Vendel to Viking is the first board game being launched in the partnership between World Book and Ion Game Design.  For more than 100 years, World Book has been the world’s premier reference source, and stands for trust and expansive knowledge covering almost every subject imaginable. 

Vendel to Viking transports you to a time of upheaval and opportunity, as the mighty Roman Empire has fallen and Europe’s future is being forged. Set in the Vendel Era (550–790 CE), the precursor to the Viking Age, you’ll lead a powerful family striving for dominance. Develop your influence, expand your reach, and prepare for the dawn of the Viking Age in this strategic game for 1-6 players.

Vendel to Viking and Pax Viking can be played as a campaign. The end state of Vendel to Viking will interface with the starting state of a game of Pax Viking. Because of this, Vendel to Viking contains a few new Pax Viking components. These can also be used in Pax Viking regardless of if it is played as a part of a campaign.

You represent a family in one of the Nordic cultures that evolves into one of the prominent families of the Viking era. Each turn represents a generation and you seek to include the best formidable persons in your family as you evolve from generation to generation. You place family members on the map and use them for accessing different effects in various locations, such as worker actions or for even elevating them into a formidable person. When elevated to status, the family member is linked to a character card taken from a market and moved to an achievement tree. The Character goes to your family board and both their presence in the achievement tree and on the family board affects your family’s opportunities for the rest of the game.

You must plan well before the centuries run out! The first to hold two Future-level achievements in the achievement tree wins. If no player manages to do so before a set number of turns, the one with the most points wins.

In addition to having a robust Solo Mode, the end state of Vendel to Viking will interface with the starting state of a game of Pax Viking making it possible to play the two games as a Campaign.