
The goal of the game was for the attackers to capture the defender’s king, and the defender to save the king from being captured. The other group’s pieces were placed at all four sides of the board – these were the attackers. It was essentially a war game in which there were two groups of pieces – one group was centered at the middle of the board and was the defender. Hnefatafl was a popular board game played by the Vikings. Some players would get seriously injured and even die during some of these games. Many Viking games were incredibly rough and were meant only for the toughest players. Players would try to outdo each other in physical feats. Outdoor Viking games were mostly physical, a celebration of the physical strength. Indoor Viking games included many board games, used to imitate the war strategies.

This was also reflected in the games they played. Vikings routinely engaged in warfare and were a warlike people. Vikings were the Scandinavian peoples who lived in northeast Europe in the medieval ages.
