Saxon Games
This site pulls together various resources for the quasi-historical Anglo-Saxon board games I've made.
Overview
I've made up my own games since I was a child. Most of them were simply a way to pass time and have long since been forgotten; some, like Claim the Crown, had limited physical availability. Along the way, I began to delve into making abstract strategy games. As a fan of Hnefatafl, I wanted to name my games using Anglo-Saxon words as an alternative to Old Norse and to lend a quasi-historical feel to them. All the games falling under this umbrella utilize the same 7x7 grid because, if they were historical, it might make sense for people to reuse an existing board, much like chess and checkers. As a supporter of free culture, my games are available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license with the software-based versions also being copyleft.
Mǽrstánas
The word mǽrstánas is the plural form of mǽrstán, an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) word that means "a boundary-stone". (Source)
Game Rules
Play Online
- Multiplayer game platform (Python/Django based) - Live Site | Source Code
- 1-player or 2-player (local) (Python/Flask based) - Live Site | Source Code
- 1-player game ( JavaScript-based) - Live Site | Source Code
Oferhlýp
The word oferhlýp is an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) word meaning "A leap across or over, a bound". (Source)
Oferhlýp is an abstract strategy game played between two players on a 7x7 grid where the objective is to try to eliminate the opponent's king via jumping attacks while protecting one's own king. On the surface, gameplay is similar to checkers (draughts). However, there are several differences:
- Tokens may move in any direction rather than just forwards diagonally
- A player's own pieces may be jumped to create a more dynamic game
- Tokens must be jumped twice before they are removed from the board
- Each player has a king token that must be captured to end the game
Oferhlýp is my oldest "Anglo-Saxon game" and was created in 2013 while working on another game, Claim the Crown, which incorporated the concept of tokens with two hit points, but featured various types of Middle Ages themed units, like spearmen and archers, and replaced jump attacks with dice rolling combat. Oferhlýp is a purer abstract interpretation of that game with a focus on strategy over luck.
Game Rules
Play Online
- 1-player or 2-player (local) (Python/Flask based) - Live Site | Source Code
Cyngesheall
The word cyngesheall is an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) word meaning "king's hall". (1 2)
Cyngesheall is my newest game, being conceived in late 2024. It, too, uses a 7x7 grid. However, instead of "checkers with hit points" or making connections with stones, Cyngesheall take more direct inspiration from Hnefatafl. Aside from the setup, the primary differentiation is that the number of player pieces is even instead of asymmetrical, and each player has a king, which must reach the opposite corner rather than an edge. It currently features the same stones as Mǽrstánas but uses them in a completely different manner.