How to Play Hnefatafl
The Viking game: get the king to a corner, or close in on him.
Hnefatafl is the board game of the Viking Age, played across Scandinavia and the Norse world for centuries before chess reached it, and it is unequal by design: on an eleven-by-eleven board, twenty-four attackers surround a king and his twelve defenders. The defenders win if the king reaches a corner; the attackers win if they capture him. Every piece moves like a rook, captures are made by sandwiching, and the app plays the Copenhagen rules — shieldwall, edge fort and encirclement included. Play it offline against the computer at three levels, or online on a clock, on the materials of the eight boards.
Ways to play Hnefatafl
Against the computer
Pick your side and a level — Easy, Medium or Hard — and play Hnefatafl offline. The game is kept in your browser, exactly where you left it.
Online, on a clock
Create a board, choose your color, set a clock from one minute to sixty — or none at all — and share the code. Only the side to move has their clock running.
In 2D or 3D
Lay the board flat or stand it up. Every piece rises onto its square, and you can flip between them mid-game.
Seven boards, seven sets
Classic felt, Renaissance marble, Stone Age sandstone, Ice Age glacier, Jurassic amber, a Crustacean tide pool and a medieval chamber — changed while you play.
🎯 Objective
Defenders: bring the king to any of the four corners, or build an unbreakable fort for him on the edge. Attackers: capture the king, or ring in the king and every defender so that none can reach the edge. A side with no legal move has lost.
🎲 Hnefatafl setup
- The board is eleven squares by eleven. The center square is the throne and the four corner squares are the king’s refuges; the app marks all five.
- The king starts on the throne with his twelve defenders in a diamond around him.
- The twenty-four attackers start in four groups of six, one at the middle of each edge.
- Choose your side — attackers or defenders — and the engine’s level — Easy, Medium or Hard — or create an online board and set the clock. The attackers (black) move first.
▶ How to play Hnefatafl
- Every piece moves any number of empty squares along a row or column, like a rook; nothing jumps.
- Only the king may stop on the throne or on a corner. Any piece may pass over the empty throne.
- You capture a piece by moving so that it is caught between your piece and another of yours on opposite sides, or between your piece and a corner, or between your piece and the empty throne. Only the piece that moved captures; a piece that moves between two enemies is safe.
- The king is armed: he takes part in captures like any other piece. The king on the throne is simply a defender; it is the empty throne that is hostile to both sides.
- Shieldwall: a row of two or more pieces along the edge, each with an enemy directly in front of it, is captured whole when an enemy closes the row at its end; a corner may close one end. A king in the row is not taken, but the defenders beside him are.
- The king is captured only when attackers stand on all four sides of him, or on three with the throne on the fourth. The edge of the board does not count as a side.
- The king escapes the moment he stands on a corner. He also wins from the edge in a fort the attackers can never break, with room to move inside it.
- The same position for a third time is a loss for the defenders: they may not hold a draw by repeating.
🎬 Watch: How to Play Hnefatafl
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📖 Detailed guide
The board and the pieces
- Eleven by eleven, with the throne in the center and four corner refuges. Twenty-four attackers against a king and twelve defenders — two to one, which the king’s escape routes balance.
- Everything moves like a rook: any distance, in a straight line, through empty squares only. There is no promotion and no special piece but the king.
- Only the king may stand on the throne or a corner, so those five squares are walls to everyone else — but any piece may slide across the empty throne.
- The attackers move first. In the app they are black, the defenders white, and your seat decides which you play.
Capturing
- Custodial capture: move so that an enemy is caught between the piece you moved and another of your pieces, directly opposite. A piece that walks into a sandwich of its own accord is not taken.
- The corners and the empty throne count as your piece for a capture, for both sides. The throne with the king on it does not.
- The king captures like any other piece, and may be one end of the sandwich.
- The shieldwall takes a whole row of pieces along the edge at once: two or more, each with an enemy in front, bracketed at both ends by an enemy or a corner. A king in the row survives it.
How a game ends
- King on a corner — the defenders win at once.
- Edge fort — the king on the edge, with at least one square to move to, inside a ring of defenders the attackers can never break, is a win for the defenders. The app judges the fort cautiously: it declares only a fort it can prove, and a fort that holds only through tempo or the king’s own captures plays on.
- King captured — attackers on all four sides, or three sides and the throne — or encirclement, the king and every defender shut off from the edge with no way out: the attackers win.
- A side with no legal move has lost. The same position for a third time is a loss for the defenders. On a timed board, a clock that runs out loses.
Offline, online and the clock
- Offline you choose attackers or defenders and the engine’s level. The game is kept in your browser until you end it, and Undo takes back your move and the engine’s reply.
- Online you create a hnefatafl board, choose attackers, defenders or a random draw, set a clock from one to sixty minutes — or none — and share the code or an invite link.
- Only the clock of the side to move runs. A clock that runs out loses the game.
- The board uses the materials of the eight chess boards, in 2D or tilted into 3D, with the throne and the corners marked. Hnefatafl is rated and recorded as its own game.
🏁 How Hnefatafl is won
The defenders win when the king reaches a corner, or stands on the edge in a fort the attackers can never break with at least one square to move in. The attackers win when the king is captured — four attackers round him, or three and the throne — or when the king and every defender are shut off from the edge. A side with no legal move has lost, and a position repeated three times loses for the defenders. On a timed board, a player whose clock runs out loses.
❓ Hnefatafl — frequently asked questions
How many players do you need for Hnefatafl?
Hnefatafl is played by 2. Seats you do not fill are taken by the computer, so a game always starts.
Where can I play Hnefatafl?
In your browser at play.vanikar.games, on a computer, a tablet or a phone. Sign in with the same Vanikar™ account you use for the card games.
Is Hnefatafl included in my subscription?
Yes. One Card Games by Vanikar™ subscription covers the card games, Chess & Checkers and the board games, and every game released after them.
Does Hnefatafl have ads?
No. No Vanikar™ game has ever carried advertising, and none ever will.
Which rules of hnefatafl does the app play?
Copenhagen hnefatafl on the 11×11 board: 24 attackers against a king and 12 defenders, corner escape, an armed king captured by 4 attackers or 3 and the throne, hostile corners and empty throne, the shieldwall, the edge fort, encirclement, and a repeated position lost by the defenders. The edge fort is judged cautiously — the app declares only a fort it can prove.
Who moves first in hnefatafl?
The attackers, who are black in the app. The defenders, white, move second and have the king.
Can the king capture pieces?
Yes. In Copenhagen rules the king is armed: he can be one end of a sandwich like any other piece. He himself is taken only when attackers stand on all 4 sides of him, or on 3 with the throne on the 4th.
Is hnefatafl included in my subscription?
Yes. Hnefatafl is part of Chess & Checkers by Vanikar™, which a Card Games by Vanikar™ subscription includes. Play it in your browser at play.vanikar.games with the same account.