Remembrances of Games Past, Part #7 - King's Table (PC) (1994) (Imagitec Design)
35This is the first YouTube video of little known strategy title "King's Table: Legend of Ragnarok" from Imagitec Design published by GameTek in 1993. "King's Table" is based on "Hnefatafl" (try saying that 10 times in a row!), an ancient Scandinavian board game which was very popular during the Viking age (800-1100 AD) and is somewhat reminiscent of chess. Unlike chess, the two sides have different objectives; the attacker (black) is supposed to capture the king (by surrounding him on all four sides) and the defender (white) must get the king to one of the four "safe" squares of the table.
Apart from the actual board game (as faithfully reproduced as possible, given that the exact rules were never written down during the Middle Ages), developer Imagitec Design has created a tournament mode for "King's Table" with slightly different rules and the addition of unique characters. As might be expected, the game also contains a multiplayer option for 2 players on the same computer.
My dad bought "King's Table" as a birthday present for me back in '94 but technical problems made it impossible for me to play it on the computer I had back then. Thanks to the wonders of DOSBox, I can now finally enjoy this unique little game.
Information on the history of Hnefatafl;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafl_games
This video is also available at
http://www.gamevee.com/viewVideo/Kings_Table_The_Legend_of_Ra/PC/Kings_Table_The_Legend_of_Ragnarok/1176066