Hnefatafl

This app lets you play all the variants: four-piece(popular) or two-piece(historically accurate) king capture, board size from 7x7 all the way up to 19x19, different initial positions, edge or corner escape, neutral or hostile throne and/or corner squares…, so you can play the variant you think is best and most fun! There are AI opponents that play the 7x7 well, but tend to be weak on larger board sizes. Fortunately however the real value of this app, is that it is popular enough to be able to play real humans from all over the world in real time(10, 20 or 30 minutes) or with correspondence time controls(1day, 2day, 1week etc). Plus there are ongoing tournaments of different variants, often with 64 participants.

I love this version of Hnefatafl. It is so refined and makes learning and playing this classic game easy and fun. However, there is a major flaw that could be easily corrected by the designer. For example, when playing in online matches, where one player fails to move, there should be an automatic feature that forfeits their game. I’ve had several matches where my opponents just stop playing in the middle of the match, and there is no way to end these games then. They’re basically paused forever. The designer should build in an automatic forfeiture feature if an opponent fails to move after maybe 2 weeks.

This is by far the best platform. The developer takes great care to provide feedback and has created a masterful platform to learn and play this amazing game. I teach my young children every day and they are so eager to play, I can get them to do their homework every night with the promise of a game! The online system is incredible. We eagerly anticipate seeing the next move. Ample and customizable times are given. There is a planning mode that allows you to play through various scenarios and replay past matches so you can learn where you went wrong and really improve your skill. Our family has become true devotees to the learning and sharing the game with colleagues and friends. Even sculpting and building our own sets and using the app alongside actual boards to take advantage of the planning mode to gain skill and practice. For those who are just discovering this game, it is a REAL historical ANCIENT game with a rich history. I would recommend to anyone lucky enough to chance upon it to do a little reading on the history and origins. The time spent doing this is far more valuable than just about any other activity we commonly use our phones for now a days. The game play has a simplicity which makes it easy to gain an adequate level of proficiency in a far shorter time than chess for example, but the strategies required are complex and exciting enough to satisfy ones intellectual needs. And knowing that this was played and developed by our ancient ancestors makes it even more amazing. The built in AI is excellent for learning winning patterns and strategies and are fully customizable. This particular app allows for all the possible multitude of historical variations. Online play is simple to navigate and takes the excitement to a high level even including rankings and tournaments.