2021 · Fantasy
For Northwood! A Solo Trick-Taking Game
A solo hand-management and precision trick-taking game about negotiating alliances with eight animal rulers over eight rounds. Each ruler corresponds to a suit that acts as trump for that fief and demands an exact number of tricks to join the alliance, forcing careful play as options narrow. Players begin with four allies whose one-use abilities (draw, discard, manipulate cards) help shape each hand; won rulers can be recruited temporarily to provide different abilities for later visits. Games use 12 of 24 possible rulers and a scenario booklet to vary difficulty and objectives across sessions.
- Players
- 1
- Playing time
- 15–30 min
- Age
- 12+
- Complexity
- 1.8 / 5
About the game
- Design
- Art
- Publishers
Photos from Ludoya tables
All photos in Ludoya
Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 693
- Plays logged
- 108
- Players
- 26m 13s
- Average play
- 126
- In collections
- 14
- On wishlists
- 1
- Pre-ordered
7.7/10
from 50 Ludoya reviews
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
Do I have to follow suit when the ruler plays a card?
Yes — your response must be of the same suit as the ruler’s statement if able; you may only play any card when you cannot follow suit. (p.9; examples p.10)
How do I score during a dialogue — what counts as a point?
You score if your response is a higher card of the same suit as the ruler’s statement, or if the ruler’s statement doesn’t match the ruler card’s suit but your response does (the trump). (p.9)
When can I use an ally ability, and how many can I use?
Before each ruler’s statement you may activate up to one ally by exhausting it; resolve the ability fully when used, and all allies reset after the visit ends. (p.11; reset p.12)
If I bring in friendly rulers as substitutes but don’t use them, do they stay or go?
Remove all substitutes you brought in from the game at the end of the visit whether or not you used their abilities. (p.12)
Can I end a visit early, or when does a visit actually end?
A visit ends immediately when either your hand or the deck is empty; you cannot end visits early and you may not activate abilities after the visit ends. (p.11)
Do I have to match the fief's target score exactly to win the ruler?
Yes — at the end of the visit count the cards in your score pile: if it equals the fief’s target score the ruler becomes friendly, otherwise the ruler is removed and the fief is flipped facedown. (p.6; p.12)
Free, on web, Android and iOS
Play For Northwood! A Solo Trick-Taking Game with Ludoya
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.