King’s Table: The Legend of Ragnarok
| Developer: Imagitec | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Gametek | Sound: |
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| Year: 1993 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Strategy | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 2 alternating | Rating: |
6/10 | |
Also known as Ragnarok, this is a sort of chess variant steeped in Viking legends. It’s based on hnefatafl, an ancient board game of Scandinavian or British origin dating back to the early Middle Ages.
Very pretty. But why do they feel the need to saddle us with an incomprehensible interface? Why not let us move the pieces using the mouse? And why on earth give the game three different names?
I’ll attempt to explain the rules succinctly. There are two sides: the white pieces in the centre, whose objective is to get their “king” (Odin) to one of the board’s corners; and the black pieces, whose task is to block him by cutting off his routes using their pawns.
A piece is captured by sandwiching it between two opposing pieces, either vertically or horizontally (not diagonally). Some more significant pieces need to be surrounded on three or even four sides to be taken.
The pawns move any number of spaces along an orthogonal line (like a rook in chess) but cannot leap over obstacles.
Special pieces representing characters from Norse mythology have unique behaviours, which you’ll figure out while playing (Press “I” for some information on the selected piece and “M” to see its range of movement).
Captures are accompanied by mini-dialogues and amusing little animations, though these interruptions quickly become irritating, and you’ll likely want to turn them off. Speaking of options, I couldn’t determine how to rotate the board—an annoying oversight when the larger pieces obscure the spaces behind them.
In conclusion, this is an engaging and straightforward strategy game. I just find it a shame that they’ve poured so much effort into the presentation while skimping on ergonomics and clarity.
On emulation sites, you’ll find this game under the letter “L” (Legend of Ragnarok). The version I tested crashes regularly. Perhaps you’ll have better luck with the German one…
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