Old North

Old North is an area majority game for 2-4 players. Players battle to have the most influence points after five scoring rounds by maintaining the strongest loyalties to four warring Houses in the North. In Old North, you have no armies of your own. Instead, you maintain a court (or open hand) of five nobles belonging to the four Houses to manipulate and use their armies for your benefit. On your turn, you will play a noble from your hand and perform one of over 30 unique actions and events. Playing a noble improves its House’s numbers and advantage on the board, but in turn removes its presence from your court – eliminating its ability to score points during the next scoring round. After you play a noble, its seat on your court is immediately replaced by another noble of a different House. Scoring rounds occur in two parts, consisting of dominance points (for the Houses) and influence points (for the players). First, the four Houses score dominance points based on their majorities in each location. Then, players score influence points for each noble in their court, based on where each noble’s House placed in dominance points for the round (first, second, etc.). Old North presents a delicate puzzle for players to navigate. On one hand, maintaining a court of nobles belonging to the most powerful Houses is the key to victory – but that means playing nobles of other Houses, increasing their strength on the board. Conversely, playing a noble from a dominant House improves its standing on the board, but reduces its presence in your court. An ebb and flow of gameplay quickly emerges, challenging players to balance their court and choice of actions while negotiating and building diplomacy with players of both similar and dissimilar loyalties.