.
- Ylud: 11 points if explorer, 7 points if warrior and 1 point if miner. Move him to any column after each round.
Basic Game (Ranked Heroes)
- Aegur (Blacksmith): 2 ranks.
- Bonfur (Blacksmith): 3 ranks. Discard a dwarf.
- Hourya (Explorer): Worth 20 points. Can only be recruited with at least 5 explorer ranks.
- Idunn (Explorer): Worth 7 points plus 2 points for each explorer rank.
- Aral (Hunter): 2 ranks.
- Dagda (Hunter) 3 ranks. Discard 2 dwarves of different ranks.
- Lokdur (Miner): 1 rank of 3.
- Zoral (Miner): 3 ranks of 1, 0 and 0.
- Kraal (Warrior): 2 ranks of 7 and 0.
- Tarah (Warrior): 1 rank of 14.
Thingvellir
- Andumia: Worth 12 points. You can take a card from the discard pile.
- Holda: Worth 12 points. Choose an artifact or a mercenary from the camp.
- Khrad: Worth 4 points. Immediately add 10 to your lowest value coin (except trading coin).
- Jarika: Worth 8 points. Add 2 for all coin tradings or transformations.
- Olwyn: Worth 9 points. Put his two doubles in your army. They are 0 points but worth 1 rank.
- Zolkur: Worth 10 points. Trade the lower coin instead of the higher in your next coin trade.
Expansions
Thingvellir Expansion
- Instead of recruiting a dwarf, the highest bidder can take a magic artifact or a mercenary from the camp.
- All magic artifacts apply immediately, including any bad effects.
- All merceniaries are placed in the command zone when bought. It can take either of the 2 classes listed on it.
- At the end of each tavern resolvation, discard any dwarves left.
- At the end of each round, the player with the lowest gem can choose to place mercenaries first or last.
- Then, each player places all of their merceniaries in their army, potentially recruiting heroes.
List of Thingvellir Artifacts
- Brisingamens: Immediately take 2 cards from the discard pile. At the end of the game, discard a dwarf.
- Draupnir: Score 6 points for each coin value at least 15.
- Fafnir Baleygr: You can go to the camp if the highest bidder didn't go to the camp.
- Gjallarhorn: Immediately recruit a hero. However, it counts towards your hero count.
- Hofud: All opponents choose a warrior to discard.
- Megingjord: Score 28 points. You can no longer recuit heroes by making rank lines.
- Hrafnsmerki: Score 5 points for each mercenary.
- Jarnglofi: Score 24 points. Immediately discard your trading coin. If it is placed in an unresolved tavern, take no cards in it.
- Mjollnir: At the end of the game, choose a class. Score 2 points for each rank in that class.
- Svalinn: Score 5 points for each hero.
- Vegvisir: Counts as a 13 point explorer.
- Vidofnir & Vedrfolnir: Add 2 and 3 to each of the coins in your pouch. If one of them is the trading coin, add 5 to the other.
Idavoll Expansion
The publisher advises that you play one or two games with the base game + Idavoll before adding Thingvellir to allow you to adapt your game strategy accordingly. Idavoll adds a deck of powerful mythology cards (Animals, Gods, Valkyries & Giants) to the game which are bid for in age 1. Age 1 therefore has an additional round with this expansion: 5 rounds at 2-3 players and 4 rounds with 4-5 players
During the 3 first rounds of Age 1, the second tavern contains the new mythology cards:
- Mythological animals strengthen your class columns: As soon as you recruit a Mythical Animal, place it in your army in the matching class.
- The power of the Norse Gods may be triggered once in the game: As soon as you recruit one of the gods, put the card in your Command Zone with 1 Power token on it. You may activate his or her ability once in a game by discarding the Power Token of the matching God card.
- Giants capture Dwarves to trigger their power: As soon as you have recruited a Giant, put it in the Command Zone and place 1 Capture token at the bottom of the column of the matching class. Each Giant card requires you to capture one Dwarf of a specific class. During an upcoming recruitment, if you recruit a Dwarf of this class, you can choose between capturing the Dwarf card or placing it in your Army. If you capture the Dwarf card, the effect of the Giant triggers immediately and discard the matching Capture token. If you place the Dwarf card in your Army, turn the Giant card face down and discard the matching Capture Token. They will no longer have any effect throughout the game.
- Valkyries increase their strength with specific requirements: As soon as you recruit a Valkyrie, put her in your Command Zone and place 1 Strength token on the highest notch of the card. Each time you meet the requirements described on the Valkyrie, move the Strength token down one notch.
- There is an additional scoring round after Age 2 for the powers of the creatures
List of Mythological Animals
- Durathor: Has 1 Hunter rank.Reduces the discard effect of Dagda by one card. (Note: in other words, if you own Durathor, Dagda will only discard 1 card instead of 2 when she arrives in your army)
- Garm: Has 2 Explorer ranks. Adds 9 and 0 points to your Explorer Bravery Value + 1 point per rank present in the Explorer column, including his own. If you win the Explorer Distinction: draw 6 cards from the Age 2 deck (instead of 3) and keep 1.
- Hreasvelg: Has 1 Blacksmith rank. Take the special card Gullinbursti and place it in the column of your choice.
- Nidhogg: Has 1 Warrior rank. Adds 5 points to your Warrior Bravery Value +2 points per rank present in the Warrior column, including his own.
- Ratatosk: Has 1 Miner rank. Adds 2 points to your Miner Bravery Value. When determining the Bravery Value for each class, each pair of 0 point rank adds 1 point to the Miner Bravery Value before the multiplication by the amount of ranks.
List of Norse Gods
- Frigg: When you choose a Dwarf card or a Royal Offering in the Tavern being resolved, place 1 of the cards below the deck to draw 3 cards from the current Age deck and keep 1. Put the 2 remaining cards under the deck in the order of your choice. You will then know 3 cards of the last Tavern of this Age. Adds 12 points to your final Bravery Value.
- Thor: When a discard effect should trigger, you can cancel it. In the base game, this effect works on the discard effect of Bonfur, on 1 of the discard effects of Dagda. In Thingvellir, it works on the Brisingamen and on Hofud. Adds 8 points to your final Bravery Value.
- Freya: At the end of THE ENTRANCE OF THE DWARVES and before the biddings, you may swap one card in a tavern with a card in another tavern. Loki has priority on the ability of Freya. Adds 15 points to your final Bravery Value.
- Loki: At the end of the entrance of the Dwarves and before the biddings, you ca place the Power token of Loki on 1 card of your choice to reserve that card. No one but you can recruit this card. In the end, if you recruited another card in the Tavern than the chosen card, discard the Power token of Loki at the end of your turn. Adds 8 points to your final Bravery Value.
- Odin: At the end of your turn, you may put one of your Neutral Heroes back in the reserve and recruit another Neutral Hero instead. Then, possibly apply the effect of the newly recruited Hero. Adds 0 points to your final Bravery Value.
List of Giants
- Skymir: Capture the next Hunter card you recruit to draw 5 Mythology cards from the cards next to the Royal Treasure and keep 2. Put the 3 remaining cards under the Mythology card deck next to the Royal Treasure.
- Surt: Capture the next Warrior card you recruit. This will allow you, at the end of the game, to add to your final Bravery Value the value of your highest coin. Note: if you own the majority of Warriors at the end of the game and that you have activated Surt, you will add twice the value of your highest coin to your final Bravery Value
- Gymir: Capture the next Explorer card you recruit to earn 3 times its Bravery Value when counting the final Bravery Value.
- Hrungnir: Capture the next Miner card you recruit to transform immediately each of your coins with +2. This effect does not apply to the trading coins (0 or Special 3). Apply the transformations in the order of your board, starting with the coin for the Laughing Goblin to the coins in your pouch, first the one on the left, then the one on the right. All the basic rules for coin transformation are to be applied as usual.
- Thrivaldi: Capture the next Blacksmith card you recruit to immediately recruit a Hero card. This card does not count in the number of Hero cards you own according to the number of completed lines you have
List of Valkyries
- Brynhildr: Each time you win a bid and that you can choose first during the resolution of a Tavern, move down one notch the Strength token on this Valkyrie. (Strength track : 0 - 3 - 6 - 10 - 16)
- Hildr: During Troop Evaluation, for each Distinction you are awarded, move down one notch the Strength token on this Valkyrie. (Strength track : 0 - 8 - 16 - 0)
- Ölrun: As soon as you place Ölrun in your Command Zone, place 1 Class token on her. Each time you recruit a card with at least a rank of the chosen class in your Army, move down one notch the Strength token on this Valkyrie. (Strength track : 0 - 3 - 6 - 10 - 16)
- Sigrdrífa: Each time you recruit a Hero card, regardless of how, move down one notch the Strength token on this Valkyrie. (Strength track : 0 - 0 - 8 - 16)
- Svafa: Each time you realise a betterment while trading or transforming a coin, move down one notch the Strength token on this Valkyrie per point of betterment. (Strength track : 0 - 4 - 8 - 16)
Card Distribution
The Age I and Age II decks contain the following card distribution. The parts in [] are only used in a 5 player game.
- 8 [10] Blacksmith cards: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, [x, x]
- 6 [8] Hunter cards: x, x, x, x, x, x, [x, x]
- 7 [8] Explorer cards: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, [12]
- 8 [9] Warrior cards: 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, [10]
- 6 [8] Miner cards: 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, [0, 1]
There are also cards that allow you to add value to a coin (except your trading coin):
- Age I has 1 [2] cards which give +3 to any coin
- Age II has 2 [3] cards which give +5 to any coin