Review: Nidavellir – Thingvellir

Introduction & Overview

Everywhere, the bellows of the forges and hammers striking anvils could be heard. Swords and axes were seen practicing in an unceasing dance all around. The entire realm was mobilizing, preparing to face Fafnir. The King took pride in placing his trust in his Elvalands. But secretly his heart was seething with dread… What if his clan grew weak? What if Fafnir defeated his most seasoned battalions? What if his reign were forever remembered as the one in which the Dragon subdued the elite dwarven troops? Queen Dagfid, who knew her stubborn husband well, was certain he would never beg for help. Especially not from the pretentious elves who would surely, as they had in the past, look down on them with their haughty manners and divine superiority. Nor would he ask other dwarven clans for aid, unwilling for such a gesture to be perceived as a sign of weakness. Coming from a nomadic clan, the Queen was blessed with boundless courage, especially when it came to standing by her King. He had loved her, welcomed her into his kingdom, and always treated her as his equal. Therefore, she set out one night in secret, accompanied by Idunn the Stealthy and Hourya the Elusive, to find her wandering tribe and secure their help. Several weeks later, the King, exhausted and distraught by his wife’s absence, saw a cloud of dust rising on the horizon, kicked up by long caravans and a horde of impressive mounted boars. The Queen was riding at their vanguard. The King could not believe his eyes! She had traveled beyond the realm’s arid wastelands to seek the aid of her Thingvellir tribe. The nomads pitched their camp at the foot of the castle, and all the inhabitants of the kingdom gathered to admire the might of the valiant mercenaries and the craftsmanship of their artifacts. Hope smiled upon Nidavellir once more. At last, they could give Fafnir a real fight!

This is the premise of Thingvellir, an expansion for Nidavellir designed by Serge Laget (Ad Astra, Shadows over Camelot, Mystery of the Abbey). It was first published in 2021 by GRRRE Games in a bilingual English and French edition. The illustrations are once again handled by Jean-Marie Minguez (Mare Nostrum: Empires, Mr. Jack Pocket, Lady Alice).

It is published in Spanish by Maldito Games (although the game is completely language-independent except for the rulebook). It retains the parameters of the base game, meaning games for 2 to 5 players, with a recommended minimum age of 10, and an approximate playing time of around 45 minutes. The MSRP is €15. For this review, we used a copy of the Spanish edition kindly provided by Maldito Games as a review copy.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Go to Personal Opinion

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom) measuring 15×15×3.7 cm (a small square box slightly larger than Hey, That’s My Fish!), we find the following items:

• 37 Cards (54×80 mm)
• Camp Sign (cardboard)
• 10 Class Tokens (cardboard)
• Scorepad (paper)
• Rulebook

How to Play

If you are unfamiliar with the base game, I recommend checking out the corresponding tocho-review, as many concepts explained there are referenced here. In addition to expanding the hero roster, this expansion introduces a new card type arranged at a camp. In each tavern, the player who wins the bid may choose one of these cards instead of drafting from the tavern display. These cards can be either artifacts (granting special abilities) or mercenaries whose class rank is more versatile (it can adapt to one of two types).

Key Concepts

As just mentioned, this expansion introduces Camp Cards. These cards can be obtained by winning the bid at a tavern. They come in two varieties. On the one hand, Artifacts grant a specific ongoing effect and award a designated amount of victory points. On the other hand, Mercenaries are dwarf cards that can count toward one of two classes (indicated by a split double rank in the upper-left corner). To establish which class the mercenary contributes to, small tokens are placed directly over the double rank.

Additionally, New Heroes are included to be shuffled in with those from the base game, expanding the range of available powers.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

The following steps are added to the base game setup:

• The new heroes are placed on the card holders alongside the base game heroes.
• Place the Camp tile below the Tavern tiles.
• Place the mercenary tokens on the Camp tile.
• Separate the camp cards by their card back into two decks (Age I and Age II). Shuffle them and place one deck on each side of the Camp tile.

Game Flow

The following additional rules apply:

• During round setup, in addition to laying out cards at the taverns, draw and reveal camp cards from the current Age deck until five cards are face-up. Any remaining cards from a previous round are not discarded.
• During the tavern resolution phase, the player who won the bid—that is, the first player to choose—may take a card from the camp instead of taking one from the active tavern. Once all players have drafted, any card left behind in the active tavern (due to the highest bidder taking a camp card) is discarded.
  • In two-player games, if the tavern auction winner selects a camp card, they must also discard one of the cards from that tavern.
• When transitioning between ages, discard all remaining Age I camp cards and begin drawing from the Age II camp deck.

Game End

Endgame triggers remain unchanged. Simply factor in the points provided by the new card types during final scoring.

Personal Opinion

Today we review an expansion for a game that, while perhaps not making excessive noise in our local scene, has managed to cement its status internationally, even earning an online adaptation on Board Game Arena (here is the link to the game).

If you haven’t read the tocho-review of Nidavellir, I recommend checking it out before continuing, as we will reference many concepts covered there. As always, thank you to Maldito Games for providing the review copy that makes this lengthy analysis possible.

As I have noted on occasion, expansions typically target one or more of the following goals: fixing flaws in the original game, increasing replayability and variety, or introducing new mechanics that alter the gameplay flow. This last category tends to stir up the most debate, as adding new elements to a system that already works without overcomplicating it is no easy feat. This often breeds skepticism unless the expansion simultaneously resolves underlying issues from the core box.

Such flaws are often self-inflicted by publishers aiming to monetize a design by carving it up beforehand and feeding it to us in installments. This is a risky practice because hobbyists readily notice when content has been held back, particularly when the release window between the base game and its expansion is very narrow.

With Thingvellir, we encounter an interesting situation: less than a year passed between the release of the core game and this expansion, which naturally raises eyebrows. However, because this box does not overhaul the game mechanically, we can give it the benefit of the doubt and assume it was developed after the fact.

What we get here is a two-pronged addition. First, the new hero cards simply expand the existing pool of options. More heroes mean more strategic avenues to explore. Having extra variety to choose from is always welcome, though there is little else to note regarding this straightforward addition.

Second, we have the camp cards, which add genuine flavor and provide a compelling alternative whenever a tavern display turns out unappealing. A minor drawback in the base game was encountering taverns where none of the visible cards suited your strategy. This inevitably led players to automatically drop their lowest coin there, since drafting last hardly mattered when nothing on offer was desirable.

When several players shared that same indifference, the auction lost much of its bite. Now, thanks to the camp cards, the winner of the tavern bid—the first to draft—has the option of picking one of these new cards from the auxiliary camp display instead.

These cards fall into two categories. On the one hand, mercenaries are dwarf cards capable of functioning under either of two classes (chosen by the player when drafting the card). On the other hand, artifacts act somewhat like hero cards that provide ongoing game effects and/or victory points at the end of the match.

As you can see, the core mechanics remain intact, since the tavern winner still drafts one single card; the only difference is that their available selection pool is wider. This allows a player to capitalize on an uninspiring tavern by claiming one of these new cards if it aligns with their strategy.

Overall, this is a solid expansion: it integrates seamlessly into the base game, adds virtually zero rules overhead, and fulfills its main objective of enhancing the overall experience by enriching in-game decision-making.

While the tight release schedule might raise suspicions, given the straightforward nature of the design (centered on drafting and set collection), it is entirely reasonable to think it was developed post-launch. Still, some players will inevitably feel this content was conceived alongside the base game and held back for a separate release.

It is also fair to say that this expansion is not essential to fully enjoy the base game, which is already a very well-rounded package. Does it improve it? Yes, but it is the kind of modular addition that does not drastically reshape the gameplay enough to be deemed indispensable. If the base game hits your table frequently, picking it up is an easy recommendation. If you only play it occasionally, you will hardly feel the absence of what this expansion brings.

In terms of production, the expansion matches the quality of the base game, offering cards with decent thickness, a smooth finish, and good elasticity (while retaining the uncommon card dimensions). The cardboard components are sturdy, though the die-cutting could be slightly cleaner. The rulebook is well-structured and clear, serving primarily as an index for hero and artifact effects. Visually, it maintains the distinct aesthetic of the original game, though the artifact cards feature eye-catching gold foil accents.

And let’s wrap this up. Thingvellir belongs to that class of expansions that, without disrupting the original framework, enriches the overall experience by broadening player choice, making tactical decisions far more engaging at key moments and preventing players from going on autopilot. That very subtlety can also be viewed as its main limitation, since leaving the core flow virtually untouched means it lacks a game-changing punch, particularly for groups that bring the game to the table only sporadically. However, if you play the base game regularly, it is a thoroughly rewarding expansion. For all these reasons, I give it a…