For Northwood

I grew up playing trick taking card games, Nomination Whist being my favourite as a young’un. As a result I have a real soft spot for the new wave of trick taking games, with games like Cat In the Box, Fox in the Forest and the Crew all being excellent examples of what can be done to liven up what is effectively just a pack of cards building on the foundations of great trick taking card games. Alongside my love of trick taking games, I’m also a fan of solo games, which although not for everyone, provide me with a space to relax, enjoy the quiet and try and solve the challenge that the solo game throws at me. When I heard about ‘For Northwood!’ existing as a solo trick taking game I was curious and a little dubious about how this would play out. It took Fox in the Forest to convince me that a two player trick taking game could work and so can ‘For Northwood!’ do the same in the solo space?

Setup and gameplay

In ‘For Northwood!’, your aim is to score as many points as possible by having conversations (playing tricks) with rulers of the various fiefs from the Kingdom of Northwood to unify them. Each ruler has an assigned trump suit, and are randomly assigned to the different fiefs which each show the exact number of tricks you must win to ally with that fief (and gain points based on how difficult the number of tricks was to achieve). After you have attempted a conversation with each of the fiefs you will receive a score based on how you’ve done and this will determine if you’ve won or not.

Setup is simple, place each fief out in number order and shuffle the rulers you are using and place each one out randomly against each fief. Set the four Jack cards aside as your starting ally. Each one will have an ability you can choose one of to activate once per round to provide an ability to aid in the next conversation. Shuffle the dialogue cards (standard numbered cards) and draw eight to form your hand.

To begin each conversation, turn over the top card from the draw deck and this is considered to be the ruler’s statement. You must then choose one card from your hand as a response to that statement, and you must follow suit if you are able (play a card of that suit from your hand) or if not you are able to play any card in your hand. Once your hand is empty, if you’ve achieved the number of tricks listed on the fief, you have gained that ally and can swap the ruler out for one of the allies you currently have to add more options for future rounds. Once you’ve attempted each fief, total up the points of those you were successful in and check your score to see if you’ve won. Then in my experience, you shuffle the deck and go again!

Do good things really come in small packages?

With 24 possible leaders to use with a more advanced setup once you’ve got the base game rules down, and a campaign book to boot, there is a lot to explore in this tiny package. I was completely won over by the gameplay loop and wonderful art in this game. The game is really simple to play and really leaves you wanting to just go again straight after you’ve just played through the game. Obviously as with many trick taking games there is a luck element to it, but the fact that you can choose which fief you’re going to use and the abilities of allies does allow for a degree of mitigation however I have sometimes been dealt atrocious hands when only the fiefs requiring a higher number of conversations were available and I failed miserably. The speed of the game does however mean that if you’ve failed due to the luck of the draw it’s easy to go again and hope for better luck next time around. Another challenge for those that are regular players of trick taking games is that you don’t ever get to lead a trick and are always responding to the card that has been drawn as the current statement.

For me though, I came away absolutely delighted with each play of ‘For Northwood!’. It has the broad feeling of a multiplayer trick taking game, with high variability in terms of set up with its range of leaders, and it comes in a small package meaning I’ve been able to play it easily on trains and in cafes as well as at home on the dining table. The campaign book means you have a number of challenges to keep you coming back even after you’ve worked out how to do well in the core gameplay loop with the standard setup. Even if you’re not into solo games, this could easily be your entry point although it is unlikely to win you over if you don’t like trick taking games!