Maeshowe: An Orkney Saga

According to the Orkneyinga Saga, Count Rognvald Kali Kolsson broke into the tomb at Maeshowe on Orkney in 1150 and in 1153 Count Harald Maddadson and a group of his men took refuge there during a snowstorm. The sagas tell us that Rognvald found a treasure there and that two of Harald's men went mad. Alone or with a friend, players take turns playing a card in the row and discarding one. Managing their five-card hand, players must make difficult decisions about what to play while carefully managing their resources of health, food and remaining cards in their deck.

Players will free themselves from Maeshowe's Tomb when they have removed enough rubble blocking their escape. By playing a set of four "Excavation" cards on the row, players are able to remove the rubble. The timing of the start of a series of "Excavation" cards will be crucial as a row of less than four cards will be lost, reducing the player's chances of survival. If the player ever runs out of health or cards in their deck, they have lost and their corpses will be found in the Maeshowe tomb by archaeologists hundreds of years later. Other threats presented by their deck include things like collapsing passage and lack of food, while a well-deserved sleep or Odin himself sending a raven to watch over you can provide much needed relief.

This updated version of Lee Broderick's print-and-play game Maeshowe offers a simplified version of the basic game while adding a series of mini-expansions and alternative configurations for variety, challenge and replayability.

Maeshowe: An Orkney Saga funded on the Kickstarter platform

Maeshowe: An Orkney Saga was funded on the Crowdfunding Kickstarter (See the campaign) platform on the Feb 4, 2021, the campaign lasted 14 days. 462 people helped funded the game, whose the amount requested was $1,500.00. Thanks to these 462 people the game could be funded up to $17,295.00, ~1,153.00%.

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