This Viking card game is perfect for two-player matches on the go

Odin's Ravens sets two players head to head in a mythological race around the world. Taking the form of Huginn and Muninn, two legendary corvids with a taste for competition, players must balance their need for speed with the Norse god-like urge to thwart their opponent at every turn.

In their attempts to get ahead, this fast-paced race to return to Odin from an Earth-bound scouting mission sees players pushing their luck with rocky decisions, executing crafty tricks, and timing clever take-that actions for maximum bafflement. Imagine Heat: Pedal to the Metal meets Magical Athlete, but in a gorgeous Nordic expanse and with far fewer rules to concern you as you fly onward to glory. Is it one of the best card games, though? Those looking for deep strategic depth may leave disappointed, but everyone else should find it worth raising a horn of mead to.

Odin's Ravens features & design

• Scarper to the end of the track as fast as corvidly possible
• Move and change the board's layout with Loki cards
• Push your luck or bide your time

Odin's Ravens is a heated marathon in which the fastest raven wins. The catch, however, is that your tricksy opponent is encouraged to tamper with the landscape, creating shortcuts for themselves or forcing you to take the scenic route.

To begin, players collect 25 flight cards, and eight Loki cards, while a path of 16 land cards (32 spaces) is laid out – this is the game board and it won't look this neat for long. There should be no matching consecutive spaces on either side of the track at this stage, which will make sense once you learn how your token will advance. While one player moves their raven clockwise along the track from top left to bottom left, the other moves anti-clockwise from bottom left to top left. Whoever reaches their opponent's start position first wins… Sort of. We'll get to that in a moment.

Drawing five of your flight or Loki cards in any combination to make up your hand, you take turns to play any number of cards you see fit. Playing a flight card that matches the next space lets you move your raven to it, while two matching cards count for one of any other kind. Sort of how Eurogames like Everdell let you trade two for one resource of another kind. Should you come up against several of the same spaces in a row, you can skip to the end of that row.

Loki cards are far fewer, and once depleted they aren't shuffled back into your draw pile like flight cards would be. These give players a choice between two powerful, game-changing moves on every card. Loki might let you push your raven forward a space, or your opponent's back; maybe draw, delete, rotate, or swap cards around; you might even add new land cards to make the track longer with a 'loop' that can stack indefinitely. While you can change the board in a multitude of ways, you can't affect any card with a raven currently on it.

Once you've played any number of cards in any order, your turn ends by drawing three cards and passing on to the other player. It's a simple game loop, and very intuitive on the surface, though there are a few technicalities that the brief ruleset has sadly overlooked.

Accompanied by gorgeous artwork from the formidable Johan Egerkrans, the box and cards pop with immersive illustrations of landscapes and characters. Players with certain types of colorblindness may struggle discerning the purple and red cards, but otherwise the game's made super accessible with clear diagrams and simple rules.

Gameplay

• Unnecessary to avoid matching card rows in setup
• Anticlimactic fix for first player advantage
• Rulebook's brevity means some scenarios are overlooked

Odin's Ravens allows for some brilliant take-that action that keeps you constantly on your toes as you wonder how the other player will toy with your next turn. Whether you decide to spam Loki cards early or save them for a chaotic final stretch, every move is a satisfying, on-the-fly tactical choice with immediate payoff. It doesn't have as much strategic depth as some of the best board games, but for a short two player sprint it really doesn't need to.

That said, it's not perfect. The rulebook itself is a short leaflet offering some mythological background on Huginn and Muninn. There's practical diagrams and descriptions of each Loki move, as well as some potential scenarios that might cause confusion. In its brevity it overlooks a few potential scenarios: What happens when a card is shifted away from a loop leaving a gap where it connects, for example? It's been a common occurrence at my table and has meant we've had to insert a house rule. Still, it's a minor oversight and doesn't make the game any less entertaining.

I will say the final moments can be a little anticlimactic thanks to the designer's attempts to quell the first player advantage. Should the player who went first finish first, their opponent has until the end of their turn to catch up, whereby players compare their final hand size to determine a winner. I prefer when games even out the first player advantage early on, so it doesn't compromise what could be a perfect photo finish. Thinking thematically, however, it works well here as it's in character for Odin to reward tactical frugality as well as speed.

Should you buy Odin's Ravens?

As a well-balanced game with heaps of replayability, Odin's Ravens is a sharp contender for an addition to the best two player board games. Simple rules make the barrier for entry super low, while interesting tactics will arise as you respond and retaliate (or realize you've used up all your tricks). It's one for casual gamers with a taste for competition, and a love of mythos.

It isn't going to keep fans of deeply strategic games like Scythe or Agricola busy for long, but it's a great distraction for any Vikings short on time.

Ratings

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Odin's Ravens

Because the reviewer already owned a copy of Odin's Ravens, they have been able to play it multiple times over a long period. That means they are intimately familiar with its workings, which helped provide a more in-depth critique.

For a more in-depth look at our process, check out how we test board games or the GamesRadar+ reviews policy.

Want more suggestions? Don't miss the best adult board games or the best tabletop RPGs.