by: Michael Barnes

Z-Man Games’ new co-op title, Yggdrasil, makes a great first impression with striking artwork and a cool Norse myth setting. Components are strikingly minimal- there aren’t even on-board representations of the six gods that the players control. The board depicts the titular tree of life and its nine different realms with each representing one of the different actions the gods can take in their attempt to defend Asgard from a siege lain by six malign figures from the canon such as Loki, Nidhogg, and Jormungand. Detail is surprisingly high as Valkyries patrol the lands of Midgard to collect the souls of dead Vikings, the Vanir and elves are on hand to assist the defenders of Asgard, dwarves forge magical weapons, and giants of both the frost and fire varieties provide resistance.

The rules are simple, and the game can be explained to a table of new players in less than 10 minutes. Each god, in turn, gets to take three of the actions presented by the tree. The central action takes place on a linear Asgard track and tokens representing the six monsters are moved forward by a once-a-turn card activation and each has a special function that affects the gods and their efforts. There are several losing conditions focused around how far along the monsters get on the track; the gods win if the activation deck runs out and the monsters haven’t won. There is a dice-based combat mechanic whereby the gods can beat the baddies back with the help of Vikings, elves, and the weapons crafted by dwarves.

The game offers a couple of compelling mechanics. In particular, the method of harvesting Viking souls is interesting and offers some interesting decision making. The Valkyrie token can move from island to island in Midgard when it is activated, and each island is color coded to a bag containing a mixture of Viking and Fire Giant tokens. When a god chooses the Midgard action he or she gets to draw tokens out of the corresponding bag, keeping the Vikings (effectively expendable +1 combat tokens) and returning the Fire Giants to the bag. Another action lets players fight the Fire Giants, removing them from the bag and fixing the ratio in the gods’ favor.

The Frost Giants are also a neat function, activated by Loki and providing a global effect while they are in play. When a god defeats one in combat, the card is set aside. Each has a fourth of a rune on it, and when the gods collect a matching set of four then a positive global effect occurs. It’s simple, straightforward mechanics like this that make the game appealing, easy to play, and enjoyable. It just doesn’t work as a multiplayer game.

Played solo, the game completely works and it bears more than a passing resemblance to the kind of gameplay that the Victory Point States of Siege games offer but with more theme and somewhat more dimension with the various god powers and game-altering effects. I’ve left my solo games pleased with the strategy and decision-making and level of challenge. When you play this kind of thing by yourself, it doesn’t really matter that it’s largely mechanical and that the game never generates the kind of asymmetrical, situational codependency and delegation of tasks that mark the best co-op games.

With a larger group of players, issues become clearer. The lack of an on-board presence- a figure, a token, or even action markers- creates a detached feeling and a lack of identification. There really isn’t any sense of urgency, but worse is that there isn’t anything at risk on a turn-to-turn level. Losing a battle against a monster or Frost Giant simply has no effect and spending Vikings or elves in a battle is an easily recouped cost. There aren’t any “we need this die roll or we lose” moments, they’re all “if we flip this card and it’s this monster, we die” ones.