Idavoll – Jawohl! for Nidavellir’s Second Expansion

Idavoll is the second expansion for the popular Nidavellir, a bidding/set collection game from GRRRE Games. Nidavallir is designed by French designer Serge Laget, and is perfect for 2-5 players age ten and up.

For a game to have two expansions in just two years suggests the original game must be good (we agree). Does Idavoll‘s addition of Mythology cards (Giants, Mythical animals, Aesir (Norse gods), and Valkyrie) help the original game, or just add unnecessary clutter?  Let’s see.

Gameplay

We didn’t review the original Nidavellir, so for the purposes of this review, we’ll briefly highlight the key points of gameplay.

In Nidavellir, players draft cards to build an army. In each round, players make three bids against rows (Taverns) from their five total coins (starting values = 0, 2, 3, 4, 5) to recruit Dwarfs from three rows (Taverns). The zero coin is special; if a player bids zero, they upgrade the value of the highest coin they didn’t bid with. This mechanic allows players’ coins to get progressively more powerful.

Players reveal bids, one Tavern at a time, from the top to the bottom. In each Tavern, players choose a dwarf to add to their army in order from first choice (highest bid) to last choice (lowest bid).

Dwarfs come in five different colors (Classes) which each score differently. At mid-game (between “Age One” and “Age Two”) special powers called Distinctions are awarded to whoever has the most Dwarfs in each of the five Classes. These might allow a player to upgrade some coins, get an extra Dwarf for their army, etc. At the end of “Age Two”, players sum the value of their Dwarf army and add their coins. The highest score wins.

The big kicker is this: every time a player completes a set of one of each Class rank, they recruit a special Hero Dwarf. These special Dwarfs are varied and powerful.

Idavoll takes the special Heroes and powers from Nidavellir and adds an extra layer of the same with a variety-pack of special Mythology cards.

Setup Changes

Instead of the second Tavern (the Dragon Tavern) having normal Dwarf cards to bid on, players instead bid for their choice from a row of special powerful Mythology cards. This only happens for the first three rounds of the game. All of the Age One cards are still used, which extends Age One by an extra round.

Game Play Changes

Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the changes in this game are from these Mythology cards:

MYTHICAL ANIMALS

Add these to your Dwarf army for more ranks and bravery points in the specified class.

• Durathor (Green) – One Rank, and reduces negative effect of the Green Hero Dagda.
• Garm (Blue) – Two Ranks. +1 Point per Blue rank. Draw three more cards if the player wins the Blue Distinction at mid-game.
• Hreasvelg (Purple) – One Rank. Add another wild-card animal rank of any Class.
• Nidhogg (Red) – One Rank worth five points. +2 points per Red rank.
• Ratatosk (Orange) – One Rank. Two zero-value Orange ranks increase +1 value.

AESIR (Gods)

Each yellow God card has a special one-time activation power and also end-game points.

• Frigg – Twelve points. Take any Dwarf acquisition and put it at the bottom of the age deck. Then choose a card from three cards drawn off the top of the deck.
• Thor – Eight points. Cancel any one ‘discard a card’ effect from original Nidavellir Heroes.
• Freya – Fifteen points. Swap any two cards between Taverns before bidding.
• Loki – Eight points. Reserve one card before bidding.
• Odin – Zero points. Return a previously recruited neutral Hero in exchange for a new one.

GIANTS

Each Giant provides a single opportunity to sacrifice (“capture”) the next acquired Dwarf of that Class for an advantage. But if you choose not to sacrifice the matching Dwarf, you do not get another chance.

• Green – After capturing a Green Dwarf, choose two free Mythology cards from six unused cards.
• Red – Capture a Red Dwarf to score your highest coin a second time at the end of the game.
• Blue – Score three times the normal points of the captured Blue Dwarf.
• Orange – Immediately after capturing an Orange Dwarf, add two to each of your non-zero coins.
• Purple – Gain a free Hero card after capturing a Purple Dwarf.

VALKYRIES

Valkyries have a Strength Track and a specific Goal. Put a token on the top spot of the track when acquiring the Valkyrie.

• Brynhildr – Strength: 3-6-10-16. Goal: Wins the first choice bid at the Tavern.
• Hildr – Strength: 0-8-16-0. Goal: Increase strength with each Distinction award.
• Olrun – Strength: 3-6-10-16. Pick a Class when acquired. Goal: Draft a Dwarf of that Class.
• Purple – Gain a free Hero card after capturing a Purple Dwarf.
• Sigrdrifa – Strength: 0-0-8-16. Goal: Recruit a Hero.
• Svafa – Strength: 0-4-8-16. Goal: Upgrade a coin to a coin that is not available (this provides a boost in coins per Nidavellir rules).

Every time a player meets their Valkyrie’s goal, they increase strength. Score these points at the end of the game.

Strategy

Mythology cards drastically change the game play and decision-making in Nidavellir.

Gaining a Valkyrie suddenly gives players a personal task for the rest of the game. These can be incredibly powerful – each earning up to 16 points.

Giant cards are a love-hate experience because you must give up a Dwarf for your army… but the rewards are so good!  It also makes you carefully choose the timing of when to take that next Dwarf matching the Giant’s class so you don’t give up a particularly good one.

A well-timed Aesir power play can change the trajectory of the game. These Yellow cards can also add a substantial number of points – just like the original Black-colored neutral heroes.

The extra ranks from the Mythical Animals can easily lock up the majority of a Class for a Class Distinction. This then puts your entire “Age Two” game in a better trajectory. This is especially interesting as you consider that other players might have even fewer ranks than normal from sacrificing Dwarfs as they are captured by their Giants.

Final Thoughts

Idavoll is a perfect expansion for anyone who already loves Nidavellir. If that’s you, Idavoll’s Mythology cards are more of the special Hero juice you love from the original game.

If you don’t like Nidavellir because you’ve grown tired of the learning curve involved, then Idavoll isn’t going to save the game for you. But both Nidavellir and Idavoll are conducive to playing many times. This allows you to skip the teach, which can be encumbering with over 40 special cards. The learning curve for all the special cards aspect of the game and the fact that some Mythology cards seem much better than others are really the only minor negatives I see.

With the base game of Nidavellir, you already needed to adjust your strategy based on the Dwarf market and reacting to other players’ decisions. The same fun choices of of bidding and how to get the Dwarfs you want most for your army are enhanced even more here. During those first three rounds when the Mythology cards are available at the Dragon Tavern it’s especially intense.

Also, if you were starting to feel you had the original Nidavellir game puzzle “solved”, this expansion will throw a bit of a monkey wrench into the works for you. The puzzle gets a lot more challenging with this expansion!  And Idavoll forces you to constantly adapt and vary your game play even. These Mythology cards add great amounts of replay value, and just a ton of new flavor to the overall Nidavellir experience.

You can find Idavoll and Nidavellir directly from Hachette, on Amazon, or at your friendly local game store!

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Hachette provided The Family Gamers with a complimentary copy of Idavoll for this review.

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